Do I Need a Vacuum for My Pool?

All pools both above ground and in-ground need to be vacuumed. Theoretically you can abandon all vacuuming duties, but watch your pool water look disgusting, dirty and cloudy. The process of vacuuming keeps chemicals working their best and increases the desire and appeal, especially on a hot summer day.

Vacuuming is necessary to pick up the dirt and debris that has found it's way to the pool bottom. While your filter does a good job circulating the water and chemicals, it doesn't always catch all the dirt. Sometimes it settles to the bottom. The only way to clean this is to vacuum.

The process of vacuuming your pool involves connect a hose to the skimmer and a vacuum head. The vacuum head then attaches to a metal telescopic pole that helps you push the vacuum head around the bottom of the pool. The pressure from the filter pump and its motor create a suction power through the hose to pick up the dirt at the bottom of the pool. It's always easier to vacuum in the pool, rather than walking around the perimeter and leaning into the pool with the pole.

Yes, there's consequences for not vacuuming. Your pool water will harvest dirt and debris that will make your chemicals work harder. This means the dirtier your water is the more chemicals you have to use. This equates to more time and money wasted on chemicals. The dirt will build up, pollute the water and make it cloudy. It could even lead to algae growth, which is a pain to get rid of.

Thanks to modern technology, you don't need to push around the vacuum head anymore.There's a wide selection of automatic vacuums that drop inside the pool and will cover all the surfaces of the pool automatically. Basically, these mechanisms will vacuum the pool for you. The only drawback to automatic pool vacuums is that occasionally they will tangle the hose or get stuck behind your pool ladder of an above-ground pool. Also if the pool bottom of your above-ground pool is laid on top of sand, it can provide an uneven surface for the vacuum. This can cause it to get stuck at times as well. While these items make vacuuming easier, you must still be attentive.