Spending a day by the swimming is very relaxing and everyone loves it! This is especially true during a very hot sunny day. A quick dip on the pool can be very refreshing and helps you cool down your body. But in order to experience this nice and fresh feeling, you need to keep a clean swimming pool. If your pool is not well maintained, you’ll be swimming instead in a dirty water. We don’t want that right?

If you want your swimming pool to have a clean water then you need to maintain it. One of the basic things you have to do is by removing rubbish from the pump and skimmer baskets regularly. Debris can clog the skimmer basters and make your pool pump work harder than it should. The more clogged it is the more power it needs to get a proper water flow.

This will shorten its life and will eventually break it. So how do you clean the baskets of your pool skimmer and pump?

Cleaning The Pool Pump Basket

You need to clean your pool pump basket regularly if you want to extend the life of your pump. The debris in the pump basket will clogged it which will results to poor water circulation and poor performance of the pool pump. Your pump will be exerting more effort because of poor circulation and will eventually get broken. With a broken pump, your swimming pool will get dirty! To get a clean water and a running pump you need to clean the pump basket regularly and remove any debris from it to prevent any clogging and any problems it will give to your pool.

Follow these easy steps to clean your pool pump basket:

1. If you have a pool heater, turn it off and wait for 10 minutes.
2. Turn the pool pump off.
3. Close both the main drain, skimmer, and filter valves.
4. Remove the lid of the pump and take out the basket.
5. Clean and remove all rubbish from the basket using a hose.
6. Check the pool basket if there are any damages or any rubbish left. If there’s any damages just replace it.
7. Return or install the basket and close the lid. Reminder: Don’t tighten the lid too much or it’ll break!
8. Open the main drain and skimmer valves. Then turn on the pool pump.
9. Turn the filter valve on.
10. Turn on the heater and the cleaner pump.

Cleaning the Pool Skimmer Basket

Same with the pool pump basket, skimmer baskets also need regular cleaning. A clogged skimmer basket will result to the low water circulation in the skimmer which results to a dirty swimming pool water. Cleaning of your skimmer baskets is not hard at all and will only take a few minutes.

1. Turn off your pool pump.
2. Open the lid of the skimmer and remove the basket.
3. Clean and remove all rubbish from the skimmer basket. You’ll probably find leaves and hairs stuck in it.
4. Using a garden hose, wash the basket to make sure any remaining debris are removed.
5. Replace the skimmer basket with a new one if you find any damages to it while cleaning.
6. Return the lid and turn the pump on.

PRO-TIP! You can use skimmer socks to capture tiny debris like bugs, hair, pine needles and oil.

That’s it! It’s quite easy right? Now it’s time to jump in to your sparkling clean swimming pool water.