| Have you ever come out of the pool and felt like | | | | total alkalinity results from alkaline materials |
| a dry sponge? Maybe that feeling is a little too | | | | including carbonates, bicarbonates and hydroxides |
| common in what's supposed to be your backyard | | | | - mostly bicarbonates in your pool. Alkaline water |
| oasis. The reason for the uncomfortable residue, | | | | is acid neutralizing, meaning that it helps prevent |
| clothes discoloration, eye irritation, staining, cloudy | | | | wide variations in pH. |
| water, and even scale buildup is that your water | | | | In a few words, Total alkalinity is a measure of |
| is off balance. | | | | water's resistance to change in pH. |
| Get your water right on the scale by balancing | | | | Same as pH, if the Total Alkalinity is low, the |
| your water. This simple procedure will lengthen | | | | result is "pH bounce", meaning that the pH will |
| the life of your water, pump, heater, filter, and | | | | tend to "bounce" in and out of range. If the Total |
| other equipment. Balancing and testing your water | | | | Alkalinity is too high, yes you also have problems. |
| will also make your pool care a breeze.pH is the | | | | This will make your water to become very |
| most important factor in water balance. The pH | | | | difficult to adjust to a normal pH. |
| range is used to measure the relative acid or | | | | Not to worry, any alkalinity problem can be fixed. |
| base of the water. This you probably learned in | | | | See chart for exact information. |
| your basic chemistry class in high school. | | | | The third factor in balanced water is measuring |
| Here are the exact fields in which you should see | | | | Calcium Hardness. The normal range for Calcium |
| your water: | | | | Hardness is between 175 and 275 ppm. This is |
| The range runs from 0 to 14, with a pH of 7 | | | | referring to the amount of dissolved minerals, |
| being a neutral. Readings between 7.2 and 7.6 are | | | | mostly calcium carbonate, in water. |
| considered acceptable, or in the comfort zone, for | | | | Although under normal conditions this is not a |
| swimming pool water. Balanced water must be | | | | problem in a properly operated pool, this chemical |
| held safely between two harmful extremes. | | | | imbalance also heads up problems. For example, a |
| If your water comes on the low side of the scale, | | | | low Calcium Hardness can lead to corrosion of |
| it becomes corrosive and starts to attack pool | | | | equipment or the etching of a plaster finish. Like |
| surfaces and equipment. We call this your | | | | everything else we have discussed, the other side |
| corrosion zone. Ha! Now you know why your | | | | of the scale says that a high Calcium Hardness |
| water heater is corroding. | | | | level causes cloudy water and scaling. |
| On the other hand, if your pool water tips the | | | | Calcium Hardness is also a very controllable |
| scale on the high side you will start to notice scale | | | | element in your pool. See chart to adjust your |
| buildup, and this is your scaling zone that will leave | | | | Calcium Hardness levels. |
| unwanted deposits in your pool. | | | | Lastly, Stabilizer is an important factor in your |
| Unbalanced water not only brings bad news but | | | | pool water's "health". Without this factor the sun's |
| also may put a hole in your pocket. How's that? | | | | rays would quickly destroy the chlorine in your |
| Your sanitizer's effectiveness will be hindered if | | | | pool. Stabilizer is Cyanuric Acid that acts as a "sun |
| your water is off balance. So this is probably your | | | | shield" to make the chlorine last longer. This |
| answer if you start seeing an increasing amount | | | | means that your chlorine could last up to 3 |
| of chlorine to keep your pool clear. | | | | ½ times longer!! Imagine the savings! |
| The second factor you must look at is at the | | | | Proper stabilization requires 30 to 50 ppm of |
| Total Alkalinity of your pool. Total Alkalinity | | | | Cyanuric Acid, and outdoor pools should start by |
| measures the alkaline materials dissolved in the | | | | raising it to a minimum level of 40 ppm Cyanuric |
| water, and the acceptable range is between 80 | | | | Acid. Afterwards, you can simply use stabilized |
| and 150 ppm. Expressed in parts per million (ppm), | | | | chlorine to maintain the proper Stabilizer levels. |