Becoming a new pool owner is exciting. Dealing with daily pool maintenance is somewhat less thrilling. When you imagined having your own pool at home, you probably thought about how nice it would be to relax on a float on a hot day, get more exercise swimming laps, and give the kids a place to play outdoors. Weekly shock treatments and daily debris skimming probably wasn’t part of your daydream. But, the good news is that you don’t have to manage it all by yourself. A pool contractor in Salt Lake City will give you all the information you need to make decisions about your professional maintenance schedule.
What’s the easiest way to stay on top of pool maintenance? 
The easiest, hassle-free way to keep your pool at optimum conditions is to hire a swimming pool company to handle your maintenance tasks for you. Even if you do schedule regular services, you’ll probably want to handle a few minor tasks yourself. Create a written maintenance schedule, which might look something like this:
- Skim debris daily
- Vacuum once weekly
- Run the pump 10 to 12 hours daily
- Chemically treat twice weekly
- Shock once weekly
- Do safety checks of equipment every other month
Of course, your own maintenance list won’t replace professional services, as these are only some of the tasks that need to be done regularly.
How can I balance the calcium hardness?
Hard water makes your pool cloudy and can cause sediment to accumulate inside the plumbing. Water that’s too soft is corrosive. Eventually, it can corrode the metal and crumble the concrete. Ideally, you should keep the calcium hardness at about the middle of the 150 to 400 ppm range. Check the level every one to two weeks. Raise the level simply by adding calcium chloride. Lower the level by draining and replacing some of the water, or by using a flocculant. A flocculant will clump the extra calcium, and you can then remove it by cleaning the walls and bottom of the pool, and then backwashing and cleaning the filter.
How can I keep ducks out of my pool?
Ducks are certainly cute, but they’re also messy, and letting them use your pool will make your pool maintenance tasks more of a headache. Perhaps the least expensive way to duck-proof your lap pool is to introduce some of their natural predators. Find pool floats that mimic the size and appearance of alligators, snakes, dolphins, or killer whales. Leave the floats in the water whenever you aren’t swimming.