Inground Pool Chemical Guide
It would be nice if you could just fill your pool with water and walk away, never having to worry about algae, bacteria, contaminants and organisms. But that's just not reality. You have to take the proper steps to keep your pool clean and sanitized…to do this, you need a basic knowledge of pool chemistry as well as the proper equipment and supplies.
Sanitizer is perhaps the most important pool chemical you will need, which keeps contaminants such as bird droppings, insects, leaves, body oils, hair and soap from becoming a nuisance. But for the sanitizer to do its job, you have to make sure everything else is balanced, such as pH, alkalinity, and calcium hardness.
Then, of course, you have to add chemicals to the water to prevent staining, clear up the water and keep algae at bay.
Sanitizer
There are many kinds of sanitizer out there. Here are the top ones.
Chlorine
Thanks to its efficiency and low cost, chlorine is the most popular way to sanitize your pool. It does this by oxidizing contaminants, killing viruses, bacteria, and algae, and preventing algae from getting out of hand.
You can get it in one of two ways:
- Granules: Put them in your filter so they can be pumped into the water, dissolve and get distributed through the filtration system. This method takes a lot of time and it doesn't always ensure even distribution.
- Tablets: Get them in 1-inch or 3-inch sizes, add them to your dispenser in the skimmer basket, or within an automatic chlorinator.
Regardless of which delivery method you choose, you want to achieve a chlorine level of 3 parts per million (ppm).
There are two types of chlorine: stabilized and unstabilized.
Stabilized chlorine has cyanuric acid that allows it to stay in your water for much longer, making it more efficient at cleaning the pool. Plus, you don't to replace it as often.
Unstabilized chlorine can be degraded by the sun's UV rays which will burn off the chlorine. You have to add more chlorine more often, and thus spend more cash. This is best for indoor pools.
Chloramines
Chlorine will dissipate eventually and convert to a waste product known as chloramines.
This is what you smell when you enter a pool area and it's what stings your eyes when you go under water for too long.
Test your water regularly for the presence of too many chloramines; if the level gets too high, you will have to shock the pool.
Bromine
An alternative to chlorine is bromine, which ionizes contaminants. It doesn't break down as quickly and therefore you get more use out of one treatment. As it breaks down, however, it creates bromamines, which will reduce the effectiveness. This also calls for shocking the pool if the level gets too high.
Biguanide
This is a chlorine-free sanitizer that binds contaminants into water-insoluble clumps so the filter can more easily grab them.
Unfortunately, the filter can clog up with them quite frequently. Many people use it because it's better for your skin and eyes, it doesn't degrade with exposure to UV rays and it doesn't turn hair green.
However, it costs more than other alternatives, it's not as effective, and it can cause your pool water to get cloudy.
Minerals
Silver and copper can also sanitize your pool water. Silver is a bactericide and copper is an algaecide. On their own, they are not complete sanitizer systems. You should be supplementing them with chlorine or other type of sanitizing chemical.
pH
pH tells you if your water is basic or acidic; 7 is neutral, with anything below that number being acidic, and anything above it being basic. Try to keep it between 7.4 and 7.6. You will need pH increaser and pH decreaser to make adjustments.
Alkalinity
To make sure alkalinity remains steady, pick up some alkalinity increaser or baking soda. If both levels are low, use alkalinity increaser and/or baking soda to increase both.
Once you have the alkalinity under control, try bringing the pH up with pH increaser. This equation is very tricky and can take a while to figure out. If you have a very high alkalinity and nothing you are doing will lower it, try muriatic acid to reduce it.
Calcium Hardness
This measures how hard or soft your pool water is and will depend on your water supply. If you have a well, for instance, your water will be higher in minerals such as calcium. Calcium levels that are too low can result in scaling and corrosion of pool walls and equipment, while levels that are too high can lead to cloudy water.
Shock the Pool
Do this on a regular basis, which is when you essentially add a high dose of chlorine at once. It will keep your water clean and keep algae at bay. It's best to use calcium hypochlorite once a week. If you have a chlorine-free pool, pick up some chlorine-free shock.
What Else Will You Need?
Algaecide
You should shock the pool to kill any algae blooms. It may take a couple of times to get rid of it all. In the meantime, use algaecide to prevent its spread.
Clarifier and Flocculant
Clarifier will quickly clear up your water but it's temporary. Flocculant, or floc for short, will clump up any water-clouding particles so they sink to the bottom where they can be vacuumed up.
Metal Sequestrant
If you have a lot of iron and copper in your water, you will need to get rid of the resulting green or rust-colored stains in the pool. A metal sequestrant will get rid of these.
In the end, the key to a clean pool is to test your levels regularly.
It's not easy to balance your pool and keep it balanced. For help from a pro, call us at Central Jersey Pools anytime.