Happy are the owners who have a swimming pool! With the sun being more and more present and the temperatures continuing to rise a little more each day, they will soon be able to bathe there. To be able to take advantage of it at the first opportunity, however, the swimming pool must be operational. In other words, that it is clean and healthy.
If things have been done well, the basin was normally put into wintering around the end of October and the beginning of November: floats were placed there in order to protect it from frost, the filtration system was shut down. , and it was covered with a tarp or blanket.
“The basin must not be emptied under any circumstances”, recalls the FPP (Federation of Swimming Pool Professionals). “If it is not submerged, the coating of the swimming pool, in particular its liner, risks deteriorating “.
Before you can use your pool again, you must rid it of specific equipment during wintering, restart the pump, clean it, but also and above all ensure that the water quality is good enough to allow swimming. Steps that take time!
That is why professionals advise to start in March or April. “At this time of year, the water is generally between 11 and 15 °, which is a good temperature to prevent algae from proliferating”, explains the FPP. “As soon as we exceed 14/15 °, water deteriorates faster and cleaning becomes more tedious “.
Provided you have been contacted early enough, a professional can restart a swimming pool. The intervention is invoiced on average 250 €, an amount which varies of course according to the size of the pool and the level of service chosen. However, individuals can go it alone in this operation.
Open the pool after winter
Open the pool after winter © iStock
If things have been done properly, the pool has normally been covered with a protection – tarpaulin or cover – intended to prevent impurities from settling on it. It is necessary remove it, clean it and put it away making sure it is completely dry.
Then you have to rid the pool of all specific equipment put in place before winter to protect it from frost: floats, gizmo (small plugs placed in skimmers), etc.
In a second step, we plug the overflow of the swimming pool – if there is one – then we add water to the basin so as to raise the level to the upper level of the skimmers. “The maneuver aims to compensate for the inevitable losses caused by cleaning”, explains the FPP.
Restarting the pool filtration system
Restart the filtration system of his swimming pool © iStock
The next step is to restart the filtration system. If the equipment does not have an automatic reboot system, it may not restart instantly. This does not mean, however, that it no longer works. After several months of stoppage, it often happens that the pump’s rotation mechanism is seized, it is then simply necessary to help it to restart. Two or three attempts are also sometimes necessary.
The best way to get the pump running again is to start with close the supply valves skimmers and the main drain, then fill the pre-filter with water – an element that we have taken care of grease to ensure a better seal -, put the multi-way filter valve in the position “circulation” and, finally, to start the filtration.
After a few minutes of operation, all you have to do is re-open, one after the other, the feed valves of the skimmers. The purpose of the maneuver is to allow air bubbles that have remained trapped in the piping to escape. It is normal for the pump to draw air first. If all goes well, it will end up sucking in water after a while, proof that the air has been purged.
When restarting a swimming pool, it is recommended to let the pump run continuously. Normally, she is only made to work 12 to 15 hours a day and only during the day.
Cleaning the pool before use
Clean your swimming pool before using it again © iStock
Now that the pump is working, the basin can be cleaned. To remove the deposit most effectively, it is advisable to manually sweep “from the bottom to the sewer” in other words, to get rid of impurities by sending them directly into the sewer without passing them through the filter. “Most people make the mistake of starting cleaning with a robot, but with its movements, the device suspends dirt in the water, which greatly complicates the task instead of simplifying it”, informs the federation of swimming pool professionals.
To carry out this cleaning, we closes the supply valve of all the skimmers except one, and that of the main drain, so as to concentrate all the suction pressure in one and the same point. Then connect one end of a flexible hose to the open skimmer and the other to the head of a broom. Before turning on the pump, the multi-way valve of the filter must be put in position “sewer”.
After cleaning the bottom, you have to tackle the pool walls which can also be dirty. To limit the effort, it is best to be equipped with a broom with a telescopic handle.
Ultimate area to clean: the water line. The water having remained motionless for a long time, a demarcation may be visible on the walls, so it must be removed. For this, we use specific products and a non-abrasive sponge. “We must absolutely avoid using household products because they risk not only damaging the coating of the swimming pool but also dirtying the water by creating foam”, insists the federation.
Swimming pool water treatment
Treat the water in your swimming pool before swimming in it again © iStock
After the cleaning stage comes that of water treatment, or rather of water analysis. Impossible indeed to treat her without knowing what she needs! Before rushing to disinfectant products, it is therefore recommended to analyze the quality of its water either using specific measuring devices, or by taking a sample that will be taken to a professional.
To know if the water is sufficiently well balanced, it is necessary successively to measure its pH, his TAC, that is to say the content of baking soda or hydrogencarbonate and, finally, its TH , in other words its hydrotimetric titer. It will then be “rebalance” pool water by introducing correctors. For chlorine to be effective, the pH must therefore be closest to neutrality (7.0).
If the readings are correct, only a small part of the pool water will need to be renewed. If they are too bad, however, the entire pool will have to be emptied and then refilled.
All that’s left to do is disinfect the water. In general, after a long period of stagnation, it is advisable to carry out a “shock treatment” therefore to put twice the usual dose of products: chlorine, bromine …
If impurities persist at the bottom of the pool, do not hesitate to perform a second bottom sweep. To sanitize the water, clarify it and above all keep it clean, know that you can also add an anti-algae product and a flocculant product. The cleaning robot, on the other hand, comes only last to do the finishing touches.
