How to Vacuum Your Inground Pool

A pool with crystal-clear water that sparkles in the sun is a sight to behold. It’s appealing to the eye, inviting you to enjoy a refreshing swim or throw a weekend pool party with friends and family. But getting your pool to look so inviting takes time and effort.

Pool maintenance is a constant in every pool owner’s life — or at least it should be. Without proper pool maintenance, your water can start getting cloudy and dirty. One of the most important steps of pool care is vacuuming your pool to keep it looking as beautiful as possible.

Why Should You Vacuum Your Inground Pool?

The reasons you should vacuum your inground pool are the same reasons you vacuum the floors in your home. Daily life puts a toll on your floors as people use them, with crumbs, dirt, mud and other factors becoming common occurrences. If you neglect cleaning up these things, your home’s floors can start looking unattractive, and you may even avoid walking on them. Vacuuming is one of the most fundamental ways to clean your home’s floors using the power of suction.

Think of your inground pool the same way. As people use your pool, more dirt and grime enter the water. This is especially true if bathers are getting in and out of the pool, tracking dirt and other particles into the water regularly. Plus, nature will also find a way to get into your pool’s water, whether it be leaves, twigs, airborne dirt or bugs.

As time goes by, the bottom of your pool will accumulate dirt and scum. And just like neglecting to clean the floors on the inside of your house will result in unattractive walkways, neglecting to clean the floors of your inground pool will lead to a dirty-looking body of water that you will find excuses to avoid swimming in. You likely made a significant investment in your property with your pool, so this is the opposite of what you want to experience.

You want your pool to look inviting and beautiful so you can jump in the moment you’re in the mood for a swim. You want gorgeous, clean water without any unidentified matter resting on the bottom. For this reason, you need to vacuum your inground pool. Pool vacuuming is a crucial step in your overall pool care routine. It helps lay the foundation for all the other pool chores you do to keep your water clean and inviting and your pool ready for your next swim.

How Often Should You Vacuum Your Pool?

When it comes to knowing how to clean your pool with a vacuum, the first thing many people wonder is how often they should vacuum their pool. It’s obvious that vacuuming is an essential part of pool care, but many people are unsure how frequently they should engage in this pool care activity.

We recommend vacuuming your pool at least once per week. Your pool will only look better and stay cleaner if you vacuum your pool more often than this. Aim to vacuum twice a week during pool season, and you’re sure to love the results. Plus, vacuuming more frequently will result in easier vacuuming sessions. You’ll be keeping up with the settling debris rather than putting it off and having a more difficult pool cleaning ahead of you.

Several factors may affect how often you should vacuum your pool. We recommend once or twice per week because this often yields the best results for most people. But you may have to vacuum your pool more often, depending on certain factors. And if you skip vacuuming your pool once in a while, your pool may still be in decent shape, depending on how those same factors affect you and your pool.

Here are some of the main factors that can influence how often you need to vacuum your pool:

• How often you use your pool: If your pool gets frequent, heavy use, you may need to vacuum at least twice per week, maybe more. Regular use often translates to a greater need to clean your pool, and vacuuming is often one of the first steps for that. If you use your pool infrequently, you may only need to vacuum your pool once per week to keep up with its general cleaning needs.
• How many people are swimming: More bodies in the pool means more chances for dirt, grime and debris to get into the water. By the time the swimming session is over, you’ll most likely see a surprising amount of dirt resting on the bottom of your pool. If many people use your pool, you may need to vacuum it more frequently. Pools that only have a few people using them on occasion will most likely attract less dirt and debris that you’ll need to vacuum right away.
• Your location: Your property’s landscaping and surrounding nature will impact the frequency at which you need to vacuum your pool. For instance, if your property has trees near the pool, chances are high that you’ll have to clean and vacuum your pool often to remove the leaves and twigs that find their way into your pool water. Locations far from trees and dirty water runoff may allow some pool owners to vacuum their pools less often than others.
• Upcoming events: It’s normal to want to clean your pool before having guests over to use it. If you’re the type of person who invites people over to swim regularly, then you may find yourself vacuuming your pool more often to keep your pool looking inviting.

How Long Does It Take to Vacuum a Pool?

Now that you know more about why and when you should vacuum your pool, you should know how long this task will take. After all, if it’s going to become part of your schedule, you need to dedicate the right amount of time so you can get the best results.

You can choose between manual and automatic pool vacuums. Here’s more information about how long it takes to vacuum your pool with both pool vacuum types:

• Manual: Manual pool vacuums require a human to operate them. Knowing how to manually vacuum an inground pool requires patience and a watchful eye to ensure you vacuum all the dirt at the bottom of your pool This process will take as long as it needs to get your desired results, but expect to spend anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour manually vacuuming your pool.
• Automatic: Automatic vacuums are convenient because they work by themselves without the need for human operation. The time it takes for your automatic vacuum to finish the job depends on how big your pool is and how much dirt is present. Automatic vacuums often take several hours to finish cleaning a pool, so carefully plan when to start the process.

What You Need to Vacuum a Pool

To vacuum your pool property, you need the right tools and accessories. Here are some of the main items you’ll need before vacuuming your pool:

• Vacuum head: Talk to a pool professional about what vacuum head is suitable for your pool’s needs. Most types will easily attach to a standard telescoping pole.
• Vacuum hose: This connects your vacuum head to the pool pump by way of the skimmer inlet. This is what gives your pool vacuum its suction power.
• Telescoping pole: This pole can extend in and out to reach your pool’s floor comfortably, whether you’re vacuuming the shallow or deep end.
• Vacuum plate: The vacuum plate, also called the skimmer plate, connects the vacuum hose to the skimmer inlet.

How to Vacuum a Pool

Now it’s time to learn how to use a pool vacuum to keep your pool clean all season long or prepare it for winterization. Here are four steps to learn how to hook a pool vacuum up and more so you can use your pool vacuum to the best of your ability.

1. Assemble Your Pool Vacuum

The first step of the process must be to assemble your vacuum. Ensure you’ve gathered all the right parts listed above. Once you’ve gathered these, assemble the pieces so you can get to work vacuuming your pool.

Start by attaching the vacuum head to the telescoping pole. You should feel the vacuum head easily snap onto the telescoping pole. If you’re struggling to get the vacuum head on or it feels like there’s something wrong with the connection, there may be an issue. Avoid forcing the head on in these instances, as you could cause damage. Consider checking the directions or calling a pool maintenance professional for more information.

Next, connect one end of the vacuum hose to the vacuum head. Then connect the other end of the vacuum hose to the vacuum plate, which connects to the skimmer inlet. Turn off your pool pump before placing the vacuum plate over the skimmer or skimmer basket.

2. Choose Your Filter Setting

Before you start vacuuming your pool, you must select the right filter setting on the multiport valve filter of your filter system for the task at hand. You have two filter settings to choose from — filter and waste. Here are the differences between these two settings so you can pick the right one for your needs:

• Filter: The filter setting is ideal for light vacuuming jobs. It runs the water sucked through your vacuum through the pool’s filter system, keeping all the pool’s water in the pool and catching debris in the pool’s filter.
• Waste: The waste setting is the correct option when dealing with large amounts of debris. This setting sends water down the drain to dispose of the sediment. Note that this setting will reduce your pool’s water level. To keep your pool water at the right level, run a garden hose to supply new water to maintain appropriate water levels.

3. Vacuum Your Pool

After choosing your filter setting, you’re ready to start vacuuming your pool. Using a pool vacuum is much like vacuuming a household rug or carpet. You’ll use slow, linear passes, moving over every inch of the pool floor. Use slow movements to avoid stirring up the dirt. You’ll have to wait until the dirt settles to try again if this happens.

You may have to pause the process and empty the pump strainer at some point if your pool is particularly dirty. Then resume the process where you left off. Repeat these steps as many times as needed until you achieve satisfactory results.

4. Final Actions

When you’re done vacuuming your pool, you have a few more steps to take:

• Disconnect the pool hose: Disconnect your vacuum head and hoses, making sure to put them in a safe spot until you need to use them again.
• Clean the bottom of the skimmer: You may need to give this area some extra cleaning attention if larger debris is present.
• Change filter settings: If you changed the filter setting, return it to its original setting.
• Perform a final cleanup: If you’re feeling extra proactive, attach a brush to the end of your telescoping pole and give the pool floor and sides a quick scrubbing.

Benefits of Having a Professional Clean Your Pool

Pool cleaning is essential for every pool owner, but professional pool cleaning services are available if you’d rather let someone else handle it for you. Here are some of the main benefits of letting a professional clean and vacuum your pool:

• The right equipment: Professional pool cleaners have the right equipment to get the job done every time. Even a task that may seem simple at first could reveal bigger complications, and pool professionals will be ready for those moments when they arise.
• The best results: Besides having all the right tools, pool professionals have the training and experience to handle any task. Whether you need a routine pool vacuuming service or something a bit more intensive, your trusted pool professional will ensure you get the best results possible.
• A better pool experience: Hiring a pool professional gives you a whole new experience as a pool owner. They’ll come as needed or on a regular schedule to perform their maintenance services so you can enjoy your pool at your convenience. Every day, your pool will be in its best condition thanks to the care and effort of your pool professional. You may end up enjoying your pool more than ever before.

Choose Lotus Pools as Your Pool Care Professionals

Lotus Pools is ready to be your trusted team of pool care professionals. Our weekly maintenance services ensure your pool stays looking great all season long. We can also handle your inground pool closing needs when winter approaches. And when spring rolls back around, you can count on us to open your pool for the season. Pool owners in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and the Greater Chicagoland Area trust us for all their pool care needs.

We invite you to schedule a service call today to take the next step toward a healthier, cleaner pool.