The Fundamentals of Pool Chemistry Essential Elements for Balanced Water Quality
Since it’s vital to keep a safe and healthy water for your pool, and also elevate the experience of swimming, as the pool owner, you should take effors to regularly maintain a balanced water quality for your family.
But before this, you’d better learn about the vital role chemical levels play in ensuring water quality, clarity, and sanitation.
Here are five Essential Elements for Balanced Water Quality:
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Total alkalinity (TA): Appropriate levels help keep the PH in balance. High levels can cause pH to rise. (Ideal Range100 to 150PPM )
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Acidity/alkalinity (pH): Needs to be kept in balance to prevent irritation and protect the pool equipment. (Ideal Range7.2 to 7.6)
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Free chlorine (FC): sanitizer that keeps your pool water safe and free of germs. Chlorine must be constantly replenished. (Ideal Range1–3 PPM )
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Calcium hardness (CH): Appropriate levels help prevent plaster damage. High levels can cause calcium scaling.
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Cyanuric acid (CYA): Protects chlorine from sunlight and determines the required free chlorine level. (Ideal Range30 to 50PPM)
Now let’s get furthermore about these chemical levels.
Total Alkalinity (TA)
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Ideal Range: 100–150 PPM
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Recommended Range: 80-120PPM
Total alkalinity (TA) helps other chemicals work properly, acts as a buffer for pH, helping to stabilize it against sudden changes that can be caused by factors like rain, pool usage, and the addition of other chemicals, it’s usually the first chemical you’ll adjust.
While most test strips suggest an alkalinity range between 80 and 120 PPM, we find that keeping your alkalinity levels a bit higher can prevent the pH from fluctuating wildly.But if your pH appears to be high, you don’t need to keep your alkalinity high.
Acidity/Alkalinity (pH)
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Ideal Range: 7.4–7.6
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Accetable Range:7.2-7.8
pH refers to the level of acidity and alkalinity. It matters for the health and safety of the swimmers and the pool itself. It is usually fluctuant in water, as mentioned before, rainwater, swimmers, and just about anything that gets into the water can impact your pH level.
High pH (above 7.8) restrain your sanitizer, causes cloudy water, skin irratation, scale buildup and even damages pool equipments. While low pH (below 7.2) causes skin and eye irritation and corrodes pool surfaces and equipment.
Free Chlorine (FC)
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Ideal Range: 1–3 PPM
Free Chlorine can keep your pool sanitary by killing contaminants, bacteria, and prevent algae from growing. When you test your water, you will found there are two different chlorine measurements: free chlorine and combined chlorine.
Free chlorine we add will react with contaminants in the water, and it produces Combined chlorine (called chloramines). As free chlorine gets used up, these can cause irritated eyes, dry skin, and distinctive “chlorine smell.”
Calcium Hardness (CH)
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Ideal Range: 175–225 PPM (vinyl and fiberglass pools)
200–275 PPM (concrete and plaster pools)
Calcium hardness (CH) indicates the amount of calcium in the water, commonly used as a measurement of the hardness or softness of your pool water.
High calcium hardness levels can cause scale buildup and cloudy water. Water with low calcium levels will gradually tend to dissolve calcium out of plaster, pebble, tile, stone, concrete and to some extent fiberglass surfaces over time. You can avoid this happen by keeping the water saturated with calcium.
Cyanuric Acid (CYA)
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Ideal Range: 30–50 PPM
Cyanuric Acid, commonly called FC sunscreen or pool conditioner, is a vital chemical that stabilises the chlorine and prolong its effectiveness in your pool. Without CYA, your chlorine will quickly degrade under the powerful rays of the sun. However, if your CYA levels are too high, you may experience algae growth or cloudy pool water.
Pool water chemical levels listed above, act an essential elements role for balanced water quality. One of them get imbalanced may impact other chemical levels. Regular testing and balancing of these chemical elements not only ensure a safe swimming experience but also contribute to the longevity of your pool. With the help of Beatbot AquaSense Robotic Pool Cleaner, persisting in proper pool water chemistry practices, pool owners can enjoy crystal-clear water that is both safe and healthy for swimmers.
