How Do I Maintain My New Swimming Pool?

Congratulations, you have just bought a swimming pool and the summer now guarantees hours of fun playing and splashing in the water! The children are happy and you too can now enjoy the wonderful cooling water all summer long. Now all you have to do is set up and fill the pool!

Still, your water does not always remain pure and clean. It is also necessary to add maintenance products to your water so that it is disinfected and remains free of bacteria. Water can become toxic after some time. You would not expect it, but water becomes very dangerous if it is not treated with a bactericidal agent.

Step 1: Fill the pool

Once your swimming pool is set up, it can be filled with water. You can choose between rainwater, groundwater or tap water for this. You should try to avoid groundwater unless you live in a rural area with very clean soil. A better option is rainwater or tap water.

Know that the treatment of rainwater is slightly different than the treatment of tap water. Go immediately to the step-by-step plan for:

• Rain or groundwater
• Tap water

Step 2: Option rain or groundwater

A. With lime or iron-rich water

Add BSI Calc Free to the water. With this, you stop and prevent the lime formation and mineral deposits in the swimming pool water. That way you prevent the water from discoloring (eg rust color). For initial treatment, you must use a quantity depending on the hardness of the swimming pool water.

First treatment

• Less than 20 ° f (200ppm): 250 ml per 10m³
• +/- 30 ° f (300ppm): 330 ml per 10m³
• More than 40 ° f (400ppm): 500 ml per 10m³

When topping up

• 50 ml per 10 m³

B. With iron-rich water

Use BSI Micro Floc. This Micro Floc will neutralize fine, organic contamination. For strong soiling, use 250 ml per 10 m³. Then for the weekly maintenance 100ml per 10m³. After applying the Micro Floc you need to vacuum your swimming pool.

C. Alkalinity adjustment 

Ideal alkalinity is between 80 and 150 ppm.

• Less than 80 ppm: pH fluctuations. If the alkalinity is too low, you will measure pH fluctuations. In this case, for example, if you add the pH UP product, the pH value can still fall.
• More than 150 ppm: too high a pH value will be measured

Alkalinity increase by 10 ppm: 14g BSI Alkalinity UP / 1m³

Decrease alkaline by 10 ppm: 2g BSI pH Down powder / 1m³

Step 3: Tap water option

A. Add BSI Calc Free

Add BSI Calc Free depending on the hardness of your swimming pool water. By adding BSI Calc Free you prevent limescale formation in the swimming pool water and consequently also the development of white edges on the edge of the swimming pool.

First treatment

• Less than 200 ppm: 250 ml / 10 m³
• Approximately 300 ppm: 330 ml / 10 m³
• More than 400 ppm: 500 ml / 10 m³

When topping up

• 50 ml / 1 m³

Step 4: adjust pH

To protect your skin it is important to keep an eye on the pH value of the swimming pool water. The pH value of water must be between 7.0 and 7.6.

Do you measure a pH that is not between 7.0 and 7.6? Then update this with BSI pH Up or BSI pH Down.

Dosage to raise/lower the water with 0.2 pH units.

• 20ml / 1m³

Don't forget to regularly measure the pH value.

Step 5: Adjust chlorine content

A. Add fast-acting chlorine

Chlorine is necessary for the pool water as a disinfectant against bacteria and to kill algae. The (free) chlorine content must be between 1 and 2 ppm. At start-up, BSI Fast-acting chlorine must, therefore, be added to the swimming pool water. This fast-acting chlorine consists of granules, which are small granules. The first mix this granulates in a bucket of water and then pours it into a few places in the pool.

Dosage of fast-acting chlorine:

• 3 scoops or 75g / 10m³

After adding the floor, the water must circulate for 1 hour. It will then take another 6 hours for the water to be safe enough to swim in.

B. Add long-acting chlorine

To keep the chlorine content between 1 and 2 ppm, you must use long-acting chlorine the day after starting up. Place these tablets in the skimmer, float or chlorine dispenser to keep the chlorine level up for 2 weeks.

Step 6: Crystal clear water

To keep your pool water crystal clear, add BSI Cristal Clear.

Dosage first treatment:

• 250 ml / 10 m³

Dosage weekly maintenance:

• 50 ml / 10 m³

Alternatives to chlorine

Because some people cannot be found for those chemicals, they prefer a salt-water system. That way your water will be kept clean by means of salt. The water will, therefore, taste salty. Such a salt-water system costs a bit more, but then you can be sure that you keep it pure nature. Furthermore, there are numerous systems where you can drastically reduce the dosage of chlorine. For example, there are UV emitters or all kinds of purification devices.

Other and cheaper ways to use less chlorine is the use of zeolite or glass instead of sand in your sand filter. Zeolite and glass are known to reduce the use of chlorine because they filter the water much better. Moreover, you only have to replace zeolite every 2 to 3 years, you don't even have to replace the glass!