Spring pool startup in Austin

Before touching chemicals, confirm the system runs cleanly. Turn the pump on, watch the pump basket lid for prime, check filter pressure against your last clean reading, and listen for bearing noise or motor hesitation. Inspect the multiport or push-pull valve for leaks. Look at the salt cell if you have one: pull it and check for scale buildup. Look at the heater ignitor and pressure switch if you used heat over winter.

Spring equipment problems caught in March are almost always cheaper than the same problems diagnosed on Memorial Day weekend with a full house coming over.

Empty both the skimmer basket and the pump basket. During live oak season, the pump basket can pack within a day of a wind event on treed lots. After clearing baskets, check filter pressure. If it is more than 8-10 psi above your clean baseline, backwash (sand or DE) or rinse the cartridge before adding any chemicals. Trying to clear chemistry through a dirty filter is slow and wasteful.

For cartridge filters: rinse with a garden hose from top to bottom, rotate through all pleats, and let the elements dry if you have a spare set. Soaking in filter cleaner once a year removes grease and sunscreen the hose will not dislodge.

Test the water before adding anything. Run a full panel: free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, total alkalinity, calcium hardness, and stabilizer (cyanuric acid). Knowing where you start prevents over-correction. Adjust alkalinity first (target 80-120 ppm), then pH (7.4-7.6), then calcium hardness (200-400 ppm). Add stabilizer last if needed because it dissolves slowly.

Shock after the system is running clean, not before. A powered-up pump with a clean filter sets the chemicals circulating properly. For algae-green water, a chlorine shock to 10-20 ppm with the pump running 24 hours is a starting point; test every 12 hours and keep adding until residual holds.

Catkins (the pale, stringy flower parts) drop from late winter through early spring and fill skimmers faster than fall leaves. They pack the basket mesh, slime the pump basket, and tint water tea-brown if they sit on light plaster or pebble finishes. Tannin staining is not dangerous, but it is stubborn. The fix is rapid removal, brushing, and good oxidation, not more acid.

On heavily treed lots, plan on emptying the skimmer basket more than once between weekly visits during peak catkin drop. A midweek owner check of the baskets is one of the most cost-effective pool habits in Austin.

Salt cells scale over winter even at low run hours. Pull the cell, inspect the plates, and do a light acid rinse if scale is visible. Check the salt level in the water; heavy rain can dilute it below the minimum operating threshold. After cleaning and adding salt if needed, run the system and verify output is generating residual chlorine before you rely on it as your sole sanitizer heading into May.

If you have a gas or heat pump heater, run it briefly and verify ignition, pressure switch response, and thermostat. Gas heaters can develop spider webs in the burner tray over winter, which cause ignition failures or uneven flame. That is a licensed professional call, not a DIY clean. Heat pump units need clear airflow around the coil.

Spa jets, blowers, and diverter valves should all move freely before the first heavy-use weekend. A stuck diverter that locks flow to the spa can starve the pool return for days without being obvious.

The most common spring mistake is waiting until the water turns green to schedule service. Austin Pool Bros sees a spike in new green-pool calls every April from owners who stretched visits over winter and hit spring with low chemistry and packed equipment. The cost of a green recovery often exceeds four to eight weeks of regular weekly service.

If you are not on a weekly plan, the right time to start is before the pool has a problem. Reach out early in spring so we can get your pool onto a route before May routes fill up.