The chemicals that go into your pool are, first and foremost, a means of maintaining water balance. With improper water balance, the tendency of the water to be either scale forming or corrosive can be detrimental to a pool. Maintaining the pH, total alkalinity levels and calcium hardness, you can achieve a healthy chemical balance that prevents a number of problems:
- Scale and stain formation
- Cloudy or colored water
- Corrosion of pool surfaces and equipment
- Algae formation on pool surfaces
When you keep the water properly balanced, you will improve the functionality and longevity of your pool and its equipment. This also improves safety for the swimmers and saves you money. So, what goes into proper water balance?
A properly balanced pool is beautiful to look at and safe to swim in!
While there are many factors in having a healthy pool, here are three keys to properly balancing the water chemistry:
- Alkalinity
- pH or Potential Hydrogen
- Chlorine
Alkalinity
Alkalinity is the essential part to having a balanced pool, and a healthy range is 120-150 ppm. When alkalinity goes outside those healthy ranges, your pool chemistry can get out of balance.
pH or Potential Hydrogen
When it comes to pH, a.k.a. potential hydrogen, the readings represent the corrosiveness (acidity) or the scaling (basicity) of your pool. Your pH level should be between 7.4 and 7.6. A balanced pH also helps the effectiveness of your chlorine. When your pH is high, the chlorine in your pool becomes less effective.
Chlorine
Chlorine is next in the list when it comes to maintaining a healthy and safe pool. Chlorine is the primary sanitation of a pool with a healthy range of 2-5ppm. Chlorine kills bacteria though a fairly simple chemical reaction. The chlorine you put into the water breaks down into different chemicals that kill microorganisms and bacteria. Some bacteria are killed on contact, while others take longer to exterminate. Note that properly treated pool water neutralizes the COVID-19 virus.
The experts at Pool Tech would be happy to help you keep your pool water chemistry in balance. Bring in a sample for a water test and analysis, or contact us to check your pool so we can ensure your pool stays clean, safe and ready to enjoy.