POOL WATER MAINTENANCE

Proper water chemistry is the single most important item in caring for your pool.

The primary reason for treating pool and spa water with sanitizing chemicals is to prevent the growth of bacteria and algae and destroy organic matter introduced into the water.  Keeping the water chemically balanced and sanitized provides a healthy and visually appealing pool environment.

BALANCE

Balanced water prevents damage to your pool by keeping pool water from being corrosive.  There are three primary variables than need to be in balance:

pH

Alkalinity

Calcium Hardness

pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline the water is.  pH ranges from 0 to 14 with 7.0 being neutral.  Values below 7.0 are acidic.  Values above 7.0 are alkaline.  Pool and spa water ideally should be between 7.4 and 7.6.  Incorrect pH levels can cause itchy skin, red eyes and interfere with the action of your pool sanitizer.  The pH level is by far the most important factor in water balance because it affects the ability of your chlorine to kill bacteria, and to control damage to pools and equipment.

Alkalinity can be thought of as a buffering agent and is a measure of bi-carbonates or alkaline chemicals in your water.  The recommended range is between 80 and 140 ppm.  Low alkalinity will erode the surface of concrete and paint and cause the pH levels to be unstable.  Alkalinity does control pH to a large degree and prevents ‘pH bounce’.

Calcium Hardness is a measure of the dissolved calcium in your pool water.  Calcium hardness will vary with the water source, previous chemicals used such as calcium hypochlorite and rate of evaporation of the water. The recommended range is 200 to 350 ppm.  High levels may cause cloudy water and scaling of pool surfaces.  Low levels may lead to corrosion and etching of plaster in concrete pools. 

SANITIZERS

Sanitizing is the act of keeping the water sanitary to swim in.  Chlorine is the most widely used method of sanitizing pool water.  The chlorinating chemical you will be using in the pool as a disinfectant is a very active chemical. It is easily dissipated by the ultra-violet rays of the sun and requires constant replenishment.  The use of a sanitizer has three main functions:

Kill Bacteria

Reduce Organic Matter

Prevent growth of algae

Chlorine Treatment

Chlorine can be granular, liquid or in tablet form.  

When you add chlorine to your pool it will react chemically to destroy or alter such things as bacteria, perspiration, urine, algae and many forms of organic material. To keep pool water effectively sanitized it is necessary to build up a residual of chlorine which available to do its job of sanitizing. Thus, the term free chlorine.  The optimal level of free chlorine in your pool or spa is between 1.0 and 1.5 ppm, enough to destroy any new contaminants introduced. 

Chlorine tablets are best product for providing a constant feed of sanitizer to your pool, also referred to as trichlor.

If your pool smells like chlorine, you  Do Not have enough free chlorine in your water.  Add more chlorine!

Shock Treatment/Super Chlorination

Shock Treatment is a larger dosage of chlorine sufficient to bring the free available chlorine level up to 5 to 10ppm. This is intended to control visible algae, burn out organic wastes and destroy excess "Chloramines".   Chloramines can be responsible for strong chlorine odors and eye irritation. The use of shock treatment, periodically with your chlorination routine, will aid in prevention of undesirable side affects and restore your pools ability to control algae and bacteria. Shock treatment or super chlorination is recommended when our pool has high bather use or long periods of rain or high winds carrying debris. Windblown dust, fertilizers, algae, leaves, twigs, certain water-treatment chemicals and rain introduce contaminants into the water.

Shock treatment can be accomplished using granular calcium hypochlorite and should be performed once a week in the summer months.

WATER CLARITY

When your pool water has a dull or hazy appearance it indicates the water has a high level of suspended particles.  This will cause the chlorine to be used up prematurely. Suspended particles in water are the primary cause of turbid, dull, cloudy water. If your water turns cloudy, it's extremely important to determine the reason and take action to remove it.  Suspended particles may be present for several reasons:

Improper Filtration

More Swimmers than the system can handle

Algae Formation

Improper Water Balance

Cloudiness can be removed by using a water clarifier. There are basically two types of clarifiers. One is a coagulant which is a chemical that when added to the water causes the small particles to stick together (floc) making larger chemicals which are filterable. Another type of clarifier is an ionized polymer.

ALGAE

The best way to avoid algae growth is to prevent it. This requires a balanced, sanitized pool that is routinely shocked.                                                       

Algae are living aquatic plant like organisms that multiply rapidly on warm days.  An extremely common variety is green algae, which may be found free floating in the water or clinging to surfaces.  Yellow algae, also called mustard algae, is a surface clinging variety most commonly found on the shady side of the pool, and very resistant to normal chlorine levels.  Black algae appears as dark black or blue/green spots approximately the size of a dime. Like yellow algae, black algae is very resistant to normal chlorine levels.  A low chlorine level combined with a high pH provides a perfect environment for algae to grow. 

Common Sense Things To Remember

·            Read all labels carefully before using

·        Keep all chemicals out of the reach of children

·        Handle all chemicals with care

·        Don't ever mix chemicals together

·        Always add chemical to water, NEVER add water to chemicals

·        Store chemicals in cool dry place

·        Use a reliable test kit and replace reagents every year