Pool Startup Chemicals Guide
- Optional Anti-scaling Product. If you're filling your pool with fresh water, this is a good time to add an anti-stain or anti-scaling product.
- Adjust the pH. The first step when treating your pool's water is to adjust the pH.
- Adjust Total Alkalinity.
- Sanitize the Water.
- Adjust Hardness.
- Add Algaecide.
A pool that is "balanced" has proper levels of pH, Total Alkalinity, and Calcium Hardness. These are: pH: 7.2-7.8, Total Alkalinity: 80-120 ppm, Calcium Hardness, 180-220 ppm and Cyanuric Acid (Stabilizer): 30-50 ppm. Chlorine levels should remain constant in the 1-3 ppm range.
Getting the pH and total alkalinity sorted out will allow for the addition of further chemicals that affect the hardness and cleanliness of the water. Once you get your pH levels between 7.2 and 7.5 and your total alkalinity between 60 and 120 ppm you can move on to working on the calcium hardness and chlorine levels.
If you add chemicals to balance the water after testing, wait a full day – or even longer – before retesting. It takes about 24 hours for the chemicals to properly circulate in order to get an effective reading from the retest. The water test will assess the pH, chlorine, total alkalinity and calcium hardness.
As a general rule, you should be backwashing your pool about once a week or in conjugation with your scheduled maintenance. Another industry standard is to backwash when your filter's pressure gauge reads 8-10 PSI (pounds per square inch) over the starting level or “clean” pressure.
Ideally, the chlorine value should be between 1 and 1.5 ppm. During the swimming season, we recommend checking these values twice a week.
two to three times a week
It's often recommended to shock your pool once a week. If you don't do it every week, you should at least do it every other week. This is necessary to maintain your pool's water chemistry. If you have a lot of people over in your pool or have a party, you may want to shock your pool more frequently.
In truth, bleach contains the same base chemical as pool chlorine. That chemical is, of course, chlorine, and the only major difference between the two products is the concentration strength. Pool chlorine typically contains some form of stabilizer, as well, though this is not a crucial factor.
Instead of putting chlorine tablets in your skimmer or pump, we recommend using a chlorinator. A chlorinator will automatically disperse chlorine into your pool according to an adjustable setting on the unit. Whatever you do, though, please do not put chlorine tablets into your skimmer or pump!
How to Lower Your Pool Water Level
- Start with your pump OFF.
- Open the two-way valve if there is one.
- Move the multiport valve to "WASTE".
- Turn the pump ON and run until you reach the desired water level.
- Turn the pump OFF.
- Move the multiport valve back to "FILTER"
- Close the two-way valve if there is one.
Always take proper precautions and wear proper Personal Protective Equipment when balancing pH. Add soda ash if your pool's pH level is below 7.2. Add Muriatic Acid or Sodium Bisulfate if it's above 7.8. Continue to add appropriate product until your water has a pH level of 7.2-7.8 (ideally 7.4-7.6).
Free chlorine refers to the amount of chlorine that has yet to combine with chlorinated water to effectively sanitize contaminants, which means that this chlorine is free to get rid of harmful microorganisms in the water of your swimming pool.
A: To those wondering how to test pool water without kit, you can make a homemade pH indicator using red cabbage. Put a few drops of red cabbage juice into the water you are testing and see if it changes color. You can also make pH test strips using red cabbage juice and some filter paper.
There is no set timeframe of when you need to add salt to your pool. Because salt does not dissipate from your water, the only time you would add salt to your pool is when you add fresh water or after heavy rain that dilutes salinity levels.
A rule of thumb is 1.5 lbs. of baking soda per 10,000 gallons of water will raise alkalinity by about 10 ppm. If your pool's pH tested below 7.2, add 3-4 pounds of baking soda. If you're new to adding pool chemicals, start by adding only one-half or three-fourths of the recommended amount.
How to Make Your Pool Crystal Clear Again
- Keep Up with pH and Chlorine Levels. Do you have a water testing device in your supply kit?
- Run That Filter. It's recommended that you run your filter for 8 to 10 hours a day when using your pool.
- Skim, Skim, Skim. Yes, something that simple can be the trick to clear water.
- Shock the Pool Once a Week.
The order for testing pool water
- Total alkalinity.
- pH.
- Calcium hardness.
- Cyanuric acid.
- Chlorine.
