You may have a wonderful pool service that maintains your pool excellently every week. The tiles are always shiny, and the water looks sparkling clean. However, despite its cheery appearance, there may be lurking culprits that are breeding grounds for thousands of strands of bacteria. To fully keep your pool healthy and sanitary for your family, you can take a few easy steps to eliminate the bacteria monsters:

§Floating tree leaves: Although it may seem like just an eyesore, fallen leaves are ample breeding ground for bacterial activities. Due to their inherent organic rotting process, leaves that are not removed promptly will contribute to the growth of bacteria in the pool. It is important to use your leaf rake or surface skimmer to remove the tree leaves immediately.

§Surrounding pool area: The bacteria elements in your pool do not only come from within the water itself; if the ground around a pool is unsanitary, then these bacteria particles easily find themselves swimming with your family. For example, if you have foam padding around the pool area, then this creates interstitial space for bacteria to hide from disinfectants, thus reproducing and harming your family. It is important that you talk with your pool service company about maintaining the cleanliness and sanitation of the ground around your pool.

§Cushion material: If your pool has padding materials for your pool slide, diving board, or other activity equipment, these too are breeding grounds for bacteria. The padding that is fully submerged in the pool has much less bacteria than those that are further away and damp. Thus, it is important that you keep all cushioning, whether on top of the diving board or around the stairway, sanitized from bacteria by cleaning it all on a regular basis.

§Play features: Shallow wading areas, play equipment, and floaters contain high levels of bacteria. You should always monitor the condition of play features used in and around your pool. Those materials that disintegrate or weaken in pool water will have higher breeding grounds of bacteria; once a pool feature starts breaking down, it should be removed completely. Play features in good condition should continuously be cleaned and sanitized to ensure that the bacteria strands do not translate into the pool.

Your pool is a wonderful source of entertainment for your family and friends, and with the necessary sanitation procedures, you can keep them safe and healthy for years to come.