Simple Tips To Easily Maintain Your Small Above Ground Pool

In this post, I am sharing some simple tips to maintain your small/medium size above ground pool easily. Whether you are setting up a new pool this summer or trying to figure out how to maintain your existing pool, I am sharing some helpful tips to know what you need to do to be able to enjoy crystal clear, safe to swim water. All summer long!

This year we ended up upgrading the kid’s inflatable splash pool and getting a small above ground pool for them to enjoy. It was my first time setting up a larger pool and figuring out things like adding chlorine, and chemicals to the water, purchasing a filter pump, and more.

We used to dump the dirty water with our old small inflatable and refill it with fresh water every couple of days, so maintaining a larger pool without dumping it every few days was all new to me.

It took some trial and error, watching YouTube videos, asking Google, and texting friends with pools to get it right. Until I finally got the chemical balance right, and I can maintain it with crystal clear water that we all can enjoy this summer. And now, I’ll share my tips with you so that you can get them right from the start.

1. Find the right size pool for your backyard. Before you order your new pool, look at your yard and consider the size and shape of the pool that you want to buy.  We ended up purchasing a rectangular frame pool that fits our yard perfectly; we set it up over a concrete pad; remember it is essential to level the ground where you intend to place it.
2. Purchase the right filter pump for your pool. First, find the right size for it. This is essential! I ordered a pump that was too small for our pool, and it didn’t really work at all. The filter kept clogging within minutes of the pump running, and it was not a good experience. We ended up getting another pump, and it was perfect for our pool. For our 2,000 L pool, we got a Filter Pump with a 1,000 GPH pump flow rate. To properly filter and clear the water,  and make it difficult for bacteria and algae to form, all of the water in the pool must pass through the filter at least 2-3 times per day. So the pump has to run around 3-6 hrs per day or more, depending on the size of your pool and your own pumps. For our pool size and our pump, 3hrs a day is enough.  TIPS: If you find the pump is not pushing water out with the same pressure, take the filter out (following safety instructions for your pump), and use a hose to spray clean it. Once the filter is clean, it will go back to pumping full pressure again. The replaceable pump filters are supposed to be changed every couple of weeks, so stock up on filters for the summer season before the summer starts. It is hard to get them mid-summer!
3. Brush, vacuum, and clear debris from your pool once a week. Get a small pool vacuum and a pool cleaning brush to do this weekly. We also got a pool net to remove leaves, insects, and other debris that collects on top of your pool.
4. Cover your pool at night. Get a pool cover or use a tarp on top of the pool at night. This will help keep debris out of the pool and make it easier to keep it clean.
5. Keep your pool water balanced and test it to ensure water is clean and swimmers are comfortable and safe. It is so important to ensure the water is balanced. Maintain pH levels between 7.2 and 7.8 and chlorine levels between 2.0 and 4.0 ppm. Use pool water test strips to check this, daily, once starting, and weekly once you reach the desire levels and you are more comfortable with the chemical routine.
6. Use chlorine tabs to maintain chlorine levels. In addition, it is important to use chlorine pucks to help maintain your chlorine levels. For a small pool, 1″ chlorine pucks are recommended. Also, use a pool chemical dispenser floaty to help dispense chlorine evenly throughout the day.
7. Shock pool water weekly for clean, clear water, especially after use or heavy rain. Shock pool water With a Super Shock Treatment after filling it up for the first time to raise chlorine levels. Once they go down to safe levels, you can add the chlorine pucks in the floaty to maintain the levels.  After shocking your pool, you need to wait for 24hr or more before swimming in the pool, depending on your shock treatment, so read the instructions and follow those. ALWAYS test the water before allowing any swimming after shocking your pool.
8. Learn how to use test strips properly. One of the most important things to do when maintaining a pool is testing the water to ensure the chemical levels are balanced and your water is clean and safe. Read the instructions for the pool water test strips you are using, be careful not to get the strip wet before testing the water, dip the strip vertically for 2 seconds, and read the results immediately.
9. Alkalinity tip. If your alkalinity is low, lower than recommended, you can easily raise the levels by adding baking soda to your pool. A rule of thumb is 1.5 lbs. of baking soda per 10,000 gallons of water will raise alkalinity by about 10 ppm. If your pool’s pH has tested below 7.2, add 3-4 pounds of baking soda. This happened to me, and after adding the baking soda, the levels went back up to normal.

And that should do it. You should be able to enjoy crystal clean water while maintaining bacteria-free, safe water in your pool. The perfect summer fun for the entire family!

Get the right pump for your pool, install it carefully following instructions, and regularly clean/change the filter.

Use a floaty disperser to ensure the chlorine is distributed evenly.

Test, test, test. In the beginning, you’ll be testing the water regularly to ensure the levels stay safe. Then, once you have the hang of it, you can test weekly and always after a shock treatment.

Now you can enjoy your safe, clean, above ground pool all season. Yay!

Do you have any questions? Let me know in the comments below!