If you’re looking to clean to your pool with DIY techniques, you’re not alone. Most pool owners experience this necessary procedure at least once during their swimming pool ownership. While DIY is possible, keeping your pool clean is going to require a lot of chemicals and hard work. Therefore, most homeowners in Arizona opt for professional pool repair services.
In order to ensure that you’re protecting yourself and cleaning your pool properly, here are 17 pool chemical safety tips you can use for your weekend DIY pool cleaning project:
- 1. Wear protective gear such as gloves, masks, goggles, and appropriate clothing when handling chemicals.
- 2. Store chemicals in cool, dry, and well-ventilated places.
- 3. Never store liquids directly above dry chemicals. If the containers leak, the chemical reaction that can occur could be devastating.
- 4. Never mix acids with chlorine solutions because this releases deadly chlorine gas.
- 5. Store chemicals in the original manufacturer’s carton, jug, or box it came with.
- 6. Read safety labels on the chemicals and follow the instructions. Adding too much or too less chemicals can result in unsafe pool water that has the potential to create serious skin irritations.
- 7. Keep any food and drinks away from your chemical storage space.
- 8. Use an assigned scoop or tool for each chemical because using the same tool to measure out other chemicals is dangerous.
- 9. Always add chemicals to the pool water, never the opposite. Adding moisture to chemicals can spark a chemical reaction that releases toxic gases.
- 10. Keep any chemicals away from children and pets.
- 11. Use test kits often to keep chlorine and PH levels within the recommended range.
- 12. Never smoke when handling chemicals because the dust and chemicals might be flammable.
- 13. If you need to dispose of chemical spills, call the proper officials. Improperly disposing toxic chemicals down the drain or sink can damage water piping, poison the groundwater, and surrounding ecosystems, which is hard to filter and not recommended.
- 14. Prolonged skin contact with chemicals causes burns, and you should immediately wash your skin off with cold tap water.
- 15. Never use chemicals after their expiration date. Partial or complete decomposition of a chemical makes it release toxic gases and other by-products.
- 16. Never mix chemicals together because this can create a chemical reaction and can be a dangerous situation.
- 17. Only use water to put out a chemical chlorinated product fire. Adding more chemicals might make it expand and get out of control.
Do You Really Need Chemicals for Your Pool?
In short, the answer is yes. Chemicals are essential for a number of things from sanitizing and keeping your pool disinfected to the prevention of the transmission of harmful bacteria and germs. Pool chemicals also aid with the “hardness” of your pool water, ensuring the plaster on your pool’s surface doesn’t corrode.
If you didn’t use essential chemicals such as chlorine and bromine, there’s a good chance that you or a family member could become seriously ill every time your swimming pool is used. It’s wise to keep bottles of chlorine, bromine, bleach, calcium, and other chemicals handy that are specifically designed for cleaning pool water.
Why Consider Hiring a Professional Pool Cleaner?
It can be a real hassle to maintain your pool, especially considering there’s a wide range of chemicals that each have their own specific amounts and ratios to use. When it comes to safe pool water, it’s always best to hire an expert such as Gilbert Poolman for a routine pool filter cleaning.
If you have a swimming pool in Gilbert or Chandler, Arizona, Gilbert Poolman is the most recommended pool cleaner in the area. We are fully insured and licensed to conduct pool cleaning services in the state of Arizona. Additionally, we’re a family-owned business with local roots that takes pride in providing premium pool cleaning services coupled by excellent customer service for anyone who owns a swimming pool.
