7 Things to Do to Your Pool After It Rains

Rain can be a boon to your pool because it tops it off without any work on your part. However, that are a few chores you need to handle after a storm. What do you need to do? It depends largely on the effect the rain has had on your pool, which can be both physical and chemical. Is your pool green after rain? You might also notice cloudy pool water after rain. Even if you see bugs in the pool after rain, we have suggestions to help you make your pool perfect and inviting again.

• Your first step is to check the water level. Optimally, your pool water level will be in the middle of your skimmer opening. If it’s above that, it can throw off the chemistry of your pool water. Fortunately, learning how to drain water from the pool after rain is not difficult. If you need to bring the level of your pool down, use your pool pump, setting it to waste, or backwash. Hooking up your backwash hose, turn on the pool pump, and watch the pool’s water level as the water is pulled from the pool. Before you do this, though, check the chlorine level. You don’t want to release any water exceeding .1 ppm chlorine into the public sewer system because it’s harmful to the ecosystem and not permitted by law.
• Once the level is right, turn on the filter. First, empty the pump and pool skimmer baskets, then turn on the pump and leave it running while you get ready to work with your pool’s chemistry.
• Shocking the pool will give your water a boost. When you shock the pool after rain, you compensate for the dilution of your pool’s chlorine. One shock treatment won’t balance your pool water, but it will get the process started while you’re cleaning the pool.
• Clean out anything floating in your pool water. Skim the surface so that foreign objects don’t sink to the bottom of your pool. It will probably just be leaves, twigs and bugs, but if it’s not cleaned out of your pool, it will ruin your water, so it’s best to skim it quickly. Of course, you can also add an automatic skimmer to the pool to save labor and time.
• Clean what’s under the surface, too. Brush the pool, scrubbing the walls and stairs. You don’t want to leave any contaminants that could turn your pool cloudy or green. If you have an automatic pool cleaner, this is when you’ll put it into the pool. If you use a vacuum, hook it up to the skimmer and clean the pool floor, vacuuming across the full length of the pool. If you don’t have a vacuum, push the debris into the main drain with your brush.
• If you see tiny black bugs in the pool after rain, you can get rid of them through your normal cleaning. Whether they’re water striders, thrips, gnats, or mites, the protocol is the same. The chlorine shock will help to kill them, and you can skim and vacuum them out of your pool. If bugs are a recurrent problem, consider an algaecide, which will kill off their food source.
• Once the pool is clean, test the chemical levels. The pollution in rain can throw off your pool’s pH and decrease its alkalinity. It can also add contaminants to the water and decrease chlorine levels. After a rain, check the pH, total alkalinity, calcium hardness, and chlorine levels. You can do this using a test kit, then adding chemicals to rebalance the water, or you can have your water professionally tested and maintained.

When you need someone to help maintain your pool, Millennium Pools and Spas can help. With over 30 combined years of experience in the pool industry, we provide a comprehensive range of pool services for both residential and commercial customers in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland. When you hire Millennium Pool Service, you get a well-qualified, industry-trained staff of pool contractors and technicians, services that are tailored to your needs, and a commitment to 100% customer satisfaction. Contact us for more information.