How to Clean Your Pool After a Storm

Welcome back, ePoolSupply supporters! Do you know how to clean up your pool after a major storm? Heavy rains, winds, and natural disasters like floods can destroy the cleanest and most well-maintained swimming pool, leaving the owner in disbelief of their tropical oasis. Severe weather can sweep dirt and debris into your pool, while floods can add an even larger amount of mud, silt, and contaminants. At ePoolSupply, we know it seems challenging to maintain a healthy pool after a storm or flood, so we have compiled these easy-to-follow tips below for returning your pool water back to crystal clear, no matter how dirty your pool might look.

Steps to Recover Your Pool:

1. Inspect Equipment
2. Clean out any debris
3. Rebalance the water chemistry
4. Turn on the pump and filter

Inspect Equipment 

Before doing anything, inspect the electrical components. If something was damaged, call a pool professional to come help and fix it. If anything got wet, let it dry out for a minimum of 24 hours. 

Clean Out Debris 

Use a skimmer to remove as much debris from your pool as possible. Then, brush your entire pool to loosen any dirt and contaminants from the walls and floors. Now, you should either manually vacuum your pool or turn on your automatic pool cleaner for at least one full cycle. Finally, you should clean out your skimmer baskets.  

1. Skim to remove all large debris floating around 
2. Brush the walls and floors 
3. Vacuum your pool 
4. Clean out all skimmer baskets

Rebalance the Water Chemistry 

Once your pool is debris free, it is time to balance your pool water. You should test your water in order, the first one is your Total Alkalinity which should be anywhere between 80-120 ppm. Next is the pH and that should be 7.4 - 7.6. Now you should test the calcium hardness levels, this should be between 200-400 ppm. Finally, you should test the Cyanuric Acid and that would be 30-50 ppm. 

Here is what your levels should be:

• Total Alkalinity: 80–120 ppm
• pH: 7.4–7.6
• Calcium Hardness: 200–400 ppm
• Cyanuric Acid: 30–50 ppm

Turn on the Pump and Filter 

After everything is completely clear, the last thing to do is to turn on your pump and filter. Allow the circulation and filtration system to run continuously until the pool water is completely clear. Depending on how dirty your pool is, it could take a couple of days, adding a water clarifier is a great way to speed up the process. Keep an eye on the skimmer and strainer baskets, in addition to the filter pressure gauge. Empty the baskets as soon as they fill up, and backwash your filter if the pressure gauge reads 8–10 psi above the normal starting rate.

Do Not Drain the Pool

The biggest thing you should NOT do is to drain your pool. Doing this can cause serious damage, it can lead to your entire pool popping out of the ground due to the stress of the elevated water. However, if the water level in your pool is above the skimmer line, you can do a partial drain to lower the water to an appropriate level.

In conclusion,  if you are unsure how to do any of this please contact your local pool professional and have them come out and help you. While this process may seem daunting, the steps are necessary to protect your investment and ensure swimming pool safety.