Posted February 7th, 2010

Swimming Pool And Spa Chemical Maintenance, The Importance of Water Balance and how to manage it

 

Remember: Maintaining water balance is critical to ensuring the effective action of your pool chemicals.

Make sure that you understand the workings of your swimming pool or spa before adding any swimming pool chemicals Having free flowing water circulation and good filtration is important to maintaining a clean and healthy pool or spa

The first step in treatment is to ensure good water balance, which will create the right conditions for bather comfort, chemical efficiency and equipment protection. There are three major factors affecting water balance, they are pH, total alkalinity and calcium hardness

Calcium hardness

Hardness depends on the levels of calcium salt in your water. This depends on where you live Low calcium hardness levels (soft water) can lead to corrosion of the materials of construction. High calcium hardness levels (hard water) often leads to the formation of scale in pipe work and equipment.
these are guideline levels
•    Ideal calcium hardness levels are between 100 – 200 ppm (mg/l).
•    If the level is below 75 ppm (mg/l), apply Hardness Plus
•    When the level is above 200 ppm (mg/l), use Scale Inhibitor.

pH Measures

pH can range from 1 to 14 where 1 is very acid and 14 very alkaline It is essential to maintain spa water within the 7.2 – 7.6 range which, because it is slightly alkaline, will protect equipment from corrosion and give the ideal environment for the people enjoying the pool or spa and also gives  the best sanitiser efficiency.
•    Ideal pH level for spas is between 7.2 – 7.6.
•    When the level is below use pH Plus
•    If the measurement exceeds 7.6 use pH Minus
Note
These things] will cause the pH to fluctuate.

This can lead to rises in pH which reduces the performance of chlorine sanitisers like chlorine granules. Significantly greater doses of chlorine sanitiser are then needed You can avoid this by using Bromine which is more stable over a larger range of pH than Chlorine Unlike chlorine, bromine keeps working in a spa for longer and so helps you minimise your hot tub chemicaluse

Total Alkalinity

Total Alkalinity (TA) acts as a buffer to prevent pH change. If TA levels are too low the pH will fluctuate widely.

•    optimum Total Alkalinity is 100 ppm (mg/l) When it is below 80mg/l remedy it with Alkalinity Plus
•    When Total Alkalinity is above 140mg/l use pH Minus to reduce it
Water balance should be checked regularly and, certainly, every time you top up or refill your pool or spa.

Testing your water is easy, you just use test strips which are available online

Birkenstock Sandal Sale