How Often Should You Clean Your Pool?

It’s perhaps the most-asked question regarding pool maintenance: how often should you clean your pool? Well, some tasks, such as skimming the surface and dumping the strainer baskets, may need to be done daily. Others, like brushing and vacuuming, typically only need to be done about once a week. We’ll go over everything else you need to know about this topic below.

Routine Cleaning Tasks

The following table breaks down which tasks are involved in pool cleaning and how often they should generally be completed:

Let’s dig deeper into those tasks that should be done every day.

Most pool filtration systems have strainer baskets located at the skimmer drains, which prevent large debris such as leaves and sticks from entering the underground drain pipes and clogging them up. There’s also typically a strainer basket near the pump/filter, which acts as one final barrier (pool filters are only designed to remove small particles such as dirt and oil from your water — large debris can damage the filter as well as your pump).

Check these baskets daily. Whenever you find debris inside, dump them out. If you neglect this task, the debris will eventually break down enough for some of it to get through the strainer. Also, a strainer basket that’s full of debris will make it harder for your pump to circulate water, putting additional, unnecessary wear-and-tear on the whole system.

And you don’t have to wait around for these skimmer drains to capture the floating debris in your pool. Sometimes, they won’t be able to do their job in time — debris will often get water-logged and sink before it ever makes its way to these drains. That can lead to staining and other issues, so every day you should check on the surface of your pool and use a skimmer net to remove any debris that you happen to see. 

There are two types of skimmer nets available: flat nets and bag nets. We recommend using a flat net. While you won’t be able to capture as much debris at a time, it’s much easier to dump out.

Another thing you should check on every day is your pool filter’s pressure gauge. Indeed, if your filter isn’t clean, then your water isn’t clean. When this gauge shows a reading of about 7-10 psi higher than normal, then you’ll know that it’s time to clean your pool’s filter. 

Let’s now address the tasks that should be done on a weekly basis: brushing your pool, vacuuming your pool, and cleaning your pool deck. 

Use a pool brush with a telescopic pole to detach any algae that may be growing on the sides and bottom of your pool. Make sure to brush the stairs and ladders going into the pool as well. This pushes the algae into the water, making it easier for whatever sanitizer you’re using (chlorine, bromine, etc.) to kill it. 

As for vacuuming, it’s important to note that you shouldn’t do this immediately after brushing your pool, as it takes a little time for the debris that you kick up from brushing to settle at the bottom. You should wait at least a few hours, and waiting until the next day is even better. For example, if you want to do your weekly pool cleaning chores every weekend, you could brush on Saturday and then vacuum on Sunday. 

Vacuuming can be done manually with a vacuum head and hose that attaches to a telescopic pole, but this is somewhat difficult and time-consuming — if you can afford it, you should consider investing in a robotic pool vacuum that takes care of the task for you.

You should also clean your pool desk once a week. If you don’t, much of the dirt and leaves that collect on your deck will end up in your pool, putting more of a strain on the filtration system. 

Most of the time, just sweeping or hosing down your deck will be good enough. But if you notice algae growing on your deck, you’ll need a more powerful solution. In that case, you could use a pressure washer or a cleaning product such as concentrated deck wash or trisodium phosphate powder.

Finally, to keep the water clean enough to swim in safely, you must make sure that you have the correct chemical balance in your pool. 

Most pools rely on one of the three following types of sanitizer: chlorine, bromine, or salt. Use a test strip to measure the concentration of the sanitizer in your pool and add more if necessary. Also, the pH of your pool water should be between 7.2 to 7.6. You can use soda ash to raise the pH and muriatic acid to lower it.

Other Factors Affecting How Often You Should Clean Your Pool

While the routine described above will work well in most circumstances, there may be times when you should clean your pool more often than that. For example:

• Change of seasons: In the autumn months, you may have more debris falling into your pool than usual, especially if there happen to be deciduous trees located above or even just near your pool. The average time to clean a pool is usually about one to two hours per week, but it could be significantly longer in the fall. 
• Storms: The wind and rain of a heavy storm can sweep a lot of debris onto your deck as well as directly into your pool, so you should clean up immediately after.
• Parties: More people often leads to more debris in your pool, such as food waste, trash, etc. It’s a good idea to treat these events the same way you would a storm and clean up the mess as soon as possible.

How Much Does Pool Cleaning Cost?

Taking a DIY approach to pool cleaning may help you save some money, but it’s certainly not free. For example, here’s the average cost of some of the most common pool cleaning materials: 

• Telescopic pole with skimmer, brush, and vacuum heads: $35 to $50

• pH and chemical test kits: $15 each

• Chlorine: $4 per gallon

• Bromine: $50 per five-gallon container

• Muriatic acid: $8 per gallon

• Soda ash: $8 per six-pound container

If you’d prefer to hire a professional pool cleaning service, the cost will depend on the size of the pool as well as other factors (e.g., you may be charged extra if there’s a canopy of old-growth trees hanging over your pool). In general, you can expect to pay about $80 to $150 per month. 

Want an estimate for how much it would cost to have your specific pool cleaned? Contact Cabana Pools to get started on your quote now.