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If you wanted your summer 2014 Garden State home parties to be memorable, you’d already have hired a reliable NJ pool company like Tranquility Pools Inc. to set up an amazing inground pool for your backyard. However, before you can even think of hosting your first poolside barbecue, there are some things that you need to check on first, particularly with regard to how safe the water is for diving and swimming.

Remove the Cover

Swimming pool covers protect the water from getting polluted by debris and its chemical levels from being significantly affected by the elements, but as summer grows near, you’ll have to open it up again. Remove any leaves, twigs or other debris that might have collected before doing so, lest they end up in the water, anyway.

Shock the Water

Among the many chemical processes you need to do to make sure that your pool is safe for bathing in is to “shock” it. This basically means the amount of free-flowing chlorine is raised to ten times the amount of chloramines in the water, in effect oxidizing all organic matter in its path. Be sure to use an oxidizer that’s compatible with your pool’s filter system.

Testing Chemicals

Next, you need to test your pool water’s chemicals. Here are some tips from pool professional and contributor Woody McDowell’s article in About.com:

“Allow the water to circulate at least 8-12 hours, so that the water that was added has time to mix with the water in the pool.

After that time, test it thoroughly, then add the necessary chemicals in the proper sequence to balance the water chemistry. We suggest taking a water sample to your local pool professional to have it tested for pH, Total Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness, etc. Be sure to follow the procedure they describe to avoid damage to your pool’s surface.”

Keep the Water Level Up

You should make sure that your pool’s water level isn’t going below the recommended amount—if it does, be sure to top it off. Before you do this, though, clean your filter first. Cartridge filters can be taken apart and washed before reinstalling, whereas sand filters should be set to backwash for cleaning.

If you still haven’t had a pool installed, don’t be the only one among New Jersey’s 9 million people to have nothing in his backyard to fight the summer sun with. Whether you’re hoping to host parties this season, or you just want to sit back and relax after a hard day’s work, NJ pools always make perfect investments.

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(Related: How To Open Your Swimming Pool For The Summer, About.com)