January 11, 2021

20 Tips to Keep your Pool COVID FREE

Prioritize safety: Keep your pool COVID-free with our expert measures. Dive into a worry-free aquatic experience with enhanced cleanliness. While there’s no substantial evidence that COVID-19 can spread to people through recreational water, it’s still important to practice precautionary measures to ensure overall safety. Whether it’s a public commercial pool or a residential private puddle, here are 20 tips to help Keep your pool COVID-free.

Let’s start by cleaning your pool.

1. Skim the water

One of the first, and rather the easiest way to keep the water clean is to skim the surface. It’s pretty much like sweeping the floor, only it’s water – if you get what I mean. To skim the water, you’re going to need a telescopic pole and a skimmer net. Run the skimmer net over the pool’s surface and scoop up any floating debris. Take the collected trash and dump it in the bin.

2. Brush the walls

You can also brush the walls of the pool to help remove any dust, dirt, and even algae that might have latched on the walls of the pool. You take the same telescopic pole, remove the skimmer net, and attach a pool brush instead to Keep your pool COVID-free. Make sure to give the walls a thorough scrubbing, but be mindful of what the interior finish is and what type of pool brush you have on the telescopic pole.

3. Vacuum the floor

Vacuum the floor

The dirt and dust you’ve just brushed off the walls, as well as any microorganisms that might have taken a hold on the walls will eventually gravitate, but they’re still in the pool. Allow the dust to settle and prepare to vacuum the pool’s floor. Remove the pool brush off the telescopic pole and replace it with a vacuum head. Connect the vacuum head to the hose that’s connected to your pool’s skimmer. Run the vacuum over the floor as you would with your living room carpet.

4. Clean the skimmer

Clean the skimmer

Make sure not to forget the pool skimmer. They’re small pockets just right above the pool’s surface that are designed to collect floating matter. Skimmers will have baskets that trap dirt and debris; take any collected matter and empty the baskets. You can also clean the baskets should they develop any sticky buildup from the water.

5. Sweep the deck

Another way to keep your pool clean and free from COVID is to sweep the deck – regularly. You can use a broom to collect dirt and debris that can get blown into the water by wind. Things like dried leaves, broken twigs, and even dead bugs that can decompose under the water and affect the water’s chemistry making it more susceptible to contamination.

6. Clean the filter

You can also clean your pool’s filters to help keep the pool water clean. Filters work by sifting the water of smaller particles as the water circulates. Different pools may have different filters depending on the pool pump’s configuration. That said, they will have to be cleaned differently. Keeping your pool filter clean can improve your pool water’s overall quality as a clogged pool filter will not only keep the water dirty, but also can cause poor water circulation. Speaking of which…

7. Check the pump

Check the pump

Check the pool pump regularly to make sure that it’s in proper working condition. The main role of the pool pump is to keep the water circulating as proper water circulation ensures that the water is fed through the filter and the heater where the water can be sieved of impurities and small particles that can affect the swimmer and the water’s chemistry.

8. Keep proper water levels

Keep proper water levels

Keep an eye on your pool’s water level. A pool with low water level will not only cause poor water circulation because the water is not being fed into the pump, but it can damage the actual pool pump. With low water level, the pump will be taking in air instead of water which can cause it to overheat and eventually break. Maintain proper pool water levels to help your pool pump work properly.

9. Test the water regularly

Test the water regularly

This part should never be overlooked. Testing the water using a test strip or a test kit should be done on a regular basis. This will give you a baseline or a benchmark of how the chemicals in the water are doing and if you need to adjust the pool water’s balance. You just have to dip the strip in a water sample or put a small drop of pool water in the testing kit. These products come with references that you can use when adjusting the pool water’s balance.

10. Maintain proper water chemistry

Maintain proper water chemistry

One way to keep the pool clean and free from COVID and other harmful organisms is by maintaining proper water chemistry. There are three important details in measuring your pool’s water chemistry and these are pH levels, alkalinity levels, and sanitizer levels. Too low of a pH level and the chlorine you use to sanitize your water will become ineffective, and when that happens, your pool can become a breeding ground for bacteria and other pathogenic microorganisms which could include COVID.

11. Maintain ideal sanitizer levels

Maintain ideal sanitizer levels

Pool water sanitizers can help clean the water and kill bacteria, germs, and viruses. Common pool sanitizers include chlorine and bromine. The right amount of sanitizers depend on what type of sanitizer you’re using so make sure to talk to a pool professional about adding or adjusting pool sanitizers.

12. Shock your pool

Shock your pool

Shocking is the term used when adding chemicals in the pool to destroy contaminants such as algae and bacteria. It’s recommended to shock your pool once every week or after every time you use or have guests use the pool. This will ensure that the water remains clean the next time you use it. Just make sure to handle the chemicals properly to avoid the harmful effects of over exposure to these chemicals.

13. Use a pool cover

Use a pool cover

Sometimes, no matter how much you clean your pool, things just get blown into it. To prevent this from happening especially during the times when you’re not using it, you can cover the pool. There are different types of pool covers from manual pool covers to automated ones, there are a lot of choices to choose from. There are even rolling decks, a type of pool cover that converts into a deck for small pools that lack a space for a pool deck.

14. Pool fences help

Pool fences help

Lastly, having pool fences put up around your pool can also help. This can stop pets and other wild animals from entering the pool area. Pets can leave pet hair which can clog the filters while wild animals may be carriers of diseases and viruses. If we’ve learned anything about the recent pandemic, it’s that some animals are better left untouched and pool fences can help prevent them from contaminating the pool water.

Keeping the pool and the pool water clean is a great way to prevent COVID and other diseases from spreading or even getting into your pool. Now, here are some things you can do as a swimmer.

15. Shower first before dipping in the pool

Shower first before dipping in the pool

Chances are, you and your guests could also carry microorganisms and introduce them to the pool through your swimwear. Others may even be wearing lotions, hair wax, perfumes, and oils, that can disrupt the pool water’s chemistry. It could help if you stand in the shower for several seconds to help remove any of the aforementioned beauty products and microorganisms.

16. Don’t pee (or poop) in the pool

This one should not come as a surprise. Regardless if you’re swimming alone or with guests, peeing (or pooping) in the pool is unacceptable. You just can’t let out bodily wastes into the pool as it can get mixed with the water where other swimmers can ingest it. If you’re sick, chances are you’re passing the bacteria and whatever is affecting you to other swimmers using the pool. There’s just no excuse for it.

17. Don’t swallow pool water

Don’t swallow pool water

For obvious reasons, you shouldn’t be drinking pool water.

18. Don’t swim if you have an open wound

Don’t swim if you have an open wound

Refrain from using the pool if you have an open wound. Unless you cover the wound with a waterproof gauze, you should not swim with an exposed wound. First, swimming with it exposed to the pool water can cause bacteria and other microorganisms to enter the wound. Second, if you’re applying some sort of medication in the wound, it can spread in the water and can affect the pool water’s chemistry.

19. Don’t swim if you’re not feeling well

Don’t swim if you’re not feeling well

You also should not be swimming in the pool if you’re not feeling well. Check your temperature before you dip in. There are a lot of places online where you can get information about the symptoms of COVID, so be sure to check them out first before you decide to swim in with friends and families. You don’t want to get worse nor do you want to spread whatever is causing you to feel under the weather to your guests. Refrain from using the pool if you’re not feeling your very best – physically that is.