What Will Heavy Rain Do To My Pool?
Did you know that one of the worst things for your swimming pool is water? It’s no joke, rain water can mess with your home pool in many ways, from its electrics to the chemical balance and, in flood situations, it can even fry your pump. Of course, in winter, we expect our share of heavy rain and electrical storms. You would’t use your pool during a thunderstorm, but if you should jump in afterwards, you could find your eyes stinging and the water tasting unusual.
It's All In The Balance
The reason is that rainwater has a different pH from pool water, which is treated with chemicals to avoid irritating your eyes. Heavy rain softens the water, lowering calcium hardness and dilutes its cyanuric acid. Maintaining the pH of your pool is a delicate balancing act, so you need to test and adjust the pH of your water after every rainfall. Even an inch of rain can affect your pool’s pH balance.
Don't Go Green With Algae
Although rain itself is pure water, as it falls through the air it picks up dust, oils, pollutants, pollen and algae spores. Water flowing into your pool will have run off your lawn, planters and any overhanging trees, so phosphates from the soil can also affect your pool water, causing the water to turn cloudy or develop algae. If garden debris is blown into the pool this can obstruct the skimmer, so after a heavy storm, you’ll need to vacuum the pool and rake away any invaders. After this, you can add a phosphate remover to the water to stop the algae taking hold.
Get Pumping
Heavy rain can cause your pool water levels to increase, and if the water rises too much, your skimmer box could be overwhelmed, and stop working properly. Using a submersible pump can lower the water levels so long as you can divert the overflow to a nearby storm drain.
Before The Storm
If you have time, there are some actions you can take before rain hits that will definitely save you time and money later.
- If your pool’s electric pump is removable, take it safely indoors as soon as a rainstorm is forecast. If that’s not possible, then some well-positioned sandbags can stop the electrics being damaged and save you forking out for an expensive replacement.
- Anticipate and prevent an algae invasion by adding an algaecide to the pool water before a storm.
- Avoid potential damage to your pool and surrounds by tying down and securing your garden furniture or outdoor toys.
- Don’t cover your pool. It won’t stop all the above, and pool covers can be badly damaged by storms.
- Don’t drain your pool. It may be tempting to avoid a flood by emptying the water altogether for winter, but this can seriously damage your pool. Long periods of heavy rain can cause the water table to rise and your pool liner could lift and crack. By keeping the weight of water inside the pool liner you’re increasing its stability in the ground.
Here at Barrier Reef Pools we can advise you on the best pool for your requirements. We have three showrooms in Perth so you can see exactly what you’re buying, so contact us today.
