Table of Contents
The short answer
A villa pool in an Abu Dhabi summer needs three things every week, and none of them can be skipped. The water has to move through a clean filter for long enough each day. The dirt has to be taken out by hand: skimmed off the surface, brushed off the walls, vacuumed off the floor and emptied out of the baskets. And the water has to be tested and corrected, so that there is enough sanitiser in it and the pH is in the range where that sanitiser works.
Heat, strong sun and dust speed all of this up. Water that would stay clear for a fortnight in a mild climate can turn in days here in August. So the summer rhythm is a short look every day, a proper clean and a water test every week, and extra attention after a dusty day or a busy weekend. The looking, the skimming and the basket-emptying are jobs an owner can do. The testing and the chemicals are the part to leave to a pool professional.
At IHR Dream Cleaning a pool cleaning and maintenance visit covers debris removal and skimming, the tile and waterline band, filter cleaning and backwash, and a water-balance check with dosing. Pools have no fixed price list. The work is quoted by the pool's size, its condition and how often it is serviced, from photos or a free inspection, and the visit plan is agreed with you before anything starts.
Why summer is hard on pool water
Five things happen at once between May and September, and each one works against clear water.
- Warm water. Algae and bacteria multiply faster in warm water, and the sanitiser is used up faster fighting them.
- Strong sun. Sunlight breaks chlorine down. Left unprotected, the chlorine in an outdoor pool can be largely gone by the end of a bright day, which is why outdoor pools are normally run with a stabiliser that shields it, and why the level has to be measured and not assumed.
- Evaporation. Water leaves and the minerals in it stay behind. The top-up water brings more, and over a summer the water becomes harder. The white crust at the waterline is the visible part of that.
- Dust and sand. Every windy day drops fine dust on the surface. The heavy grains sink, the finest hang in the water as a haze, and all of it ends up in the filter.
- Heavy use. School holidays and weekend guests bring sunscreen, sweat and body oils. They consume sanitiser, and they float up to form the greasy band on the tiles at water level.
Why a missed week costs more in August
In cool water, a week without sanitiser is a risk. In hot water, under strong sun, with dust arriving, it is usually enough for algae to take hold, and then the job is no longer a routine visit. Our service page says it plainly: a pool left untreated for even a few weeks in this heat and dust develops algae, cloudy water and waterline staining. How that is recovered has a guide of its own: green or cloudy pool water.
What changes in the cooler months
Cooler water slows algae and holds its sanitiser longer, evaporation falls and the pool is used less. Private pools here usually need weekly service in summer and fortnightly in the cooler months, and the filter runs for fewer hours. Nothing else changes. Where the pool fits when the whole outside of the house is being made ready is set out in getting a villa ready for outdoor season.
Circulation, cleaning and balance: the three jobs
Every pool routine comes back to the same three jobs, and none can make up for another. A balanced pool with a blocked filter goes cloudy. A spotless pool with no sanitiser goes green. A well-dosed pool that is never brushed grows algae in the corners.
Circulation: water that moves through the filter
The pump draws water from the skimmer at the surface and the drain on the floor, pushes it through the filter and sends it back through the return jets. Only water that passes through the filter is cleaned, and only moving water carries sanitiser to every part of the pool.
The pump has to run long enough each day for the whole volume of the pool to pass through the filter, and in summer that means more hours than in winter. The right number depends on the pool, the pump and the filter, so whoever looks after the pool sets it on the timer in the plant room. Cutting the hours in August to save electricity is a false saving.
Flow is never even. Steps, corners, the area behind a ladder and the floor of the deep end get less of it, and those are the places algae shows first. Brushing is what deals with them.
The filter and the baskets
The filter is where the dirt goes, and it can only hold so much. Many villa pools have a sand filter, which is cleaned by backwashing: the flow is reversed so that the trapped dirt is flushed to waste, with a short rinse before normal running resumes. Others have a cartridge that is lifted out and hosed clean. A pressure gauge shows when either is due. As the filter loads up, the pressure climbs above its clean reading and the flow from the jets weakens.
Backwashing is done by the gauge, not by habit. A sand filter that has caught a little dirt filters slightly finer than a freshly washed one, and every backwash sends away pool water that has to be replaced and rebalanced.
Before the filter, the water passes through a basket in each skimmer and another at the pump. They catch leaves, insects, hair and seed pods. A full basket starves the pump of water, and a pump short of water runs hot and wears quickly.
Cleaning: skim, brush, vacuum, waterline
Skimming takes debris out before it sinks. A leaf on the surface is ten seconds with a net. The same leaf on the floor uses up sanitiser as it rots, can mark a light finish and has to be vacuumed.
Brushing is the job most often skipped, and it matters most in summer. Algae starts as a thin film on a surface, not as green water. A brush across the walls, steps, corners and floor lifts that film into the water, where the sanitiser can reach it and the filter can catch it. The brush must suit the finish. A wire brush belongs only on bare concrete or plaster, and it will scratch vinyl, fibreglass, paint and some tiles.
Vacuuming collects what has settled. It is done slowly, in overlapping lines, because a fast pass stirs the dust back into the water. After a heavy dust fall a technician may vacuum to waste, sending the dirty water out of the pool without passing it through the filter, and top the pool up afterwards.
The band at the waterline is a mix of floating oils and sunscreen and the mineral scale left as water evaporates. Wiped every week, it comes off with a tile brush or a pad made for pools. Left for a season, it hardens and needs a scale treatment suited to the tile. Household bathroom cleaners do not belong in a pool.
Balance: sanitiser and pH, and why both matter
The sanitiser is what makes the water safe to swim in. In most villa pools it is chlorine, added as a liquid, granules or tablets, or made in the plant room by a salt system. A salt pool is still a chlorine pool: the cell turns dissolved salt into chlorine, so the same tests apply.
The pH measures how acidic or alkaline the water is, and it decides how well the chlorine works. As the pH climbs, the same amount of chlorine does less and less, the water turns dull and scale forms on tiles and inside equipment. When it falls too low, the water becomes corrosive: it attacks metal fittings, grout and the pool finish, and it stings eyes and skin. A pool can have plenty of chlorine in it and still go green because the pH is wrong.
A professional test looks further. Total alkalinity steadies the pH. Calcium hardness shows whether the water is likely to scale or to eat into the finish. Stabiliser does not evaporate and is not used up, so it builds over time, and too much of it holds the chlorine back. None of these can be judged by eye, and clear water proves nothing: a pool can look perfect with almost no sanitiser in it, on the day before it turns. For the target readings, follow the product label and the technician's test results for your pool.
A summer week: who does what
This is how the work divides in a summer week for a private pool in normal use. It is general professional practice, not a fixed programme. How often a technician comes to your pool, and what each visit covers, is agreed once the pool has been seen.
| Job | How often in summer | Usually done by |
|---|---|---|
| Look at the water, the level and the pump | Every day | You |
| Skim the surface | Every day or two, and after wind | You |
| Empty the skimmer baskets | Twice a week, and after wind | You |
| Check and top up the water level | Twice a week | You |
| Brush walls, steps and floor | Weekly | Technician |
| Vacuum the floor | Weekly | Technician |
| Clean the waterline band | Weekly | Technician |
| Test and balance the water | Weekly, more often in peak heat | Technician |
| Check filter pressure; backwash or clean | When the gauge says | Technician |
The two-minute daily look
Five questions, asked from the poolside, catch most problems on the first day. A pump that trips on a Tuesday and is only found on the next service day has cost the pool most of a week of circulation, in the worst month for it.
- Can you see the floor of the deep end clearly, drain cover and all?
- Is the water level about halfway up the skimmer opening?
- Is the pump running at its usual time and making its usual sound?
- Is water flowing strongly from the return jets?
- Is anything floating, or lying on the floor, that should not be there?
What to leave to the technician
Leave the testing, the dosing, the filter and anything in the plant room that you have not been shown how to use. Do not open the pump or the filter while the pump is running, and do not touch the electrics. If the pump trips its breaker, do not keep resetting it. Water and electricity share that room, and a tripping breaker is reporting a fault. When that becomes an electrician's job is explained in tripping breakers, flickering lights and warm sockets.
What a pool service visit does, and in what order
The order varies a little between technicians. The logic does not. Take out what floats, loosen what clings, collect what has sunk, clean the filter that has just caught it all, then test and correct the water.
- Look first. The colour and clarity of the water, the level, the sound of the pump and the reading on the filter gauge show what kind of week the pool has had.
- Skim the surface and empty the skimmer and pump baskets, so that the pump has full flow for the rest of the visit.
- Brush the walls, steps, corners and floor, and scrub the waterline band. Brushing comes before vacuuming because it knocks the dirt down to where the vacuum can reach it.
- Vacuum the floor slowly.
- Check the filter pressure and backwash or clean the filter if it is due. This comes after the vacuuming, because vacuuming is what loads the filter.
- Check the water level, and top up if the cleaning or the backwash has lowered it.
- Test the water.
- Add what the test calls for, one product at a time, with the pump running so that it disperses.
- Check the timer and the equipment, and show the owner the result.
What our visit includes
Our pool visit follows that pattern. The published scope is debris removal and skimming, cleaning of the tile and waterline band, filter cleaning or backwash, and a water-balance check in which the pH and chlorine levels are checked and adjusted. Before leaving, the technician shows you the cleaned pool, the water test result and the pump and filter settings. Our service page gives 45 to 90 minutes as typical for a routine visit to a well-kept residential pool. A neglected pool takes several hours, and sometimes more than one visit while the water responds to treatment.
Ask for the test result every time and keep a note of it. A run of readings shows whether the pool is drifting, and it is the first thing a technician will want to see if the water ever turns.
The water balance is checked before the technician leaves, so that the pool is safe to use. After a routine adjustment that is usually soon. After a heavier treatment there is a wait that depends on what was added. Ask before the technician goes, and keep swimmers out until the time you were given, or the time on the product label, has passed.
Water level, evaporation and topping up
In summer the level falls every day. The skimmer only works when the water sits at about the middle of its opening. Too low, and the skimmer draws air: the pump loses its flow, runs dry and overheats. Too high, and the surface water no longer spills into the skimmer, so floating debris stays where it is.
Check the level twice a week and top up with a hose before it nears the bottom of the skimmer opening. Set a timer on your phone when you turn the tap on, because a forgotten hose overfills the pool and dilutes the chemistry. Some pools have an automatic filler on a float valve. It is convenient, and it also hides a leak, because the level never appears to move.
A cover cuts evaporation and keeps dust out. Some covers also trap the sun's heat, and warmer water is the last thing a pool needs in August, so ask the technician whether yours suits summer use. An ordinary cover is not a safety barrier.
Evaporation or a leak?
If the pool seems to lose more water than it used to, there is a simple check. Fill a bucket with pool water to a few centimetres below its rim and stand it on a pool step, so that it sits in the water. Mark the water level inside the bucket, and the pool level on the outside of it. Leave it for a day with the pump on its normal schedule, nobody swimming and any automatic filler turned off. Evaporation lowers both levels by the same amount. If the pool mark has dropped clearly more than the bucket mark, water is leaving some other way.
Finding and repairing a leak in a pool shell or its pipework is specialist work. Describe what you have seen when you book, with the result of the bucket check, so that the scope can be confirmed before anyone visits.
After a dusty, windy day
Dust is the Abu Dhabi part of pool care. On the desert side of the city it arrives with every windy afternoon. Near the sea the wind brings salt as well, and salt air corrodes outdoor metal, fixings and pool equipment faster than the air inland does.
The order after a blow is short. Skim the surface as soon as the wind drops, before floating debris sinks. Empty the skimmer baskets. Sweep the pool surround before anyone brushes or vacuums the pool, or the next breeze puts the same dust back. Then leave the pump running and tell the technician, because the filter will need cleaning sooner than usual and the water should be tested once the dust is out. The finest dust is smaller than a filter easily catches. It can hang in the water for days, and it is not cleared by adding chemicals on a guess.
The rest of the villa after a storm is covered in cleaning a villa after a sandstorm. If the paving round the pool holds a grey film or dark patches that sweeping does not move, that is a job for pressure washing, done before the pool's own clean and with the run-off sent away from the water.
What grows round the pool decides how much lands in it. Overhanging branches drop leaves, flowers and seed pods into the water, and lawn clippings, soil and fertiliser carried in by sprinklers feed algae. Trimming back the nearest planting and turning sprinkler heads away from the pool are things to ask for at a garden maintenance visit.
Pool chemicals: handling and storage
Pool chemicals are concentrated, and most accidents with them happen in the store room, not in the pool. If a technician doses your pool, the simplest arrangement is to keep no chemicals at home at all. If you do keep them, these rules are not optional.
- Never mix two pool chemicals, whether in a bucket, in a scoop or in the skimmer. Different types of chlorine can react violently with each other, and chlorine with acid releases a toxic gas.
- Always add the chemical to water. Never add water to the chemical.
- Add one product at a time, with the pump running, and let it disperse before anything else goes in.
- Use a clean, dry scoop for each product, and never share one between two.
- Read the label each time. Follow it for the amount, the gloves and eye protection, and the waiting time before swimming.
- Store products apart from each other, acids well away from chlorine, in their original containers with the lids closed.
- Keep the store cool, dry, ventilated and out of the sun. Heat spoils the products, and liquid chlorine loses strength quickly in a hot room.
- Keep them away from fuel, paint, fertiliser and household cleaners, and locked away from children and pets.
- Keep swimmers out of the water until the label or the technician says it is ready.
If something goes wrong
If a product is spilled, splashed on skin or in the eyes, or a container gives off fumes, move people away into fresh air, follow the first-aid and spill instructions on the label and get medical help. Keep the labels readable for exactly this reason.
Children and safety round the pool
A private pool is the most serious hazard in a home with small children. Drowning is quick, and it is quiet. No single measure is enough, so safety is built in layers, each one covering for a lapse in another.
- A barrier. A fence or wall round the pool that a small child cannot climb, squeeze through or open, with a gate that closes and latches by itself. Keep chairs, planters and anything else that could serve as a step away from it.
- Doors. Any door or window that opens from the house onto the pool area stays locked when the pool is not in use.
- Supervision. An adult who is watching the water and nothing else, within arm's reach of a young child or a weak swimmer. A phone, a book or an older sibling is not supervision.
- No false comfort. Inflatable rings and armbands are toys. They slip off and tip over.
- A clear pool. Take toys out of the water after swimming, so that nothing tempts a child back to the edge.
- Drain covers. Suction outlets must have their covers in place and intact. If one is cracked, loose or missing, nobody swims until it is replaced.
- Skills. Swimming lessons for the children, and resuscitation training for the adults and for anyone employed in the house.
- Service days. Children and pets stay indoors while chemicals are handled, and the gate is checked after the technician leaves.
Rules for your community
Communities, developers and the authorities may set their own requirements for pool barriers and gates. This guide does not list them. Ask your community management or your landlord what applies to your villa, and treat whatever they require as the minimum, not the target.
Signs the pool needs more than the weekly visit
Most problems announce themselves a few days before they become expensive. These are the signs worth acting on, and what each usually means.
| What you notice | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Water dull or hazy | Filter loaded, balance drifting or sanitiser low | No swimming; have it tested |
| Green tint, or slippery walls and steps | Algae starting | Call now, not on service day |
| Strong chlorine smell, stinging eyes | Used-up chlorine, not too much of it | Have the water tested |
| Weak flow from the jets, noisy pump | Full basket, dirty filter or low water | Check baskets and level, then call |
| White crust at the waterline | Scale from hard water and evaporation | Mention it at the next visit |
| Level dropping faster than usual | Heavier evaporation, or a leak | Do the bucket check |
| Pump silent at its usual time | Timer reset or breaker tripped | Do not keep resetting; call |
The smell that is not too much chlorine
The smell sends people the wrong way. A well-kept pool has almost no smell. The sharp swimming-pool smell comes from chlorine that has already combined with sweat, oils and other things swimmers bring in, and it means the working chlorine is running short. Cutting back the dose because of the smell makes the problem worse. Have the water tested.
Summer travel: a pool cannot be paused
A cleaning visit can be skipped while the house is empty. A pool cannot. The weeks when most families are away are the hottest of the year, and an unattended pool in July goes from clear to green well before the flight home.
Before you leave, agree with whoever services the pool that the visits continue, and make sure they can get in. A technician needs access to the pool and the plant room, power to the pump, and a gate code or someone to open up. Ask a neighbour, a relative or whoever waters the plants to check the water level once or twice a week, top it up, and phone you if the pump is silent. Keep the gate locked for the whole time the house is empty.
If the pool was left and you come back to cloudy or green water, nobody swims until it has been tested and corrected. Reopening the rest of the house is covered in cleaning a home after summer travel.
How pool service is priced and booked with us
We do not publish a price for pool work, because no two pools ask for the same visit. The quote depends on the pool's size and volume, its present condition, how often it is serviced, the state of the filter and pump, and how much dosing is needed to bring the water back into range. Routine upkeep and a reset are quoted differently.
Our service page says most pools are booked weekly or every two weeks, and that a one-off reset clean is available for a pool that has been neglected or unused, with a regular schedule afterwards if you want one. We have not published a fixed programme or a contract. The plan for your pool, meaning how often, what each visit includes and the price, is agreed after photos or a free inspection. Whether a year-long commitment or paying visit by visit suits a pool better is weighed up in annual maintenance contract or pay per visit.
What to tell us when you book
Describe the pool when you book on the website or in the IHR Dream app, and send the photos by email to info@ihrdreamcleaning.com with your name and booking details.
- The pool's rough length, width and depth.
- Whether it is a chlorine pool or a salt pool.
- Where the pump room is, and how the technician reaches it.
- When the pool was last cleaned or treated, if you know.
- Anything you have noticed: staining, algae patches, weak flow, a pump that sounds different, a level that keeps dropping.
- Photos of the water, the waterline, the filter and the pump.
Payment, and the day of the visit
For a pool that has to be seen first, the inspection is free in every area we serve. Once the price is confirmed you pay by card from My bookings on this website. Jobs of AED 1,000 or more take a 30% advance by that link, with the balance by link once the work is done. On the day, clear toys, floats, covers and furniture from the pool and its edge, unlock the plant room, and point out the problem areas before the work starts, not after it.
Common questions
Is a salt-water pool less work?
It is different work, not less. A salt system makes its own chlorine, so there is less chlorine to buy, carry and store. The water still needs testing and balancing, and the pool still needs skimming, brushing and vacuuming. The salt cell itself has to be inspected and cleaned of scale, which builds faster in hard water. Tell us which system you have when you book.
Should the pool be emptied and refilled every year?
Not as a routine. Water that is filtered and balanced lasts for years, and an empty pool is at risk: without the weight of the water a shell can crack or shift, and a finish left dry in the sun can be damaged. Part of the water is sometimes replaced when minerals or stabiliser have built up beyond what treatment can correct. That is a decision for a pool professional after a full test, never a job to start on your own with a hose and a pump.
Does the visit cover the pump and the filter?
Filter cleaning and backwashing are part of our standard visit, because a dirty filter undermines clear water even when the chemistry is right. Reduced flow or a noisy pump is often down to the filter, and is dealt with there. A pump, valve or timer that has failed is a different matter. Describe the fault when you book, so that what can be done is confirmed before the visit.
We are having guests this weekend. Does the pool need anything extra?
Twenty swimmers in an afternoon put more into the water than a family does in a week, and our service page notes that pools used heavily during gatherings may need more frequent attention than the standard schedule. Tell the technician in advance, so that the visits before and after can be timed around the day. Ask guests to rinse off under the shower first, which keeps a good part of the sunscreen out. The next morning, skim and empty the baskets.
We have a small plunge pool on a terrace. Does it need the same care?
Yes, and in one way more. A small body of water heats up faster and its balance swings faster, so a mistake shows within a day. The routine is the same: circulation, cleaning and testing. In tower and apartment communities the main pool belongs to the building and is looked after by its management. We work on private plunge pools where residents have them.
Start with the daily look, and book the rest
Take the two-minute look today. If the water is clear, the level is right and the pump sounds normal, the routine is working and the job is to keep to it through the hot months. If one of the warning signs is showing, act this week and not next.
The pool cleaning and maintenance page lists what a visit includes and what affects the quote. We work every day from 8 AM – 8 PM. Book online, describe the pool and send the photos, and we confirm the scope and the price before any work starts.
