Some Basics in Pool Maintenance and Safety

photo credit: der_dennis

Swimming pools are always welcome additions to the amenities of a home. Especially in the summer, when the heat of the season is overwhelming, it’s nice to have a place to take a cold dip and escape the heat for awhile. Even when there is no swimming involved, a swimming pool serves as a great backdrop for a barbeque with friends and family, or more formal dinner parties or pool parties for the kids.

Nothing in the world’s free of course, so along with the benefits of having a swimming pool of your own, comes the obligation and responsibility to keep the pool clean and the surrounding area safe, especially for children.

First, safety. Especially when you have kids, your pool can turn from a pleasant place to escape the sun into a potential death trap. Many cases have been documented where children experience accidental drowning in pools, so you should always take measure to ensure that your children are safe.

It’s a plus if your kids know how to swim, but your should always nevertheless orient them in pool safety. Smaller children should NEVER be allowed near or in the pool without an adult (who can swim) supervising them and looking after them.

For older kids, horseplay is tolerable, but only in certain degrees – stunts like jumping from the second floor of your home into the pool should never be allowed, as a misstep or misjudged difference can spell serious injury or even death even for older kids. You should also have an enclosure around your pool – one that small kids especially, cannot get around or over. This will prevent them from wandering into the pool area and suffering an accident.

When it comes to maintenance, the easiest way to keep the pool clean would be to have an automatic pool cleaner, which basically does most of the heavy lifting for you, with just a few directions from your end. However, this is expensive, so you can also consider putting in chlorine yourself and measuring the alkalinity of the pool to make sure that everything’s just right.

You should also buy a pool cover or an elevated pool net. Either or both of these two will serve as a way through which any dead leaves or any other sort of garbage does not get into the pool, saving you the trouble of cleaning the pool itself. Just remember to put a bit of allowance so that any nearby stray falling trash can be caught up as well.