Maintaining Healthy Pool
This can throw the total alkalinity and pH level and cause your pool to go cloudy or green and end up very unpleasant to swim in. Further, long-term imbalances in alkalinity and pH level can result in the deterioration of the pool’s surfaces.
5 steps to Maintain A Healthy Pool
In order to maintain the quality of the water, there are five key steps to take including;
- Filtration
- Chlorination
- pH level
- Total alkalinity (TA)
- Calcium hardness
1. Filtration
Read all about the different types of pool filters here and find the one that will suit you best. Pool filters work by removing microbes or small particles of debris. How often you run, clean and change your filter depends on the size of your pool, how much you use it and the type of filter you have.
2. Chlorination
Chlorine works in collaboration with your pool filter to remove microbes and other debris. The more you chlorinate your swimming pool, the less filtration required and vice versa.
To determine how much chlorine is required, test the current level of chlorine in your swimming pool and adjust accordingly. Generally speaking, the chlorine level should remain between 1 and 3 ppm.
3. pH level
The pH level will tell you how acidic or alkaline the water in your swimming pool is. A pH level of 7 is considered neutral, above 7 is considered alkaline and below 7 is considered acidic. It is recommended that your pool pH level remains between 7 and 7.6.
pH level should be checked regularly as it can change quickly after heavy rainfall, excess use or from chlorine and other chemical use.
A swimming pool with a pH level above 8 can be unpleasant to swim in resulting in skin rashes and red eyes.
Is you pool water looking a little cloudy? Here’s how you can fix it.
4. Total alkalinity (TA)
The total alkalinity (TA) is a measure of how much of the alkaline substances there are in the water. When it comes to swimming pool water, it is bicarbonate alkalinity that is observed, and it should be between 80 ppm and 120 ppm.
Maintaining this range of TA prevents rapid changes in the pH level of the pool.
Stability of pH is important because if the TA is too low or too high, there can be many subsequent issues. For example, if the TA is too low, concrete and painted pool surfaces will deteriorate over time and the water can turn green. Likewise, if the TA is too high, the pool can become cloudy.
5. Calcium Hardness
Calcium hardness (also often referred to as total hardness) refers to the amount of mineral calcium dissolved in your pool water. It’s important because the right balance will assist in preventing the deterioration of your pool surfaces and avoid the build-up of scum.
Calcium hardness can be measured using a simple soap test kit that will measure
The headline here is that balance is key. Checking filtration, chlorination, pH level, total alkalinity (TA) and calcium hardness on a regular basis, and more frequently after heavy use/rainfall etc., will ensure a healthy pool all year round.
