BALANCED POOL WATER

Think of the perfect swimming pool. What pops in your head? Sparkling water, happy swimmers, easy maintenance, etc… If you take the proper steps to sanitize and balance your pool water, it will be clear of algae, free of disease causing pathogens and swimmers won’t complain about red eyes or chlorine smell. Below, you will find a description about the certain tests that should be performed on your swimming pool routinely. 

1.  Free Chlorine is regularly dispersed into the pool water and should be tested weekly for proper disinfectants. Routine super chlorination (shock treatments) kills harmful microorganisms that can cause health-related problems, such as gastroenteritis, Legionnaires disease, ear infections and athlete’s foot. Keeping chlorine in the pool also is what keeps your pool clear and free of algae.  Learning how to properly test your water will allow you to identify the chlorine residual and demand in pool water. More frequent testing is needed if there is heavy bather use.  You need to maintain a free chlorine level of at least 3 ppm.

There are three types of tests you can do to perform a chlorine test at home. A. Test Strips (Poolmart recommends) tests for free available chorine B. DPD tests for both free available chlorine and total chlorine C. OTO (not recommended) tests only for total chlorine.  If the water is properly sanitized free and total will be the same. If contaminates are present, total will be higher. Combined Chlorines = Total Chlorine minus Free Chlorine. (total chlorine is NOT a sanitizing chlorine)  OTO alone therefore can't test for contaminates.

 2.  pH and Alkalinity should also be tested regularly. These levels fluctuate through out the summer.  Heavy bather loads, chemicals, and weather affect pH and Alkalinity levels.  If these levels are not in proper balance, it will cause discomfort to swimmers and corrosion to the pool and its equipment.

pH and Alkalinity are closely related. If you adjust alkalinity, you'll adjust the pH with it. Alkalinity acts as a buffer for the pH.
Helps to stabilize the pH so that it's not continually going up or down. Adjust the alkalinity first, then the pH. Many
references suggest different alkalinity ranges for your pool water. In Southeastern Michigan, Alkalinity is very aggressive
at the national average of 80 - 120 ppm. That is why we must keep the Total Alkalinity in SE Michigan between 150 - 250 ppm. Chlorine's ability to destroy bacteria is greatly effect by the pH. That is why the ideal range for pH is between 7.4 and 7.6.
 
3. Calcium Hardness is important for the pool. It protects a liner from shrinking, plaster from etching, and corrosion of the pool. There are other products you can use that will help with your pools’ performance. Stop by Poolmart & Spas water testing and diagnostics lab to get more information. There is no reason you would need a home kit to test Calcium Hardness. It is only necessary to test the Calcium Hardness in the beginning of the season and the end before you close up your pool. 
The Calcium Hardness does not fluctuate like pH, Alkalinity, and Chlorine.

4. Cyanuric Acid is a pool enhancer.  It is not necessary to have it in the pool, but it will sure save you a lot of money in the long run on chlorine consumption.  CYA or Stabilizer is sunscreen for the pool water.  When the sun is beating down on your pool, stabilizer protects the chlorine from UV rays consuming the free sanitizing chlorine.

Check your pool with your Aquachek* Chlorine test strips at least twice a week. Also, it is recommended that you bring your water into Poolmart & Spas once a month during the summer for a full water analysis.

Water Test	Ideal Ranges
TDS- Total Dissolved Solids	below 2,200
CYA- Cyanuric Acid	40 - 100 ppm
Free Chlorine	3 - 5 ppm
Total Chlorine	3 - 5 ppm
pH  (potential hydrogen)	7.4 - 7.6
TA- Total Alkalinity	150 - 250 ppm (SE MI only)
Calcium Hardness	175 - 275 ppm vinyl pools 200 - 275 ppm gunite, fiberglass
Proteam Supreme	50 - 100 ppm
Phosphates	0 ppm
Copper	0 ppm
Iron	0 ppm

* Test Strips bottles will say the correct Alkalinity level is 80 -120. This is an average of every region. The correct reading for Southeastern Michigan is 150 -250. The correct level should read High and Very High on your test strips bottle.

©2007 Poolmart & Spas
5738 South Main Street
Clarkston, Michigan 48346
phone: (248) 625.0729 fax: (248) 625-7079
e-mail: poolmartinfo@poolmartspas.com