7 Secrets For Keeping Your Swimming Pool Crystal Clear

Why is it that in almost every movie with a swimming pool, the water looks unnaturally clear? Almost like liquid glass.

You would think that to have a crystal clear swimming pool like that you’d have to clean it constantly, right? Never so much as getting a grain of dirt in the water.

Well, not necessarily.

In fact, achieving that glass-like, Hollywood level of clarity in your pool water is much simpler than you might think.

And  if you’re reading this then you probably know what we’re about to tell you:

The secret to a crystal clear swimming pool is keeping it clean. But every pool owner knows that pool maintenance is essential, that’s no secret at all.

So if that’s the case, then why do so many of us struggle to achieve the glistening, crystal clear swimming pools we dream of?

Because the real secret to a crystal clear swimming pool has everything to do with how you clean your pool.

Your approach: the chemicals you use, how you handle pool maintenance, and how consistent you are with it.

So if you’re someone who wants swimming pool water so clear that you forget it’s even there, keep reading.

In this post, we show you 7 secrets to keeping your swimming pool crystal clear.

Related: 21 Pool Care Hacks That Make Pool Maintenance Easy

How To Keep Your Swimming Pool Crystal Clear

Test water and balance chemicals weekly, minimum

All pool owners know that testing their water is just a regular part of owning a pool.

But ask yourself:

How often do I test and balance my pool water?

Maybe you’re someone who squeezes it into your schedule once or twice a month. Or maybe you only do it when you expect to swim.

And although either can work for a little while depending on how often you swim (and whether or not you cover the pool), one thing is certain:

It’s not enough.

It’s important to keep your pool properly sanitized and chemically balanced for a few reasons:

• To fight off bacteria and protect your health
• For cleaner and clearer water
• To reduce chemical costs over time and
  and lower your swimming pool bills

For the best results: test and balance your water 2 – 3 times a week

Related: How To Manage Pool Chemicals

Skim, brush, and vacuum weekly

That handful of leaves and twigs sitting on the pool floor may seem harmless, but something major is happening in the background.

Any debris that stays in your pool, no matter how big or small, eats away at your sanitizer and throws off your chemical levels. And the longer they stay there, the cloudier your water gets.

That’s why making an effort to skim, brush, and vacuum your pool each week is essential.

By staying on top of pool maintenance, you:

• Enjoy a consistently clean pool
• Spend less on chemicals
• Reduce your pool cleaning time more and more each week
• Keep your swimming pool crystal clear

For the best results:

• Skim the pool at least 3 times a week
• Brush the walls at least twice a week (or before you vacuum)
• Vacuum at least twice a week

Related: Make The Perfect Pool Care Schedule

Keep your filter clean for optimal filtering performance

There are three major parts to keeping your pool clean:

• Manual pool maintenance
• Chemical sanitizing and balancing
• Automatic filtration

When you have a pool filter, cleaning your pool is WAY easier. It cuts down on a lot of the time you’d normally spend skimming and vacuuming, which is always a plus.

But in order for a filter to maintain peak performance, it needs to stay clean. Because over time, after weeks and weeks of filtering your water, your pool filter starts to clog up with debris. From visible strands of hair to microscopic grains of dirt, sand, and other contaminants.

Point being, if you want to keep your physical pool cleaning duties to a minimum, the best strategy is keeping your pool filter clean.

So whether you have a sand or cartridge filter, the important part is making sure you clean it out before it gets too dirty.

For the best results:

• Clean cartridge filters once a month
  • Replace your cartridge filters each year
• Clean your DE filter one a month
  • Add new DE powder every few months.
    Replace DE grids every 1-2 years
• Replace filter sand every few months

Backwash your filter bi-weekly

While regularly cleaning your filter is a top priority, there’s one other thing you can do to keep it running at peak performance.

Backwashing.

It’s more of a quick fix for keeping things in order, but doing it regularly helps prevent debris buildup. And the less buildup, the longer your filter stays clean.

When you backwash your filter, you’re essentially pumping your pool water backward into the filter.

Think of it like rinsing your mouth with Listerine — the concept is pretty much the same. It’s a quick way to rinse off any loose debris in the filter media and prevent clogging/buildup.

For the best results:

• Backwash your pool filter at least once a week
• For busier month, backwash twice a week

Shock the pool regularly

As a pool owner, you’ve likely shocked your pool a number of times in the past.

But exactly how often you shock your pool is important:

• Do it too much and you might get “chlorine lock”
• Don’t do it enough and the effectiveness of your other pool chemicals will suffer

So what’s the magic number then?

How often should you shock your pool?

Shock your pool once per week. This keeps your sanitizer levels stable, which keeps your pool cleaner.

It’s also wise to shock the water after heavy use, pool parties, or storms to prevent surprise algae takeovers.

Use algaecide to prevent algae growth

While pool shock helps you avoid the conditions that foster algae growth, it’s not the most effective prevention method.

The most effective method is using an algaecide. Alagaecies are special chemicals that are designed to not only kill algae but inhibit any growth that could be occurring in the background.

For the best results: use an algaecide at least twice a month; twice a month during the summer

Related: How To Keep a Pool From Turning Green

Maintain good water circulation

While the value of good filtration and chemical balance cant be stressed enough, there’s one other thing every pool owner needs to do if they don’t want all their hard work to go in vain.

Maintain good water circulation

Water that doesn’t circulate properly get’s poorly filtered, which mean more debris and cleaning.

And when water doesn’t flow freely through the pool system, it doesn’t distribute chemicals evenly. When that happens, balancing your water becomes a lot harder.

So how can you maintain the best water circulation possible?

Here’s how:

• Run your pump at least 8 hours a day
• Clean out your skimmer basket weekly
• Empty out your pump and filter basket weekly
• Consistently clean your filter
• Monitor and troubleshoot any unexpected PSI changes

Keeping that water clear

As long as you balance your water, clean it out, and circulate it regularly, having a crystal clear pool is easy. It’s all about keeping up with pool maintenance, which ensures that your water stays healthy and swimmable.

The best strategy is making a pool care schedule, which makes pool maintenance A LOT simpler. Other, you might want to try these 21 pool care hacks that make pool maintenance easier.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

• 7 Ways To Extend Your Pool Season By Up To 6 Months
• 9 Ways Owning a Pool Heat Pump Improves Your Health & Your Life 
• 7 Best Tips To Lower Your Swimming Pool Bills By Up To 50%