Regardless of the kind of pool you have, it is of the utmost importance to maintain a water balance. As a pool owner you should be aware of the significance of water balance and the consequences of not maintaining the right chemical composition.
Water balance is all about maintaining the chemical balance in your swimming pool to ensure your pool stays healthy. Additionally, a well-balanced pool prolongs the life of your pool and assures safety to you and your family. Imbalanced water can damage your pool shell finish, eventually leading to corrosion build-up and huge repair costs. Unhygienic water can also cause skin issues.
Importance Of Pool Water Balance
Harmony and balance are the key factors to your health and it is no different for your swimming pool. If you can achieve water balance, you can avoid several potential pool issues and save money and time.
There Are Numerous Reasons To Achieve Pool Balance
Helps the chemicals work effectively: When you maintain the pH balance in your pool water, you are in fact allowing the chemicals in the water to do their job more effectively. Simply said, an ideal pH enables the chemicals like bromine, chlorine, and others to work their best, leaving your pool well-sanitized. Say, for instance, your pool water reads a low pH. This makes the water more acidic, eating up the sanitizers faster. They don’t get sufficient time to condition your pool.
Reduces water problems: If your pool water is acidic and the sanitizers are unable to do their work efficiently, you should be ready to take on more water issues. Sanitizers are meant to eliminate the debris and bacteria, but you will have more water challenges on your way when they are unable to perform. It is always better to avoid problems than deal with them later. Regularly check your pool water and try to maintain its health.
Protect your pool equipment: Acidic water is not good. When your water has low pH levels, it tries to balance itself by taking what it requires from vinyl, concrete, PVC, and other pool parts, eventually corroding and damaging your pool. This is the reason most pool equipment manufacturers do not cover damages caused due to low pH in their warranties. On the other hand, a high pH can cause scaling and your pool heating system will need to use more energy since it has to work harder against the scaling.
Visit your neighborhood pool store to get your pool water tested professionally. Water balance testing is like a health checkup for your swimming pool.
Now you know the importance of pool water balance, let us get into the details. Testing and achieving water balance is no rocket science. With basic knowledge and some patience, any pool owner can balance chemical composition in their pool. Read on to know more.
Know The Proportion Of Chemicals That Can Be Added
You need to note one thing. Before testing your pool water, run the pump to ensure the water is well circulated. This provides precise results. Most importantly, you can only add chemicals in specified or definite amounts per 10,000 gallons of water, at a time. In other words, the chemicals you add should be proportional to the quantity of water.
Measuring pH
Do you know the reason behind testing the pH value of the water in your swimming pool? pH is the measure of the alkalinity or acidity of water and your objective should be to achieve a neutral measure. The scale ranges between 1.0-14.0 where values over 7 indicates high alkalinity and under 7, high acidity. The neutral measure is 7.0-7.4. Depending upon the pH readings, you can add chemicals to increase or decrease the values, to ultimately achieve the water balance.
Remember, imbalanced water can heavily damage pool equipment and structure. It can also cause inflamed eyes and affect the pool filtration and sanitization. Factors such as water top-up, maintenance and rainfall can affect your pool pH and it is therefore significant you test your pool water regularly.
Alkalinity
Alkalinity, or total alkalinity to be precise is a measure of all the chief balancing materials in parts per million (ppm). Total alkalinity is the measure of bicarbonates, hydroxides and carbonates, which are added to achieve the pool water balance. Alkalinity below the desired range is damaging to your pool shell, further leading to quick pH changes. Depending on the readings of your pool pH, you can add agents that increase or decrease the alkalinity.
We recommend an alkalinity range of 80-120 ppm. A reading of 100 ppm would be great.
Calcium Hardness
Calcium hardness is the amount of calcium dissolved in your pool water. The ideal calcium hardness level for your fiberglass pool would be 100-330 ppm. A low calcium level leads to an imbalance and risks the calcium present in the shell and the plaster surrounding it getting dissolved in the water. On the other hand, a higher calcium level causes scaling affecting the pool filtration system.
Calcium hardness, like pH and alkalinity need to be regularly monitored to maintain good pool health. A yearly testing of calcium hardness would be sufficient if you live in a locality where the water supply contains low levels of calcium. However, if you are sanitizing your pool with calcium hypochloride, the levels of calcium hardness could spike rapidly, requiring you to test your water often.
The ideal range is 200-400 ppm for calcium hardness. If the calcium hardness measure is too high, we suggest you drain your pool and refill it with clean, fresh water. Home pool testing kits cannot generally test for calcium hardness, you need to take a sample to the experts to identify.
Cyanuric Acid
This is yet another factor to measure when trying to achieve the water balance in your swimming pool. Cyanuric acid protects the chlorine present in the water from getting destroyed by the UV rays of the sun, thereby conditioning or stabilizing your pool. It is as important as the other ingredients and you are recommended to maintain it in the range of 30-50 ppm.
When you take care to maintain the levels of each chemical/ingredient in your pool water, you can extend your pool life and enjoy pool time for extended periods.
Chlorine
Chlorine is available in several forms (gas, granules, liquid) and is commonly used for sanitizing. It is used as a disinfectant and can kill any kind of bacteria and harmful organisms in the water. It can also free your pool water of any contaminants. However, please note that using higher amounts of chlorine can be damaging. It can leave your pool and swimmers bleached when used consistently in excessive amounts. The recommended chlorine range is 1-3 ppm.
Everytime there is rain, you add water, or add chemicals, you are advised to check your pool water
Ensure Your Pool Health And Enjoy Pool Time With Peace Of Mind
Every time there is rain, you add water or chemicals, you are advised to check your pool water. Check it weekly if you are using your pool more often.
If you are short of time and want to keep it hassle-free, you can hire a professional pool maintenance service. However, it is a simple process and you can do it by yourself with a simple testing kit, provided you have some patience.
When you know your pool water is safe and hygienic, you and your family can enjoy the waters, tension-free!
