Pool Life Maintenance Services

Pool Life’s “Regular Pool Maintenance” produces clear, safe water that comes from a consistent routine built on five pillars: circulation, filtration, sanitisation, water balance, and physical cleaning.

Practical steps such as skimming, water-level checks, and quick pH/chlorine tests in warm weather; brushing, vacuuming or a robot cycle, emptying baskets, a full water test, chemical adjustments in the sequence (alkalinity → pH → calcium → stabiliser → sanitiser), and a filter check/backwash if pressure rises 8–10 psi.

Monthly tasks include cleaning the waterline, inspecting equipment, and maintaining cartridges or media. At the same time, seasonal preparation encompasses pre-summer tune-ups and pre-winter strategies, along with additional testing after storms or heavy use.

Quick-reference targets include pH 7.2–7.6, free chlorine 1–3 ppm (2–4 ppm for salt pools), total alkalinity 80–120 ppm, calcium hardness 200–400 ppm, and stabiliser 30–50 ppm.

Troubleshooting tips address cloudy water, algae, scale, and chloramine odour, alongside energy-savers like longer low-speed pump runs, clean baskets/filters, covers, and thoughtful landscaping.

A Pool Life service visit includes testing/balancing, system checks, cleaning, filtration optimisation, and tailored advice.

Pool Life’s Green Pool Recovery guide explains how to turn a swamp back into a swim-ready pool—safely and quickly—by following a clear, sequenced plan.

It starts with causes (low sanitiser for your CYA level, poor circulation/filtration, high pH, debris/nutrients, heat and UV), plus a safety checklist and basic tools.

The step-by-step method is: restore circulation (clear baskets, prime pump, correct water level); set pH to ~7.2; shock hard (10–20 ppm FC depending on CYA, using liquid chlorine especially for salt pools); brush thoroughly to break biofilm; then filter 24/7 while maintaining high FC and cleaning/backwashing whenever pressure rises 8–10 psi.

Once the water turns blue-grey but cloudy, clear fine particles with either a clarifier (easy, keep filtering) or a floc (fast: dose, let settle, then vacuum to waste). Finish by fine-tuning chemistry in order—TA → pH → CH → CYA → FC—and confirming salinity for chlorinators.

Expect green-to-teal on Day 0, cloudy blue on Day 1, clear by Days 2–3, and a polished sparkle by Days 3–5 (longer if filters are undersized or CYA is high). Prevention focuses on keeping FC matched to CYA, adequate run time, weekly brushing, debris control, and logging tests.

Pool Life explains why routine testing, combined with minor, orderly adjustments, helps keep the water clear, comfortable, and surfaces and equipment protected. It highlights four payoffs—health, comfort, protection and savings—then provides target ranges for core metrics: FC, pH, TA, CH, CYA (and salt for SWGs).

Testing cadence is simple: in summer or heavy use, check pH and free chlorine every 2–3 days and run a full test weekly; in milder months, weekly spot checks and a fortnightly full test; always test after storms, parties or heatwaves. Use a drop-test kit or photometer, sample elbow-deep after the pump has run 30 minutes, and test immediately.

Balance in this order—TA → pH → CH → CYA → FC—making minor additions and circulating between retests. The guide explains how to raise/lower each parameter, why high CYA requires dilution, and why liquid chlorine is best for big corrections even in salt pools.

SWG notes: keep salt in the manufacturer’s window, clean scaled cells sparingly, and increase run time/output during hot, sunny weather.

Quick diagnostics decode common symptoms (pH drift from high TA/aeration; “chlorine smell” as chloramines; scale dust from high pH/CH/TA; vanishing chlorine from low CYA or heavy load; algae hints and the need to shock at ~7.2 pH).

Dosing rules emphasise circulation first, split doses, and avoiding the addition of acid and chlorine at the same time and place.

Pool Life’s guide to equipment checks, repairs, and replacement explains how minor faults in pumps, filters, and sanitisers quickly turn into cloudy water, high power bills, and breakdowns—and sets out what to inspect, fix, and when to upgrade.

Start with safety (isolate power; licensed pros for gas, hard-wired electrics, and lights). For pumps, check prime, flow, pressure/noise, and leaks at unions/shaft seal; common fixes include O-rings, lids, baskets, seal kits and clearing impellers, while noisy or ageing motors are candidates for variable-speed replacements.

Filters (cartridge/sand/DE) should be cleaned when pressure rises 8–10 psi; inspect media and tanks/clamps, replace worn cartridges/media, and swap cracked tanks.

Sanitiser systems need correct salt levels, clean cells, and healthy power/flow switches; salt cells typically last 3–7 years. Heating covers heat pumps (airflow/coil/flow checks; replace at 10–15 years or if repairs exceed ~50% of a new unit), gas heaters (venting/ignition/flame), and solar (manifolds/actuators/controller).

It also covers robots and suction/pressure cleaners, valves/unions (including O-ring lube and suction-side air-leak hunts), lighting/automation, and RCD tests.

A leak-check playbook (bucket, dye, pressure tests) precedes a repair-vs-replace framework (50% cost rule, energy payback, reliability triggers) with typical lifespans.