I love spending time outside, so in the interest of not roasting my brains out this summer now that I’m sans-apartment-complex-pool, I decided to get a little aboveground poolfor the yard. It’s about 10 feet across and 2 feet high. I got it filled up last night and it’s perfect for lounging in (but not for diving in! heed the warning, people, or your neck might explode!) and I’m really looking forward to spending hot afternoons hanging out in it.

Um, yeah, don't do that ...

Question now is — how to keep it clean. A lid for it is coming in the mail soon, but it also requires a little care to ensure it’s safe and sparkling. There are few main issues to tackle here: chemical levels, algae growth, debris contamination and the potential for recreational water illness.

So to keep a largish kiddie pool clean, for starters, you should scrub the sides of the pool with disinfectant (there are chemical and natural options) when you occasionally empty it, and then be sure to rinse it thoroughly and let it dry. When full again, it’s important to regularly check the pool’s parameters like pH level and chlorine level to make sure they’re on target. With chlorine that’s usually between 1.0 to 3.0 parts per million. When it comes to the pH level, that might not seem very important, but it is. If the pH level is too high, the chlorine won’t be as effective, and if it’s too low (or too high) it will irritate your skin. Best to stay between within about 7.2 and 7.8 (or 7.6, if you can manage it) on the pH scale.

Then there’s the regular skimming to fish out leaves and other debris that can fall in while the cover is off. I’m lucky in that my pool has a filter, so I just have to keep that running properly, follow these steps and I should be good to go. Different sized pools will vary in the care and attention they require — smaller = simpler, larger = harder — but these are among the basics you could need depending on your pool’s dimensions. (I don’t even want to try to figure out what I would have to do if I needed to actually shock the pool! That sort of serious chlorine treatment looks complicated. I’ll stick with dumping the water on a routine basis … )

For more important pool safety and maintenance information, check out the CDC’s rundown and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s info on the matter. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow How-to Stuff on Facebook and Twitter, and download our iPhone or Android app. Also, if any pool pros out there have more tips, feel free to share them!