Do you like your swimming pool to feel like sauna or would you prefer to jump in and have your breath taken away by the chill? What's the ideal temperature for a swimming pool? Is there an ideal one or is it personal preference? The answer is, both.
Competitive swimmers tend to be comfortable in water with temperatures that hover between 78-82 degrees but even with that said, that could be either too cool - or too hot, depending on the individual.
For your family's backyard pool, if you don't have a heater, the question is moot.
If you do have a pool heater it may be a bit of an adjustment time to see what temperature your family can agree on.
There are a couple of factors to take into consideration before you decide to crank up the heater.
Keep in mind that if you raise the temperature it can effect your pool maintenance schedule.
At higher temperatures evaporation increases which means you can have a quicker build up of dissolved solids.
A higher temp can also burn off your sanitizer more quickly and bacteria and algae grow at faster rates in higher temperatures.
Also, because of the heat, scale forms in the water because of the "saturation index.
" And bottom line, if you are using your pool for exercise, it can tire you out and may not be as comfortable as water that is a bit lower in temp.
Whether you heat your pool with a solar cover or a heater, seasonal weather changes will also affect the pool water and you might need to adjust the water's alkalinity to compensate for changes in the saturation index.