Having a pool is great. It's a great spot in your yard to have fun and relax. But that great spot becomes a whole bunch of work on a breezy day. The strong wind may blow leaves, dirt, and sand into your clear water. This may clog up your filters and result in hours of cleanup. If you are in a breezy location, that is a headache you experience frequently. This guide provides you with five valuable tips to make a great plan for maintaining a clean pool in the wind.
Tip 1: The First Line of Defense is a Physical Barrier
The best thing to do with items that the wind blows in is to prevent them from entering the water. The best thing to plan ahead for is a physical barrier. It can prevent you from having to spend many hours cleaning. Your two best options are a pool cover and a screen enclosure.
A quality pool cover is the simplest and most popular solution. Solar covers are ideal for preserving the warm water, and they are very effective at excluding leaves. The ultimate protection comes from a solid safety cover that forms a rigid dam. It is difficult for even small particles of dust and sand to penetrate it. The best practice is to have a cover on when the pool is not in use, particularly when the forecast is calling for a blow.
If you desire a solution that is up at all times, a full-screen enclosure is ideal. It is expensive, but it places a large screen room around your pool. It stops leaves and bugs, and stops the high sun. It is the ultimate remedy for wind in the end.
Tip 2: Use Smart Landscaping to Your Advantage
The plants in your yard can be a big problem or a big help. If you have the wrong plants near the pool, they will be the main reason you have stuff in your water. Trees with branches hanging over the pool and messy pine trees will always make your water dirty.
You should start by trimming tree branches that hang over the pool or the deck. This simple task will lower the number of leaves that fall in your pool by a lot. For a long-term plan, think about the plants you choose. When you get new trees or bushes, pick kinds that do not drop a lot of small leaves or flowers.
You can also use plants to block the wind. A thick row of bushes can slow the wind down. This makes the wind drop leaves and dirt before they get to your pool. And you should not use fine sand or light mulch in gardens near your pool. The wind can easily pick these up and blow them into the water. It is better to use heavier things like rocks or big wood chips.
Tip 3: Make Your Pool's Systems Work Harder
Your pool’s pump and filter system is a great tool for cleaning up dirt. But you need to use it the right way when it is windy. To make it work its best, you need to pay attention to your skimmers and how long you run the pump.
The skimmer baskets are the first part of your filter system. Before it gets windy, you should empty them so they have lots of room. Then, during and after the wind, check them often. A full skimmer basket does not work at all. Water just goes around it, so the dirt stays in the pool.
You should also run your pump longer on windy days. The normal 8 hours might not be enough to clean up all the new dirt. You can run it for 12 hours or even 24 hours if there is a lot of wind. This will make sure more water gets filtered. It helps catch the dirt before it sinks to the bottom. A good trick is to point your water jets so they push water on the surface toward the skimmer. This helps the pool clean itself.
Tip 4: Wield the Right Cleaning Tools After the Storm
You can do a lot to stop dirt, but some will still get into your pool. After the wind stops, you need a good plan and the right tools to clean your pool quickly.
Start with Manual Skimming
Before you use an automatic pool cleaner, you should always take out the big pieces of debris by hand first. Use a leaf rake, which is a skimmer with a big net, to get out most of the leaves and sticks. If you let your automatic cleaner handle a huge pile of leaves, it will just get clogged. Getting the big stuff out first makes everything else easier.
Use Your Automatic Pool Cleaner
After the big pieces are gone, it is time to get the smaller bits. This is when an automatic pool cleaner is very helpful.
- Suction and Pressure Cleaners: These are good for normal cleaning, but they can sometimes have trouble with lots of dirt or get clogged.
- Robotic Pool Cleaners: A robotic pool cleaner is the best one for windy weather. It has its own filter bag, so it removes sand and dirt without making your pool's filter work harder. It also scrubs the floor and walls. This gives your pool a very deep clean after a storm. For tough jobs, a smart model like the iGarden Pool Cleaner K Pro 150 handles heavy debris effortlessly.
Tip 5: Test and Balance Your Water Chemistry
The one thing that people tend to forget the most on a windy day is the chemical balance within the pool. The leaves and dirt are not just undesirable. They are algae chow. When that material breaks down within the pool, it takes a whole bunch of your chlorine.
If you don't correct that, your pool is going to turn cloudy. Then you are likely to end up with a whole bunch of algae, and that's a whole lot bigger headache than a couple of leaves. Once you get the dirt scrubbed out of the pool, you need to test the water. Pay close attention to your pH and your chlorine. Your chlorine is likely to be low.
You are going to need to shock your pool with a fair amount of chlorine. This is going to raise the level of chlorine right away. This is going to get rid of any algae and kill the small bits of dirt that did not get cleaned out by your filter. This chemical process is as important as the actual cleaning.
Conclusion
You won't have a dirty pool just because you happen to live in a breezy location. You'll be able to maintain a very tidy pool if you use a cover, plant sensibly, and have a proper cleanup schedule. Some forethought and the right gear will eliminate the need to perform a laborious day. This means that the backyard pool gets to stay a party location, and not a hard job. Now you know how to upkeep your pool, even during breezy days.
