Reset Your Pool: 6 Reasons to Drain Your Pool

Investing in a swimming pool involves both financial commitment and emotional value. Maintaining it through proper cleaning is essential to ensure it continues to bring joy and remains a worthwhile investment for many years. You may regularly brush, vacuum, and chemically balance your pool, but how frequently do you consider draining and refilling it?

Periodically draining and refilling your pool is beneficial for several reasons, and it’s an important practice for effective pool maintenance. Below are six reasons to include draining your pool as part of its routine upkeep.

1. Clean the Pool

You might wonder why you need to drain your pool if you already employ a pool cleaning service. Standard pool maintenance includes skimming, brushing, and vacuuming, but often the water used to fill your pool contains high levels of metals or calcium.

These minerals can lead to staining on your pool’s surface over time. While using additives can manage the levels of metals and calcium and help prevent these stains, they will inevitably form.

When you start to see discoloration on the surface of your pool, it’s time to drain the water and perform an acid wash to eliminate these persistent stains that accumulate over time.

2. Repair the Pool

Over time, the surface of your pool will deteriorate and need fixing. Concrete surfaces in inground pools can develop cracks that will need to be repaired.

Similarly, vinyl-lined pools are prone to tears that will necessitate patching. Draining the pool provides the simplest method to evaluate the damage and carry out the necessary repairs.

3. Resurface the Pool

Environmental factors and prolonged exposure to the sun will gradually cause the surface color of your pool to fade. Since your pool is a beloved gathering spot for friends and family, maintaining its aesthetic appeal is crucial.

The type of resurfacing required, whether it’s a fresh coat of pool paint or a complete gunite resurfacing, depends on the material of your pool’s surface. Once the pool is drained and the surface thoroughly inspected, your reliable pool service company can recommend the appropriate resurfacing method.

4. Remove Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)

Total dissolved solids (TDS) in a pool represent the sum of all soluble substances dissolved in the water, including chemicals added over the years as well as dirt and debris. This accumulation can lead to increased TDS levels.

To measure TDS, the electrical conductivity of the pool water is assessed. The recommended maximum TDS for swimming pools is 1,500 parts per million (ppm).

When TDS levels exceed this threshold, you might observe cloudy water, surface stains, and scaling. Once the pool water reaches a high level of TDS and becomes saturated with contaminants, the most effective solution is to drain and refill the pool with fresh water.

Partially or completely replacing your pool’s water is the only effective method to lower the TDS.

5. Chemistry Rebalance During Pool Cleaning

Keeping your pool water chemistry in balance can seem like a daunting task. When the pH levels of your pool water are too high, it can lead to cloudy water and scaly deposits.

Conversely, if the pH level is too low, it can cause corrosion to pool equipment and surfaces. Excessive chlorine can irritate swimmers, while insufficient chlorine can lead to algae growth. If you consistently struggle with chemical levels being too high or too low, it might be necessary to drain your pool and start afresh with the chemical balancing.

6. Remove Algae and Stains

Persistent stains in your swimming pool can make it look unclean, even when it is actually clean. If you’ve tried using an “all-purpose stain remover” only to be let down by the results, a more intensive commercial stain removal approach may be necessary for stains that have deeply set into your pool’s surface.

The most reliable way to thoroughly remove these stains and prevent their return is to drain the pool and treat the stains aggressively.

Draining your pool might seem like a significant effort. However, while your pool is empty, it’s an opportune time to repair any cracks or tears, eradicate all stains, and address any other necessary repairs. It’s important not to leave your pool drained for too long, so ensure you have all your repairs planned and materials on hand before you start draining.

Consider hiring a professional pool cleaning service if you’re unsure about how to properly drain and refill your pool.

Contact Blue Lemon Pools for Help Draining Your Pool!