Taking a dip in the pool is great, and there's nothing quite like the fresh spray off of a well-maintained backyard swimming pool. It's easy to forget, however, that the typical suburban pool is actually a chemical balancing act worthy of a university lab project, and that a hole in the ground filled with water is practically the best place to catch falling leaves and dead bugs. That's why you need these five zero-effort pool tools.

Robots and Chemical Cleansers

It doesn't get more low-effort than making robots do your cleaning for you. Fortunately, there are a number of robotic pool cleaners available that you can try out, usually for less than $1,000. Sometimes called "pool Roombas," robotic cleaners operate on their own just like the robot vacuum cleaner in your living room. Simply charge one up and drop it in, then let it go to work scouring your pool's surfaces while you leave it to its work. Also in the no-effort territory are chlorine tablets. These chemical cleansers may be less thorough than a robot, but they're way cheaper and they bleach out microbes from your water supply. Just drop them into the hopper and let them dissolve.

Manual Tools are Easy to Use

Sadly, not everything can be as easy as robots and tablets. Get a net to skim the leaves off the top of your pool, and connect it with a telescopic pole for work in the deep end. Finally, for times when you've drained the pool and it needs a proper cleaning out, invest in a vacuum head and hose attachments for that once-a-year spring cleaning with as little wasted effort as possible.