Maintenance After Severe Weather
Helpful Tips for Cleaning Up Your Pool After Severe Weather
- Once the storm has passed, visually inspect the integrity of your pool, equipment and enclosures prior to beginning any maintenance or clean-up.
- Begin with removing large branches, mulch and other foreign matters from the pool before running the pump to prevent clogging lines or damaging the equipment. Use a net to remove as much of the large debris before using a vacuum in the pool.
- If power was lost during the storm, you may need to reset your circuit breakers and pump timer once electricity has been restored.
- Remove any debris or coverings from the motor and any other equipment to allow for airflow. Contact a pool professional to inspect the motor if you suspect the motor was submerged for an extended period of time.
- Empty your pump and skimmer baskets. Open the appropriate valves to allow water to circulate properly once the pump is turned back on, if necessary.
- Return the pool water to the appropriate level for your pool; this may be halfway up the tile/skimmer line. Use caution to not over drain the pool as the water table underground could cause the shell to pop.
- Clean or backwash filters. There will be a higher volume of debris and particulate in the water than normal; therefore, your filter may need to be cleaned/backwash multiple times over a few days.
- Super-chlorinate, or shock, your pool to fight off any contaminants that the rain may have brought into your pool while circulating continuously until clarity returns.
- Thoroughly test the water chemistry. To ensure an accurate water chemistry test, run the pool for a couple of hours prior to obtaining a water sample after any storm, especially when there is large volumes of rain.
- Add the necessary chemicals to balance out the water chemistry within the following ranges:
- Chlorine: 1.0 – 3.0 ppm
- pH: 7.4 – 7.6
- Total Alkalinity: 80 – 120 ppm
- Calcium Hardness: 200 – 400
- Cyanuric Acid: 30 – 50 ppm
- Total Dissolved Solids: 500 – 5000 ppm
- Repair or replace any screens, doors, fences or gates to prevent children or pets from entering your pool unattended in the future.
- Once your pool is clean, clear and properly balanced out, you may resume pool and spa operations.