Pool ownership can be a balancing act. Learning the best ways to keep your swimming pool clean while leaving plenty of time to actually enjoy it. Fortunately, fiberglass pools are the lowest maintenance inground pools on the market today.

Concrete pools (also called gunite), have surfaces that are porous. What this means is that they have tiny spaces where things like mildew, mold, bacteria, and other organisms can hang out and multiply. The presence of these things causes water quality issues that you continuously battle. Over time, these bothersome pool pests can tarnish the look of your pool while causing wear on equipment. Fiberglass on the other hand, is inert and the surface is both smooth and non-porous. This means there’s no place for any of those unpleasant things to hide. This is a big win for the pool owner or care-taker.

Fiberglass pools aren’t completely maintenance free but with efficient regular care you can certainly reduce the time spent on pool management tasks. Here’s some important steps to help you maintain crystal clear water.

Test the Water Regularly

Water that is optimized for such things as chlorine, pH balance, calcium hardness, cyanuric acid, and total alkalinity will be the safest and most enjoyable overall. Because of the material that they are made of, there is way less tweaking of these elements that need to happen when compared to other types of inground pools. Less testing and less chemical expenses make for a reduction in cost of ownership.

Weekly Checks

On a weekly basis, check your pool water using  the 5 in 1 Insta-Test Strips. Check your pump’s skimmer basket for leaves and other debris.  A Solar-Breeze unit is an easy to use solar powered weekly skimmer and vacuum unit that can help maintain long term cleanliness.

Run the Pool Pump/Filter

A good rule of thumb is to run the pool pump at least once daily. The entire amount of water in the pool should pass through the filter once every 24 hours. The average time for this to happen is 8 hours but an exact length of time depends on the size of your pool and the type of pump that you have.

Refill the Pool When Necessary

It is no secret that water evaporates and your pool is no different. It’s very important that you keep your water midway to two-thirds up the skimmer or it will not be able to function properly. Things to consider include the time of year, the rainfall, the temperature, the humidity, and how much gets splashed out from kids playing etc. There are many factors to consider when it comes to keeping tabs on the water level.