Simple Swimming Pool Drinking water Chemistry

Pool pH & Pool Alkalinity The pH and Alkalinity levels of swimming pool drinking water affect many areas of the swimming pool and must be kept at the correct levels if you expect to successfully maintain your swimming pool. The Alkalinity of pool h2o acts as a buffer for the pH, http://www.youtube.com and helps prevent the pool pH level from fluctuating. The Alkalinity should be maintained at 80 - 120 ppm. The pH is the measure of the acidity of the swimming pool water, and the pH level should be maintained at 7.2 - 7.6 ppm. The pH of pool h2o is somewhat sensitive, but easily controlled if the Alkalinity is kept in range. All basic pool test kits should read the pH and Alkalinity level of pool drinking water, and these levels are easily adjusted with common water balancing pool chemicals. If the pool pH level is not kept in range pool h2o may irritate the skin and eyes of swimmers, corrode the pool surface and inside of the pool equipment and make it very hard to maintain the chlorine level of the swimming pool. Pool Chlorine Stabilizer The chemical name of pool "Stabilizer" is Cyanuric Acid and it is referred to by either title. The Stabilizer level of swimming pool h2o must be maintained at 30-50 ppm. The Stabilizer level is important, but is typically only tested at the beginning of the swimming season when a pool is opened. The Stabilizer in swimming pool water partially surrounds the chlorine on a molecular level, to protect the chlorine and prevent the chlorine from being quickly burned off and used up by the sun. The symptoms of having too much Stabilizer or too little stabilizer in your pool water are very similar, and if you experience problems maintaining a chlorine level when all other chemical levels are properly balanced the stabilizer level should be tested. If the Stabilizer level tests lower than 30 ppm it will be difficult to maintain a chlorine level, because any chlorine added to your swimming pool will quickly evaporate and burn off in direct sunlight. If the Stabilizer level tests above 50 ppm it will also be difficult to maintain a chlorine level. Rather than partially surrounding the chlorine in your pool h2o to protect the chlorine, too much stabilizer will completely surround the chlorine making it inactive. In this state the chlorine is unable to combine with bacteria and harmful contaminants to sanitize your swimming pool. Stabilizer can be added to a swimming pool if necessary to raise the level, however once Stabilizer is present in pool drinking water it cannot be easily removed. To reduce the amount of Stabilizer in a swimming pool the h2o must be diluted by partially draining the pool and re-filling with fresh h2o. 25% of the pool h2o should be drained and replaced with fresh drinking water. The pool should be circulated for 12-24 hours, and the Stabilizer level should be tested again. This process should be repeated until the Stabilizer level is within range. The chlorine tablets and granular chlorine used to sanitize a swimming pool on a daily basis is a pre-stabilized form of chlorine. This means that the chlorine contains a small amount of stabilizer, and as chlorine is added to the pool a very small amount of Stabilizer is also added to help maintain the level. This small amount of Stabilizer constantly added with pool chlorine does not cause a problem in outdoor swimming pools because water is splashed out or evaporates, and gets replaced with fresh h2o to dilute the Stabilizer. This pre-stabilized form of chlorine cannot be used in indoor swimming pools, because much less water evaporation occurs and the stabilizer level will slowly buildup. Indoor swimming pool owners need to use an un-stabilized form of chlorine.