In our next 3-part blog series, we will focus on top tips for maintaining your swimming pool.  These are easy to do and can extend the life and enjoyment of using your pools for many years to come.

1. Store Your Vacuum Head Correctly

The number one reason pool owners replace their vacuum head is because the brushes on the bottom of it have either flattened out or completely fallen off.

Store your vacuum head upside down and out of the sun. Over the winter, be sure you keep it away from any chlorine. If you do this, you will double the life of your vacuum head, which can be expensive to replace.

2. Use A Solar Cover With Your Pool Heater

Solar covers maintain the heat in the pool, they keep debris out, and they help attract heat from the sun. If you ONLY use a solar cover at night, it helps to keep the heat from escaping your pool – especially on those cool summer nights.

If you have a heater, you can crank the heater up to the desired temperature, shut it off, then keep a solar cover on at night. It’ll make the heat from your pool heater last longer.

Bonus: If you don’t feel like taking a solar cover on and off your swimming pool every night, then you can invest in liquid solar blankets. They are easier to use and cost much less in the short term.

3. Use Baking Soda Instead of Alkalinity

Baking soda will increase your pool’s alkalinity levels. However, is it really cheaper? That would depend on what type of baking soda you’re buying and what type of alkalinity you are buying. I would only use baking soda if you needed to bump up the alkalinity just a little.

Baking soda is also more “powdery” than your standard Alkalinity Increaser. This may cause your pool to be cloudy. Just small amounts to avoid cloudiness.

Check the prices of the pool store alkalinity increaser vs. boxes of baking soda at the grocery store. You might find that buying it at the pool store is cheaper.

4. Close Your Above Ground Pool Yourself

It can cost you up to $250 to close down an above ground pool! Of course, that depends on how big your pool is. The best thing you can do is learn how to close down your above ground pool yourself.

  1. Add your closing chemicals to the water
  2. Drain your pool, 6 to 8 inches below the skimmer
  3. Remove the hoses from your pool filter and pump
  4. Remove all the drain plugs from your pump and filter and store them in the pump basket
  5. Store your pump and filter in a safe place (unless you have a sand filter)
  6. Install a winter plug in the return line
  7. Blow up the air pillow and float it to the middle of the pool. You can use The Pool Pillow Pal to keep it centered (I don’t get paid for that endorsement, it’s just a really neat product)
  8. Drape the cover over the pool and secure it using cable and winch and/or winter cover clips
  9. Add water bags to deck to hold cover in place

That’s it! It’s very simple and doesn’t require any special technique.  Source

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