Pool care guides
Pool care guides for villa and commercial pools in Dubai
Practical answers about water, equipment and routine care for pools that already exist — what a problem usually means, what to check first, and when it needs a technician.
How to use these guides
Start from what you can see
Cloudy, green or stinging water starts under water and algae; noises, leaks and weak jets start under equipment.
Fix the cause, not the symptom
Each guide says what usually causes the problem and what to check before adding anything to the water.
Know when to ask
Every guide ends with what a technician would check, so you can tell when a visit is worth arranging.
Water, clarity and algae
- When pool pH is too high
- When pool pH is too low
- Total alkalinity in a pool
- Calcium hardness in pool water
- Stabiliser and cyanuric acid in pools
- Why a pool smells of chlorine
- Pool water that stings eyes and skin
- Metal stains in a pool
- Organic stains in a pool
- Foam on pool water
- Looking after a pool after heavy rain
- Cleaning a pool after a sandstorm
- Shocking a pool
- Mustard algae in a pool
- Black algae in a pool
- A pool that turned green while you were away
- Reading a pool water test result
- Salt levels in a salt pool
- Phosphates in pool water
- A pool that turns cloudy after shocking
- Partially draining and refilling a pool
- Removing scale from pool tiles
Pumps, filters and equipment
- A pool pump that has become noisy
- A pool pump that overheats
- A pool pump that will not start
- Air bubbles coming out of the pool jets
- Restoring weak flow from pool return jets
- Using a multiport valve correctly
- Replacing the sand in a pool filter
- Cleaning a pool cartridge filter
- Filter sand returning to the pool
- A pool heat pump that is not heating
- A pool chiller that is not cooling enough
- Servicing a pool heat pump or chiller
- Cleaning a salt chlorinator cell
- A salt chlorinator that is not producing chlorine
- A pool light that has stopped working
- How long to run a pool pump each day
- Programming a variable speed pool pump
- Checking a villa pool plant room
- Maintaining an automatic pool dosing system
- Looking after the pump lid and O-rings
- A robotic pool cleaner that is not working properly
Routine maintenance and cleaning
- What happens on a pool maintenance visit
- How often a villa pool needs servicing
- Brushing a pool properly
- Vacuuming a pool
- Keeping skimmers and baskets working
- Backwashing a sand filter
- Cleaning the pool waterline
- Telling evaporation from water loss
- Keeping a pool maintenance log
- Looking after a pool cover
- Cleaning pool steps, benches and ledges
- Cleaning the coping and deck around a pool
- Storing pool chemicals safely at home
- A weekly pool checklist for owners
- Maintaining an overflow pool’s balance tank
- Cleaning an infinity edge and its trough
Particular pools and situations
- Looking after the pool while you are away
- Getting a pool ready for a party, and back afterwards
- Pool care through the Dubai winter
- Restarting a pool that has been left unused
- Taking over the pool at a new villa
- Looking after a pool used by young children
- Keeping a pool clean when dogs swim
- Pool maintenance for a holiday home or short-let villa
- Pool maintenance when you rent a villa
- Protecting the pool during garden works
- Dealing with a contamination incident in a private pool
- Looking after a plunge pool
- Maintaining a rooftop or terrace pool
- Keeping a pool clean under trees and palms
Commercial pools
- Maintaining a community or compound pool
- Maintaining a pool in a residential tower
- Maintaining a hotel pool
- Maintaining a gym or club pool
- Water testing and records for a commercial pool
- Understanding bather load in a commercial pool
- Keeping a commercial pool plant room safe
- Closing a commercial pool for treatment
- What a commercial pool maintenance agreement should cover
- Taking over a community pool from the developer
- Storing and handling commercial pool chemicals
- Planning a cleaning schedule for a commercial pool
Comparing pool care choices
- Liquid chlorine or chlorine tablets
- Test strips or a liquid test kit
- Weekly or fortnightly pool service
- Doing it yourself or using a pool technician
- Robotic cleaners and manual cleaning
- Stabilised or unstabilised chlorine
- Chlorine shock or non-chlorine shock
- Repairing or replacing a pool pump
- Treating a green pool or draining it
Next step
Could not find your problem?
Send a photograph of the pool and a short description. We will tell you what we would check first.