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How to Balance Your Pool Water
Maintaining your pool’s chemistry is one of the most important things you can do to ensure your pool stays happy and healthy. Without the right balance of swimming pool chemicals, your water won’t be safe or enjoyable to swim in.
We consider the basics of balancing pool water to help new pool owners get to grips with this routine.
Firstly, it helps to understand why getting your pool chemistry right is so important. It’s not just about using the correct chemicals; you must use the correct amount so they maintain the proper relationships with each other.
Improper levels, whether they’re too high or low, can prevent certain chemicals from working effectively or encourage stains and corrosion.
We recommend keeping a keen eye on your chemical levels, making testing your pool water and rebalancing it when necessary part of your regular routine. When the pool is in use, testing the water every week will allow you to catch any issues with the chemical levels as they arise.
Here are the basic steps to consider when it comes time to balance your water:
The table below sets out the chemicals levels you should aim for:
You will need to start by getting an accurate reading of the current state of your water. You can use swimming pool test strips or tablets to see the levels in your water. Make sure the test strips or kits you buy are made to test for the particular chemicals and levels you’re concerned with.
Total alkalinity (TA) refers to the alkaline materials in your water. When the right alkalinity levels are maintained, your pH levels will be more stable, fluctuating less.
You should aim to maintain TA levels of 80-120 ppm.
To increase TA levels, you can add an alkalinity increaser like sodium bicarbonate, and to decrease it, you can use sodium bisulfate.
Once the TA is where it should be, you can turn your attention to your pool’s pH levels. If your water is too acidic or alkaline, it can damage your pool and equipment, causing discolouration, scaling and corrosion of metals.
The ideal pH range for your swimming pool water is 7.2-7.6.
PH increasers and decreasers can be used to adjust the levels easily. If you have trouble keeping a steady pH, your total alkalinity may be too low and will require readjusting.
This refers to how much calcium is in your water. A higher level of calcium hardness may result in scale build-up along your water line, which can look unappealing and may cause damage to your pool. Lower levels indicate soft water, which can also damage your pool’s structure and cause foaming.
Ideally, your calcium hardness level should be 200-400 ppm.
Adding calcium chloride can increase calcium hardness, while decreasing it may require you to partially drain your pool and fill it back up with fresh water.
Once the alkalinity, pH and calcium hardness have been properly levelled, your sanitising chemicals will be more effective at keeping your pool clean and free of bacteria and dirt for longer.
Chlorine is the most popular sanitising chemical for swimming pools, with the ideal range being 1-3 ppm.
Using stabilised chlorine that contains cyanuric acid will stop the sun from drawing away the chlorine in your pool before it has done its job. If you use unstabilised chlorine, you will have to add cyanuric acid yourself to protect the chlorine. Cyanuric acid is another level you’ll have to keep an eye on, as too much can reduce the chlorine’s efficacy – the ideal range is 30-50 ppm.
Bromine is a popular alternative to chlorine, and if you choose to use this instead, you should aim for 2-4 ppm.
After you’re happy with the basic chemical balance of your pool, you may also want to shock it. Shocking your pool involves adding a high dose of a sanitiser like chlorine, which rapidly increases the chlorine levels over a shorter time to break down contaminants. This is especially useful when you’re opening your pool back up after long periods of disuse or when you notice signs of algae.
You can read more about the practicalities of shocking your pool with our shock dosage advice guide.
Once your pool is properly balanced, it will likely just be a case of keeping an eye on the levels and making small adjustments rather than taking drastic measures to rebalance it every week. If your water does start looking dirty or you know it’s been exposed to contaminants, it’s a good idea to re-test and get things back to the necessary levels.
At 1st Direct Pools, we stock everything you need to balance your pool water like a pro. Check out our range of water balancers to make adjusting your levels simple and convenient.
