5. Equipment inspection, Safety inspection

    

   Spring opening time is ideal for annual preventative maintenance steps such as cleaning, lubricating, inspecting and replacing components in all of your system equipment. Consult your owner's manual and give everything a good inspection. Look for and correct hazardous electrical conditions, such as broken conduit or connectors, lack of proper grounding or bonding, wires exposed to weather, etc. Inspect pool for tripping and slipping hazards. Check again for pressure leaks which may result in pipes or equipment blowing apart. Note water level and watch the pool for leakage during the following few days.

    

6. Clean pool

    

   Skim pool, vacuum pool, brush pool. Leaf rake (bag) types skim nets are best, also useful for scooping large amounts of leaves/debris from pool floor. If pool is especially silty or has lots of algae, Vacuum Pool to Waste. This means to bypass the filter, and vacuum dirt from floors/walls out the backwash line. This prevents constant clogging/cleaning of filter. To do this, you may need to fill pool to the very top, so you can waste 1-3". Place the multiport filter valve on drain to waste position (usually 2pm, if viewed as a clock face) If you have a push-pull filter valve, or a cartridge type filter there is no easy way to vacuum to waste, except for cutting the pipe coming out of the pump and then reconnecting afterwards. Brush the pool thoroughly.

    

7. Check and Balance Chemistry

    

   Use a good quality pool water test kit. Replace test kit reagents every spring (annually). Follow pool water test instructions carefully to obtain accurate results.

    

   Alkalinity first. If below the range of 80 - 120 ppm, add Total Alkalinity Increaser (Sodium Bicarbonate or baking soda) at a rate of 1 lb per 10,000 gals to raise Alkalinity levels 10 ppm. Calcium level should be 180 - 220 ppm. Add  Calcium Hardness Increaser (Calcium Chloride) at a rate of 1 lb per 10,000 gals to raise Calcium levels 5 ppm. Test pH level after water has circulated 8 hrs. pH level should be 7.4 - 7.6, add pH Increaser (soda ash or sodium carbonate) if the water is acidic/ corrosive (below 7.4). Add pH Decreaser (muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate) if water is basic/ scaling (above 7.6). A good test kit will allow you to perform an acid demand or base demand test to determine exact amounts of acid or base needed (demanded). A clarifier may be used to help filter efficacy. After balanced chemicals have been circulated for 8 hrs, shock or super-chlorinate the pool. Add granular Shock Treatment (Calcium Hypochorite) to pool at a rate of 1 lb per 10,000 gallons, or use Clorox Bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite) at a rate of 5 gals per 10,000 gallons/pool water. Cyanuric Acid levels should be tested if chlorine is used (outdoor pools only). Add CYA (Conditioner or Stabilizer) to raise if Cyanuric Acid levels are below 30 - 50 ppm.

    

   Always read instructions on packaging for proper handling, treatments and application of the pool chemicals. Distribute them broadly and never mix chemicals. Brushing pool after adding chemicals is helpful to distribution. Re-test water daily and readjust if needed. Backwash filter after 24 hrs. If algae is still present, re-shock pool, or add "kill" dosage of quality algaecide. Your pool is ready for use when chlorine level drops below 3.0 ppm, and water is clear. It may be a good move to have an annual check-up to your pool by a pool professional, which is why many people use pool companies to open the pool. If there is a pool store nearby, you should at least take a water sample in to be tested by another test kit.

    

Sunbelt

If you didn't really winterize the pool, but rather reduced the amount of filter time and attention you gave the pool, then you can probably skip items 1-3 above. But follow 4-7 to keep things sanitary and working safe and properly. Again, consider hiring a professional pool company, at least once annually to double check your work and spot problems or maintenance items you may have missed.

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