When your pool water is clear there's no need to worry about anything else, right? Not necessarily. While it's great to have a pool that's crystal clear and free of debris, there can be many things going on in your water chemistry that can be harmful to your liner, equipment and even your skin.
One of the biggest misconceptions with pool maintenance is the understanding that all you need to do is add chlorine, or in the case of salt water pools -- add salt. While these are important steps in a pool maintenance routine, they're not the only ones.
PH:
Checking your pool's PH is essential. In fact, highly acidic pools can even contribute to clear water. While this may sound great, low PH levels can cause strong chlorine smells. That's right, that strong chlorine smell coming from your pool is actually from an imbalanced PH. Most importantly, an out of range PH level can cause skin irritation, and nobody wants that. Testing your PH regularly is important in maintaining a healthy pool for family and friends. PH levels often fluctuate after a big rain storm, so be sure to test your water after it rains or after many people have gone for a swim!
Alkalinity:
Alkalinity also has an effect on the overall health of your pool, working in tandem with PH. When your alkalinity fluctuates, your PH will follow. Ensuring it's leveled will help keep your water free from cloudiness and water healthy. Working like an anchor, alkalinity will help neutralize acids in your water and help your chlorine work like it supposed to. There are many products used to help raise and lower your alkalinity levels including Bioguard Balance Pak 100 and Lo n' slow.
Calcium:
Depending on what area you live in, your water's hardness may be higher or lower than the targeted range of 150 -223 ppm. When your calcium is too high, this can lead to calcification within your pool equipment and scaling within your pool. Leaving a high calcium reading for an extended period of time may lead in a shorter life span for your pool equipment. If you've noticed that you've had to replace your pool equipment quite frequently, this can be due to the lack of regular water testing and your water being too high. Low calcium can lead to a deteriorated liner or other things as the water is trying to gain calcium from another source in your pool.
At Frisco Pools, we'll get your pool where it needs to be with our in-house water testing.
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