There are a number of ways in which rainwater can affect your swimming pool. The acidity of rain (even if it’s not particularly high) could throw off the pH balance in your pool. It will also result in extra water in the pool that could throw off its chemistry.
Generally speaking, you only need to worry about rainwater in a pool after a heavy rain, not after light showers. Once the rains have passed, there are certain steps you should take to make sure the swimming pool is clean and the water is properly balanced. Here’s a quick overview of what you should know about this aspect of pool water maintenance in Madera, CA:
- Turn power back on: If you lost power during the storm, the first step you should take is to restore power to your important pool systems. You’ll want to check first for any debris that is in the skimmer and pump baskets, and remove it. You can then start up your pump and filter. Once the pump is running, it will go to work filtering out small debris, and you can concentrate on the larger stuff floating around on the surface.
- Use the skimmer for surface debris: Put a leaf net or skimmer on to your telescoping pole, and then start removing any debris that fell into the pool and is near the surface of the water. You’ll want to do this before vacuuming, because this will result in some surface debris falling down to the bottom. You can then use a broom or hose to clean the area around the pool and the deck to make sure no other debris falls into the pool while skimming. Make sure to spray away from the pool if you’re using a garden hose.
- Brush and vacuum: After you remove surface debris, you can focus on debris that’s been pushed down toward the bottom. A pool brush will help you push that debris toward a drain. You can then use a manual pool vacuum to suck out debris. However, if there’s not a lot of debris at the bottom, an automatic pool cleaner can be used. If there’s extra water in the pool due to the rain, this can actually be helpful for the vacuuming process, but if there isn’t much debris, pump the excess water from your pool by switching the filter to “waste,” then hooking up the backwash hose and turning on the pump.
- Test the water: After you’ve completed these cleaning processes, you should test your pool’s water to make sure the chemistry levels are correct. You might need to call in a professional if you had a particularly big storm. Otherwise, do what you need to do to adjust your alkalinity and chlorine/sanitizer levels to the proper settings before you begin regular use of the pool once again.
To learn more about what you’ll need to do to adjust your pool water after a heavy storm, we encourage you to contact the team of swimming pool maintenance professionals in Madera, CA at Pools by Ricketts today.