7 Signs Your Pool Needs Major Cleaning

 Enjoyable afternoons around the pool with your friends and family are priceless moments. No wonder most pool owners invest substantial sums in acquiring and maintaining a pool. Swimming pools are complicated systems that require a delicate balance to be functional. Once the balance tip over, swimming pools (click here) can be dangerous places where harmful organisms can breed and proliferate. Please note these seven signs that your swimming pool will require major cleaning and a thorough check. If you ignore these signs for a few more days, bringing your swimming pool back to its ideal state can cost more.

Poor Chemical Balance

One of your daily routines is checking the water's alkalinity, pH, calcium, free chlorine, and bromine levels. Adding 1 to 3 ppm of chlorine to bring the balance back is a part of the routine. However, if the readings are way out of specs, adding chemicals may not be sufficient to bring the chemical balance back. The underlying causes of the chemical imbalance could be insufficient filtration and water circulation, impeding the pool from ridding itself of suspended particulates.

Murky or Cloudy Water Appearance

Another indication of poor chemical balance is the murky or cloudy appearance of the water. The primary cause of this event is insufficient water circulation. You may also look into your filters which may be severely clogged. 

Green Pools

Green pool indicates an alarming population growth rate of green algae on the swimming pool surfaces and in the water itself. Green algae start by taking root on plaster surfaces and inside cracks in the tiles. Algae can breed in small numbers on rough surfaces if you have a concrete pool. Their population usually won't go unabated with proper chemical balance and regular cleaning. However, once the water turns green, the swimming pool's delicate balance is upset severely. Aside from having ideal swimming pool surface conditions to breed algae, even ideal water filtration, and circulation will not be enough to restore the balance of the pool, requiring acid cleaning and substantial scrubbing of the swimming pool surface.

Yellowing or Browning Water Appearance

The primary cause of yellowish or brownish water is similar to green pools. Instead, the growth of brown algae is the culprit. Any form of discoloration in the pool's water indicates the unabated growth of these organisms.

Strong Chlorine Smell

The strong chlorine smell is an indication of the formation of chloramine. The reaction of chlorine with suspended contaminants produces chloramine. Many pollutants, such as lotion, body oils, urine, sunblock, and soil particles, produce chloramine. If the strong smell of chlorine persists, there isn't enough chlorine to deal with the contaminants in the pool.

Presence of Living Organisms in the Pool

Water mites, beetles, and mosquito larvae are alarming signs that your swimming pool has become a breeding ground for these creatures and substances and organisms they feed from, making the swimming pool dangerous. Once you detect these organisms in the swimming pool, call the help of your pool professional to check your entire pool system thoroughly.

Persistent Bubbles and Foam

Having too many contaminants such as lotions, sunblock, urine, and soil particles on the water surface helps the water gain a significant increase in water tension. This added water tension causes bubbles forming over the pool surface to pop at a longer time than you would typically expect. Moreover, smaller bubbles form together into foam. Once this happens, your water is alarmingly polluted.

Takeaways: Call a Pool Professional If The Problem Persists

Responsible pool owners may know how to deal with regular swimming pool issues. By maintaining their swimming pools regularly, these signs will rarely appear in the course of a few years. However, the swimming pool is a complicated system that needs almost constant attention. Once these signs appear, calling a pool professional is a prudent way to save time and cost.