Posts Tagged ‘water chemistry’

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

My pool chemical levels are showing a high ph. How can I change this?

We always check alkalinity and adjust that first, and then deal with the ph. The muratic acid (highly caustic, don’t splash on you or the pool surface, make sure to add directly to the water) will adjust both of these. Don’t be surprised if you see the alkalinity drop and then the ph change oddly. It happens.

When adding chemicals do ½ of the recommended change, it’s easier to add more than to redo something that you did that made significant changes. If you add ½ gal of muratic acid and wait a couple hours, then you could use test strips to see if the level has lowered itself, and add some more. The ph being high will affect swimmer comfort, and some may experience itchy skin etc. if the level remains that high.

Salt: On an chlorine generator salt system if your light is going between green/yellow I would add one more bag of salt. If it continues to fluctuate, it might need to be cleaned, which would mean taking the salt cell itself out of the plumbing and running a solution of muratic acid and water through it while it’s in a bucket. Add a bag and see if this continues, then the cleaning might be in order.

Party: If you are going to have a large number of swimmers in the water, it’s a good idea to shock it (turn cl2 production up to 100%) the day before and then the day after the party.

How can I figure out the volume in gallons of water in my pool?

Monday, May 11th, 2009

You should know the volume of water in your pool for adding chemicals, and have the overall stats about your pool.

To figure out the volume of water in gallons in your pool, you can use on of the two following formulas:

If your pool is a rectangle: multiply length x width x average depth (shallow end + deep end / 2) x 7.5

If your pool is round, oval, or freeform: multiply length x width x average depth (shallow end + deep end / 2) x 5.9

All the measurements you start with should be in feet. This will get you the approximate volume if your pool is a freeform shape…

Call or email with questions.

It seems that a lot of Michigan Pool owners are asking these questions…

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

I’ve been fielding a lot of calls from pool owners with interesting things going on in their pools. From green water to a rough surface on their gunite pool, there are things that go well, and not so well with your swimming pool.

When I take these calls I ask questions to find out what exactly is going on? How recently has the water been tested? What are the levels of the chlorine, alkalinity, ph, and calcium hardness. What is the level of TDS? All of these need to be within their range for the swimming pool to be running properly.

If there is a chemical imbalance, all kinds of fun things can start to happen. The water can become cloudy, it can turn green, it can etch the surface of gunite and fiberglass, or it can deposit new compounds on the surface.

Proper water chemistry and balance is essential to keep your pool functioning well, safe and comfortable for swimmer use, and to protect the pool itself.

If you have any questions about what your balance should be, we are happy to answer any questions you may have!