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Thursday, January 7, 2010
Free Chemical Balance Tips 1.0
Hello Everyone!
Here are a few tips on how to keep your pool water balanced:
1. Keep pH & Total Alkalinity in balance.
- The pH & Total Alkalinity levels are the most important levels when it comes to maintaining a "Priceless Pool". The pH & TA help regulate the effects of chlorine levels and their effectiveness. Proper pH & TA levels are as follows:
Marcite Pools - pH 7.4-7.6, TA 100-120ppm
Fiberglass Pools - pH 7.4-7.8, TA 100-120ppm
Pebble (exposed aggregate) Pools - pH 7.2-7.6, TA 80-100ppm
2. "Shock" pool water only once a week in the summer time, once every 2-3 weeks in summer time.
Every pool in the world has, repeat, has to be "shocked" on a regular basis. Chlorine tablets alone will NOT do the job properly (see #4). The size of your pool, along with bather load, determines how much "shock" you need to add to your pool (a following blog will discuss the different types of chlorination & "shock"). The rule of thumb for how much shock you need is that you need to "shock" the pool once a week during the summer months, and only once every 2-3 weeks, or as needed, during the winter months. "Shocking" the pool more than the normal recommended dose can lead to staining in the pool, and/or premature wear of the pool surface itself. High levels of chlorine also lead to the pool being "unswimmable" due to harsh conditions that can irritate your skin, eyes, etc. High chlorine levels can also damage pool equipment and cause filters to fail prematurely.
3. When checking your water, make sure you're getting an accurate reading.
Whether you're checking your water at home, or taking it to the pool store, it is extremely important that you are going to get an accurate test so you may know what chemicals you need to add. The proper technique is to get the water from at least 3 feet below the surface (approximately one arm's length deep), especially if rain water has gotten into the pool. Also, it is highly recommended that the pool pump & filter have been running for at least 2 hours.
4. Don't over-stabilize your water!
This is one of the biggest problems that we run into as a company. Almost every time that we take over a pool from another pool company, the pools are over-stabilized. This comes from the over use of chlorine tablets. Chlorine tablets contain high amounts of stabilizer; its what keeps them in the hockey puck shape. After adding 3-4 chlorine tablets a week for X amount of weeks, the stabilizer level increases to above proper levels. Almost all of the larger companies preach that it is the most important part of keeping your chemicals balanced. This is in fact not true.
Over stabilizing the pool water leads to a variety of problems. The biggest of these problems is called "chlorine lock". Let's start by stating what stabilizer's purpose is in pools. Stabilizer, when applied properly, prevents the sun from burning off the chlorine in your pool. "Chlorine lock" happens when there is more stabilizer in the water than there is available Free Chlorine, causing the stabilizer molecule to engulf the chlorine molecule. This leads to the chlorine becoming extremely ineffective against fighting algae, specifically mustard (yellow) algae. Ever wonder why you go to the pool store and they tell you have a bunch of chlorine in the pool, yet you still have an algae problem in they pool? This is most likely it.
To prevent this from occurring, make sure your stabilizer level is in the proper range. The range you want to be in is, in our opinion, 40-80ppm. Anything above 100ppm is too high and you risk the re-occurrence of algae growth in the pool. Here's the kicker: Once you over stabilize your pool, or your pool service does this to your pool, unfortunately there are NO chemicals to reduce your stabilizer level. You MUST drain the pool down and add fresh water to dilute the levels. So if you think you're getting a great deal by hiring one of those other cheap pool companies, you might want to reconsider.
Some of the other problems that occur due to high stabilizer levels are stains forming, along with formation of scale.
5. Don't underestimate the importance of Calcium Hardness.
One of the most overlooked chemicals to keep balanced is Calcium Hardness. Having the proper Calcium Hardness levels in your pool is vital to keep your pool finish strong. If you have a low Calcium Hardness level in your pool, you will see what's called etching. Etching is where the pool walls and bottom look streaky and it's where the calcium has been pulled out of the pool finish. Having too high of a Calcium Hardness level (usually from adding too much granular "shock") will cause scale formations on the walls and bottom of the pool. Scale will usually also form on the pool tile and pool equipment causing the equipment to fail prematurely. Proper Calcium Hardness levels are as followed:
Marcite Pools - 200-350ppm
Fiberglass Pools - 300-400ppm
Pebble (exposed aggregate) Pools - 250-350ppm
Hope this was helpful in answering any of your pool chemical balancing questions. If you have any questions in particular that were not answered in this blog, please leave a comment or send us an email at pricelesspoolservice@gmail.com
Thanks!
Greg
Here are a few tips on how to keep your pool water balanced:
1. Keep pH & Total Alkalinity in balance.
- The pH & Total Alkalinity levels are the most important levels when it comes to maintaining a "Priceless Pool". The pH & TA help regulate the effects of chlorine levels and their effectiveness. Proper pH & TA levels are as follows:
Marcite Pools - pH 7.4-7.6, TA 100-120ppm
Fiberglass Pools - pH 7.4-7.8, TA 100-120ppm
Pebble (exposed aggregate) Pools - pH 7.2-7.6, TA 80-100ppm
2. "Shock" pool water only once a week in the summer time, once every 2-3 weeks in summer time.
Every pool in the world has, repeat, has to be "shocked" on a regular basis. Chlorine tablets alone will NOT do the job properly (see #4). The size of your pool, along with bather load, determines how much "shock" you need to add to your pool (a following blog will discuss the different types of chlorination & "shock"). The rule of thumb for how much shock you need is that you need to "shock" the pool once a week during the summer months, and only once every 2-3 weeks, or as needed, during the winter months. "Shocking" the pool more than the normal recommended dose can lead to staining in the pool, and/or premature wear of the pool surface itself. High levels of chlorine also lead to the pool being "unswimmable" due to harsh conditions that can irritate your skin, eyes, etc. High chlorine levels can also damage pool equipment and cause filters to fail prematurely.
3. When checking your water, make sure you're getting an accurate reading.
Whether you're checking your water at home, or taking it to the pool store, it is extremely important that you are going to get an accurate test so you may know what chemicals you need to add. The proper technique is to get the water from at least 3 feet below the surface (approximately one arm's length deep), especially if rain water has gotten into the pool. Also, it is highly recommended that the pool pump & filter have been running for at least 2 hours.
4. Don't over-stabilize your water!
This is one of the biggest problems that we run into as a company. Almost every time that we take over a pool from another pool company, the pools are over-stabilized. This comes from the over use of chlorine tablets. Chlorine tablets contain high amounts of stabilizer; its what keeps them in the hockey puck shape. After adding 3-4 chlorine tablets a week for X amount of weeks, the stabilizer level increases to above proper levels. Almost all of the larger companies preach that it is the most important part of keeping your chemicals balanced. This is in fact not true.
Over stabilizing the pool water leads to a variety of problems. The biggest of these problems is called "chlorine lock". Let's start by stating what stabilizer's purpose is in pools. Stabilizer, when applied properly, prevents the sun from burning off the chlorine in your pool. "Chlorine lock" happens when there is more stabilizer in the water than there is available Free Chlorine, causing the stabilizer molecule to engulf the chlorine molecule. This leads to the chlorine becoming extremely ineffective against fighting algae, specifically mustard (yellow) algae. Ever wonder why you go to the pool store and they tell you have a bunch of chlorine in the pool, yet you still have an algae problem in they pool? This is most likely it.
To prevent this from occurring, make sure your stabilizer level is in the proper range. The range you want to be in is, in our opinion, 40-80ppm. Anything above 100ppm is too high and you risk the re-occurrence of algae growth in the pool. Here's the kicker: Once you over stabilize your pool, or your pool service does this to your pool, unfortunately there are NO chemicals to reduce your stabilizer level. You MUST drain the pool down and add fresh water to dilute the levels. So if you think you're getting a great deal by hiring one of those other cheap pool companies, you might want to reconsider.
Some of the other problems that occur due to high stabilizer levels are stains forming, along with formation of scale.
5. Don't underestimate the importance of Calcium Hardness.
One of the most overlooked chemicals to keep balanced is Calcium Hardness. Having the proper Calcium Hardness levels in your pool is vital to keep your pool finish strong. If you have a low Calcium Hardness level in your pool, you will see what's called etching. Etching is where the pool walls and bottom look streaky and it's where the calcium has been pulled out of the pool finish. Having too high of a Calcium Hardness level (usually from adding too much granular "shock") will cause scale formations on the walls and bottom of the pool. Scale will usually also form on the pool tile and pool equipment causing the equipment to fail prematurely. Proper Calcium Hardness levels are as followed:
Marcite Pools - 200-350ppm
Fiberglass Pools - 300-400ppm
Pebble (exposed aggregate) Pools - 250-350ppm
Hope this was helpful in answering any of your pool chemical balancing questions. If you have any questions in particular that were not answered in this blog, please leave a comment or send us an email at pricelesspoolservice@gmail.com
Thanks!
Greg
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