So often I find that although many people may keep their pool or spa properly sanitized(via chlorine, baqua, salt, etc) ,they lack in keeping their water properly balanced.
What is water balance, you may ask?
Well, water balance consists of three main parts:
- pH
- Alkalinity
- Calcium Hardness
In this article, we'll discuss the importance of each one and what their affect will be on your pool or spa.
pH
Simply put, pH is the measure of the acidity of your water.
The standard pH scale goes from 0-14. Anything under 7.2 is considered acidic, and anything above 7.8 is considered basic, or alkaline.
When water has a pH between 7.2 and 7.8, it is considered neutral, and this is the ideal range for your pool or spa to be in.
The reason for wanting this neutrality is simple: When pH is low, and acidic, it can be corrosive. This can greatly shorten the life of your pool/spa equipment.
We most often see this with heaters. Most heaters have some type of coil(often made of copper), and this coil, when the pH is consistently low, will corrode quickly and have to be replaced, at an expensive cost.
Low pH will also shorten the life of a vinyl liner and can cause skin to dry out.
Alkalinity
Alkalinity can best be described as a buffer for your pH.
Its ideal range is 80-120 and when adjusted properly, correct alkalinity levels will prevent your pH from jumping up and down, therefore leading to better consistency and less maintenance.
Calcium Hardness
Traditionally, it was believed that all pool and spa water needed calcium.
With concrete pools, when water does not have enough calcium, it will draw it from anything that does. Because concrete pools typically have a surface made of plaster, the high amounts of calcium found in the plaster can be drawn out of it if the levels remain low for too long of a time.
This leads to "pitting" or a roughness in the concrete, which I'm sure everyone has probably swam in a pool before with this problem.
This is not the case with fiberglass pools. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Calcium in fiberglass pools can result in scaling of the pool shell under the wrong conditions.
How to maintain your water chemistry
The real key to properly maintaining these three items is developing a consistent routine of checking the levels and adding balancing chemicals as needed.
I would suggest checking your water's balance at least once a week with a test strip. It is also a good idea to have your water checked via computer at a pool store on a monthly basis.
One other point though: remember, your water does not have to be perfect. There is no need to go overboard and check it everyday.
As long as each item is close to within range, everything will probably be just fine.
