Cleaning Your Swimming Pool

With a host of options in manual and automated equipment, cleaning your swimming pool will no longer make the hair on your head rise in alarm!

As with everything else related to pools, you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing pool cleaners. The range extends equally for in-ground as well as above-ground pools. Convenient hand-held pool cleaning products are also on the market if you find it cumbersome to manipulate ones with lengthy power cords.

Vacuums for pools can easily and effectively deal with every day debris and spots. Vacuums for your pools should have high flow vacuum motor, and preferably, reusable filtration bags. If you own a small pool or a spa, or if you want to clean out a fountain in your garden, a product called an ‘Aqua Broom’ would be worth looking at. It is a battery operated device that is quite effective in removing localized debris.

For larger pools, you could explore the ‘Pool Blaster’. Much like the Aqua Broom, it is also an easy-to-use hand-held battery operated pool vacuum. Points to note are that it recharges pretty quickly and does not need a hose. An additional attraction is that you could attach it to a pole to reach spots deeper in the pool, so you do not have to get inside the pool to reach the debris or spots. Of course, you can use it on smaller pools as well as spas. The good news is that this device has the potential to vacuum your entire pool thanks to its filtration capacity of 40 to 50 gallons a minute. With automated vacuums, you do not have to resort to backwashing or replacing water once you are through with the vacuuming, so, there is something to give your main pool filters an easy time!

Auto cleaners are vacuum cleaners for the pool that require very little intervention from you as they work. If you are constantly plagued by small debris, then the ‘Suction side pool cleaner’ is for you! It works in conjunction with your pool’s main filtration system and is powered by it, requiring no additional plumbing. These cleaners have the vacuum unit attached to the suction port through a hose which leads the sucked up water into the pool skimmer. Here, the skimmer does the dirty work by trapping all debris and dirt, while letting the cleaned water flow through back in to the pool.

Another type of automated pool cleaners are the ‘Pressure side pool cleaners’. These are propelled by powerful water jets that move the unit around and also draw in debris from the surface as well as the sides into a bag. The debris is trapped and contained inside the reusable bag, while the filtered water is circulated back to the pool. The good part is that the debris is not sent to the pool’s main filtration system, so you do not have to resort to frequent cleaning of the filter. The pressure side pool cleaner is more effective in trapping twigs or leaves which are comparatively larger debris in the pool.

Cleaning your swimming pool with pool cleaners like the ones described is a relatively easy prospect. There are a third kind of automatic pool cleaners you would love to own - the robotic variety. Explore it if you can afford it!

Cleaning Your Swimming Pool
A guide on cleaning your swimming pool.