If you expect to dive into crystal clear waters in your home’s backyard swimming pool, then you must put swimming pool cleaning onto your household chore list on a regular basis. It takes a weekly commitment of at least several hours of labor in order to ensure a sparkling clean swimming pool the rest of the week.

There are a number of cleaning tools you should invest in from a pool supply retailer. These include a long-handled netted leaf skimmer which will make removing large pieces of debris much easier; a pool vacuum to remove any dirt or debris that has settled on the bottom of the pool; nylon-bristled floor and wall brushes to clean every vinyl, fiberglass or painted pool surface; a stainless-steel algae brush for removing any build-up on plaster walls; and a hand-held tile brush and pumice stone for removing calcium deposit build-up from any tiled surface.

There are four basic swimming pool cleaning steps that must be taken weekly. First, skim the surface of the water to remove any leaves or other floating debris before they sink to the bottom and reduce the efficiency of the pool’s circulation system.

Next, remove any debris that has accumulated in the pool’s strainer baskets located on the pool deck or attached to the side. Often leaves or other debris get caught here and lessen the pool’s circulation system. So this simple step will increase water circulation which helps keep the pool’s water fresh and sparkling.

Now it’s time for vacuuming the floor of the pool. Take your time in going back and forth over the pool floor, overlapping your strokes slightly each time to make sure your vacuum is picking up any sediment or dirt that has gathered on the bottom. If your vacuum picks up quite a bit of dirt each week, be sure to clean the vacuum filter on a weekly basis so that all your efforts won’t go to waste with a vacuum that has little suctioning power.

Next comes the work of the brush brigade. Brushing the walls of your pool each week helps eliminate algae and calcium build-up as well as other scum that accumulates. Be sure you are using the correct brush for the type of material being cleaned because you don’t want to ruin handsome tiles or the grouting by rubbing them with a scratchy brush surface. Ask your pool cleaning supplier or pool manufacturer exactly which brush is recommended to use on what surface.

All done? Put your swimming pool cleaning supplies away until next week and dive in!