Have you recently purchased a pool or are you thinking about purchasing a pool for next year? Are you wanting to find out how to take care of your pool so that it lasts as long as possible? The exact details will depend on where you live, how large the pool is, whether it is in-ground or above ground, and whether it is saltwater or not. Each individual pool can have its own idiosyncrasies even though it may be nearly identical to another pool down the street. However, there are some things that are universal and apply to most pools.

Hire a professional: Improper pool maintenance can result in things like chemical burns or serious skin infections as a result of an improper balance in the pool chemicals. By hiring a pool maintenance contractor for at least a few months, you'll be able to learn from them how to properly care for the pool without gambling with your health or the health of your family. After the first summer, you can decide for yourself whether it's worth it to continue to pay someone else to care for your pool or if you've learned enough to handle things yourself. 

Debris removal: When you hire a pool maintenance professional, they will show up between one and three times a week, depending on the maintenance schedule. However, things like insects and leaves will still fall into the pool between these visits and should be removed promptly. Not only can these things clog up your pool's filter, leaving leaves in your pool for too long can result in the leaves starting to decay and leach chemicals that can damage the lining of your pool. If you have a lot of leaves falling into your pool, it might be worth investing in a pool cover to keep things out and prevent this damage from occurring. 

Test kit: Even if you have a pool maintenance professional caring for your pool and you don't plan on changing this any time soon, it is a good idea to have a pool test kit on hand and to learn how to use it. For instance, if you experience torrential rain at some point, is it safe to go into the pool or have the pool chemicals been diluted enough that you need to wait for the maintenance professional to arrive and adjust the levels? In most cases, everything should be fine. But it's a good idea to know how to test to confirm this.