Your swimming pool is home to hundreds of microorganisms that can cause water-borne diseases if left untreated. Every swimming pool owner must have adequate knowledge of pool chemistry to ward off any bacteria and provide swimmers a safe environment. Here’s a beginner’s guide to pool chemistry.
pH, Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness Levels
Balancing pH, alkalinity and calcium hardness levels is vital to keep your pool water clean and clear. pH levels measure the acidity of your pool water. The optimal pH level is 7.4 but can vary between 7.2 and 7.6. High pH levels give cloudy water and poor chlorine disinfection, while low pH levels can cause eye irritation and pool damage. Alkalinity levels help determine factors that can affect pH imbalance. The recommended alkalinity levels are 100 to 150 parts per million. Calcium hardness ensures that your pool water doesn’t damage pool surfaces and plumbing. Low calcium hardness results in slimy water and high calcium hardness results in cloudy water. Pool contractors recommend calcium hardness should range between 200 and 400 parts per million.
Pool Sanitization
Pool sanitization kills algae, bacteria and viruses in the pool water. The most popular pool sanitizing chemical is chlorine due to its cost-effectiveness and efficacy. Free chlorine is active chlorine that disinfects the water while combined chlorine is used chlorine.
According to the CDC, free chlorine should at least be 1 part per million in a pool and ideally between 2 and 4 parts per million. However, chlorine is highly reactive and can produce a waste product called chloramines after oxidation. When chloramines interact with sweat and urine, they produce a stinky smell and may cause irritation to your skin and eyes and even endanger your respiratory system. This is why shocking your pool is necessary to prevent combined chlorine and chloramine build-up.
Shock Your Pool
As a pool owner, you should shock your pool regularly, even if your pool chemistry is balanced. To shock your pool, you need to super-chlorinate your pool by adding a high dose of chlorine at a single time, and it must be done at night as the sun’s UV rays can alter chlorine. Shocking your pool with calcium hypochlorite will give you the best results.
Perfect Pools is a swimming pool designer and builder that provides award-winning pool build services. We have successfully designed and built iconic swimming pools for clients in Northern Virginia and guided them on maintaining pool chemistry. Contact us now for more information.
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