Maybe chemistry wasn’t your favourite subject in school (or perhaps you didn’t even do it), but as we learnt in Pool chemistry 101 – get the basics right, keeping your pool maintained has a lot to do with understanding the basics of pool chemistry, as well as keeping everything in balance…
Balancing pH and alkalinity
Alkalinity protects the pH of your pool so ensure that you adjust the alkalinity first, before adjusting the pH.
The recommended alkalinity level is between 80 ppm and 120 ppm. To increase and keep alkalinity steady, keep some alkalinity booster handy. To lower the pH in your pool, add hydrochloric acid or dry acid.
Clarifiers and flocculants
Although these two chemicals are similar, there is one main difference: one treats the symptom, and the other treats the cause.
Clarifiers cause small particles of dirt to coagulate (bond together to form bigger particles) so that your pool filter can better catch them. Clarifiers are great for a quick fix, but be aware that it is only temporary. Once the clarifier has dissolved, the cloudiness of your pool will return.
To treat the cause, you would need to use a flocculant, which causes suspended particles to sink to the bottom of the pool floor. Then you can vacuum them up using a manual pool vacuum.
Sanitising your pool
The easiest and most cost-effective way to keep your pool sanitised is with chlorine. Chlorine comes in the form of pills or granules.
The sun burns off chlorine in your pool if it’s stabilised chlorine, which means that you’ll need to add more, and it’ll cost more.
Stabilised chlorine contains cyanuric acid. This is the magic ingredient that keeps the sun from burning up the chlorine and keeps it in your pool water for much longer – saving you both time and money. However, stabiliser is a balancing act: too much stabiliser and the chemicals won’t work and you’ll have to drain your pool.
Need more information on how to keep your pool perfectly balanced? Contact a friendly expert at The Pool Team.
3 years ago