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Guide to Pool Chemicals
Swimming pools offer considerable pleasure to their owners,
which is why they continue to be a staple of comfortable
living across the nation. More than simple watering holes, the
finest pools can offer peace and tranquility year-round. Add
in the wide variety of exercise and recreational possibilities
they afford and it’s no wonder so many Americans spend hours
every month maintaining their pools for perfect health. If you
already own a pool, you may have noticed that even the best
laid plans can go awry over time.
The truth is that maintaining a swimming pool can be
exceptionally difficult, particularly if yours is prone to
unwanted pests and pathogens. The problem gets more confusing
still when you begin to research the topic and discover just
how much conflicting advice exists out there. Many of the
so-called “experts” are simply hawking their unique chemical
compounds, and it can be difficult to know which of these
represent genuine breakthroughs and which could pose a hazard
to your filtration system and family. Thankfully there are a
few general categories of pool chemicals that have been
tested, deployed and studied for many years to ensure they are
safe to use.
Most pool owners know by now that the name of the game in pool
maintenance is to keep the “big three” – chlorine, pH and
alkalinity – within acceptable limits. Let’s start with
chlorine, the essential biocide in any pool and its most
important ally in the battle against infestation. Chlorine is
useful in that it inhibits bacterial growth practically on
contact, breaking down cellular walls and disrupting essential
metabolic paths. Maintaining the chlorine level in your pool –
the ideal range is 1 - 1.5 ppm – is the only way to ensure you
will not drink in unwanted visitors with every dip.
The confusion around chlorine is that it tends to break down
rather quickly under the sun’s rays. Chlorine is already
considered an unstable molecule – this is why it reacts with
bacteria so readily – and that extra shot of energy can
greatly diminish its concentration. This is why many experts
recommend so-called “stabilized” chlorine in disc or
granulated form, a more sophisticated blend of chlorine types
that should retain its chemical potency far longer during the
hot summer months. If you don’t relish the though of
monitoring your pool’s chlorine level every few hours,
time-savers such as these may be precisely what you’re looking
for.
The other two elements of the big three exist primarily to
support the chlorine. Some homeowners blanch at the prospect
of maintaining pH, assuming they need a doctorate in chemistry
to make sense of this balancing act. In fact, there is no
great mystery behind pH or how it works – simply put, the
number is a measure of how many acid or base ions are roaming
around your pool. Too much of either one and the chlorine will
not make contact with bacteria, so it’s essential to stay
within a reasonable range, usually between 7.2 and 7.8. As
with chlorine, you can regulate this number rather easily with
store-bought items that come with simple instructions, adding
whichever “side” you need to regain balance.
Alkalinity is the one that sounds most confusing, especially
to people who associate the word with batteries and little
else. In fact, the number refers to the pool’s ability to
effectively maintain a steady pH. Go outside that range and
the pH level could quickly spin off the charts, rendering your
chlorine content essentially useless. Thankfully you only need
to add store-bought products here as well to maintain an
acceptable range of 80 – 120 ppm. Check frequently and you
should have no troubles.
But what to do if a problem has arisen despite all your
efforts? The list of treatment chemicals is longer than the
number of things that can go wrong, so it is essential to read
labels and be vigilant about protecting your home from
untested compounds. Calcium and sodium hypochlorite are
generally considered safe, while water softeners and
conditioners may be used often to combat ongoing problems with
your city’s water supply. Exercise some caution, however, for
brand-name items that recommend themselves as the only known
“cure” for algae. Usually such problems can be solved less
expensively using conventional shocks and algaecides.
Guide to Pool Cleaners
Pools are known for a great many things, but dazzling clarity
isn’t always among them. The truth is that pools tend to
collect dust, dirt and debris on a daily basis no matter how
carefully we try to maintain their perfection. Filters are
designed expressly to trap unwanted particle such as these,
but it simply isn’t practical to expect them to intercept
everything constantly and continue operating at peak
efficiency. The problem gets even stickier when you consider
how much debris never even reaches the filters – unusually
heavy or adhesive items may stay in your pool indefinitely
without intervention.
This is why pool cleaners and maintenance experts recommend
cleaning your pool as often as possible. Chemicals are
designed to scrub the waters of unwanted pests and pathogens,
but larger items will usually require some kind of mechanical
action. There was a time when most of this maintenance wad
conducted by hand using a series of brushes, nets and vacuums,
but today that work has largely become the province of
autonomous robots. If you have come online to learn more about
what these clever machines can offer – and how to
differentiate them – you may be interested to learn how many
options exist.
The most basic pool cleaners are also the most passive.
Usually they connect to existing wall returns and float on the
surface of the pool, dragging the bottom for debris and
collecting anything that floats into a net. Devices such as
these can save you considerable time and money – they tend to
be inexpensive, and most experts agree they do a serviceable
job of removing major contaminants such as leaves, twigs and
toys from the pool. Because they often use pressure to “blow”
items off the walls of your pool, however, it can take some
time for such items to float down and find their way into the
net.
More active cleaning devices tend to propel themselves along
the bottom of the pool using water jet propulsion. The
advantage here is that you get vacuum action and proximity in
your cleaning efforts – two key elements to ensure everything
finds its way into the bag. The disadvantage with many of
these machines, of course, is that operating along the bottom
can make them miss floating debris along the way, which most
homeowners cite as the least appealing part of a dirty pool.
Mid-range items may come with also belt-drive motors that may
smudge your pool’s bottom on turns, so it’s important to
consider weight and torque when making an investment of this
kind.
If you really want to opt for an elite experience, you can
always look for top-of-the-line products that come with
unprecedented automation built in. Many of these include
sensors to map your pool, attachments for stairs and powerful
vacuum action that can make quick work of everything from
coins to snails. Some of the most advanced versions even offer
a hybrid feature, alternately floating to the top of your pool
and returning to the bottom for a final pass. A wide variety
of filters, oversized intakes, scrubbers and jets makes such
products something like all-terrain vehicles, and most operate
considerably faster than their less expensive counterparts.
That said, the most important investment you can make in your
pool’s health is time itself. Although pool cleaners have
grown exceptionally good at what they do, the surest way to
lighten the load is simply to exercise some common sense as a
pool owner. Consider removing overhanging branches and clear
the surfaces near your pool if you don’t want every storm to
deliver tremendous quantities of natural debris. You may also
want to install a basic outdoor foot wash or shower to keep
all your visitors clean of dirt and dust. Finally it’s wise to
check the filters manually once a week, as simple pump action
may be catching the vast majority of the debris.
Looking for a new pool cleaner is not unlike shopping for a
car – it’s easy to get overwhelmed by outrageous claims and
shiny chassis. Stick with the basics of what you need and
anticipate the coming seasons with good yard work and you
should be able to save a lot of money on this essential
purchase.
How do Pool
Chlorinators Work?
Chlorine has been in use in a wide variety of industrial
applications for hundreds of years, and in that time we have
come to understand it extremely well. Although some activists
believe chlorine in pools poses a safety hazard, clinical
studies have found no suck link – either to swimmers or the
environment. This is why nearly every pool in America
continues to employ chlorine as a free-ranging antibacterial,
keeping the water clear and clean and maintaining an essential
level of purity for recreational use. If you own a pool,
however, you know that regulating chlorine can represent
something of a headache.
The reason for this is actually quite simple: chlorine breaks
down over time. Although hypochlorous acid – the essential
byproduct when you add chlorine to the pool – is mostly used
to destroy unwanted pathogens, it can also react with ammonia
and nitrogen compounds to form chloramines. These inert
compounds are essentially harmless, and they offer little
protection against bacteria in the water. Further complicating
matters is the fact that chlorine can also be broken down by
the sun itself, decreasing its effectiveness against bacteria,
mold and algae. This is why maintaining proper chlorine levels
can be a daily chore, one rendered even more frequent in the
event of parties and rain.
Pool chlorinators are the most common response to fluctuating
levels. These tend to come in a variety of chemical forms
under a number of brand names, but generally they can be
divided cleanly into a few major categories. Each offers
advantages and disadvantages, including effectiveness and
potential hazards. Chlorine is, after all, a terribly
corrosive chemical, so it’s important to deploy with a healthy
level of respect. Anything less than proper precautions and
you could find yourself stuck with chemical burns, pulmonary
damage or worse – terrifying outcomes for such a mundane task.
The most dangerous version of chlorine is also the most
effective – chlorine gas. Introduce the gas into any pool
filtration system and you can expect immediate results. The
problem is that such results tend to wreak havoc with the
pool’s pH, creating a caustic environment that is highly
unsafe for recreation. Large amounts of basic chemicals are
usually required to pull that pH back into a safe range,
though chlorine gas may still cause a host of health problems
before it even reaches the pool. Breathe in pure chlorine or
anything close to it, for instance, and you may quickly fall
unconscious and die. It may not surprise you to learn that
pure chlorine gas is hardly ever used for home pools anymore.
Today a number of homeowners use so-called liquid chlorine
instead. This looks and smells similar to bleach, and it’s
created by bubbling the pure gas through a caustic soda.
Results can be swift and impressive, as with the gas itself,
which is why liquid chlorine is often favored as a method for
shock. Everyday use has fallen by the wayside a bit for the
same reason, however – like chlorine gas, liquid chlorine can
send any pool’s pH skyrocketing well north of 12. Such health
risks and high expense have made this solution unpopular,
especially since considerable quantities of base are required
to mitigate the unwanted effect. Thankfully there are some
safer and more convenient ways to deliver chlorine in a hurry.
Of these, the most popular may be so-called “stabilized tri-chlor,”
the version most often recommended by pool experts. The
compound usually comes as a powder, though you can also get
slow-release “pucks” that will maintain an even level over
several hours. Homeowners often favor this version because it
releases slowly, maintains a sound pH in the system and comes
with an extra sort of sunscreen – cyanuric – that keeps the
chlorine effective several hours longer than its
non-stabilized counterparts. That means you save time, money
and headaches by trusting a single advanced compound to
lighten your load.
Chlorine is essential to maintaining the safety of standing
water. Experiment with the products you find until you can
keep pH, alkalinity and chlorine levels within acceptable
limits on a daily basis. Often all you need is a bit of time
and some practice to become an expert on pool chlorinators.
How do Pool Filters
Work?
Owning a swimming pool can be something of a double-edged
sword – a pleasure for the cool relaxation it provides, but a
burden because of the constant maintenance required. If the
problem isn’t regular checks of chlorine levels, pH and
alkalinity, it could just as easily be the ongoing physical
clean-up you need to perform. Most people rely on pool
cleaners for the lion’s share of this work, and with good
reason – scavenging robots can be surprisingly effective at
cleaning the walls, surface and floor of any pool. Even with
so many safeguards in place, however, you still need internal
systems to pick up the slack.
Pool filters are essential to reliable operation. The truth is
that no matter how hard we try, it is inevitable that dust,
dirt and debris will make their way into the water of any
swimming pool. Leave such unwanted pollution untreated and
it’s likely to accumulate rather quickly, creating cloudy
water and ideal conditions for an algae population. It is for
this reason that every pool sold in the United States comes
with a filtration system attached. Which variety you opt for
can be as much a matter of personal preference as it is
necessary.
How do pool filters work? The basic operation is the same
across the board – such filters operate by pumping your
swimming pool’s water through some kind of barrier to trap
particulates in the solution. Nearly every pool will
completely cycle its water through the filtration system
several times a day, and some especially busy municipal pools
are required to keep the water cycling more than once an hour.
Choosing which filter to buy requires that you understand
something about the benefits, cost and maintenance regimen
associated with each. Knowledge such as this can help you make
an informed decision about how much commitment you really want
to offer this machine.
There are three major types of pool filter. These are sand
filters, DE (diatomaceous earth) filters and cartridge
filters. Each is designed to perform essentially the same
function, but they get there via different processes. Sand is
by far the easiest to own and maintain – and not
coincidentally, the easiest to understand. Filters such as
these come in tanks that use simple graded sand to catch
anything larger than a given size as it passes through.
Depending on the type of sand used, that size is generally in
the range of 40 microns – well above the threshold for visible
dirt and dust.
Cartridge filters are probably the most popular breed, as they
offer considerable more flexibility than sand without
bankrupting you in the process. The mechanism here is not
unlike a coffee filter – water is forced through a paper “fan”
under pressure, and the cartridge blocks anything above a set
size threshold. Such items can vary, but most fare little
better than sand when it comes to particulate size – the very
best cannot block anything below 25 microns or so. The great
advantage to paper cartridges, however, is that they can be
removed and cleaned without backwashing, saving you time and
energy.
The most effective filters are without question the DE filters
– some advocates have called them the HEPA filters of pool
ownership. Specially treated earth made from extremely fine
aquatic fossils (diatoms) will filter out far smaller
particles than any of the other varieties, often creating a
consistent obstacle for anything above 5 microns. The
difference may be measurable not just in the clarity of the
water, but in its fungal population as well. The trade-off for
DE filters, of course, is that they require more frequent
backwashing, a fact which leads many homeowners to alternate
solutions.
No matter which type of pool filter you choose, it’s important
to stay ahead of the maintenance regimen from day one.
Problems of algae and fungus inside swimming pools have a
tendency to become acute and chronic astonishingly quickly, so
it may be worth it to hire additional aid if you cannot make
the requisite daily checks. The good news is that regular work
and dedication should keep your pool filter operating at peak
efficiency for many years to come.
Tips for Pool Algae
Owning a pool is one of the great pleasures of suburban
living. Anyone who boasts a pool in the backyard, however,
knows firsthand just how much time must be devoted to cleaning
and regular maintenance if you want to expect flawless
operation. Even with dedicated care, it’s not unusual for
pools to develop problems ranging from obstructed filters to
algae. Algae can grow, evolve and aggressively spread without
proper intervention. If your pool has developed an algae
problem and you are on the hunt for solid tips, you have come
to the right place.
Why should algae even command your attention? The simple
reason is that it’s often unsightly – major infestations can
cloud the water, climb the walls and seal the full volume of
your pool water under a repellent top layer. Although most
such strains aren’t directly dangerous, algae can also promote
bacterial populations that may pose a risk – algae lowers the
chlorine level in pools simply by metabolic action, opening
the door to a host of nasty pathogens. Given enough time and
space, aggressive strains of algae may ultimately erode your
pool’s walls and filtration system, rendering the entire
system unstable.
The first thing to do is identify what kind of algae you have.
Although the different strains of this organism number into
the tens of thousands, most varieties can be broken down into
a few umbrella categories. Pool experts usually refer to these
simply by their colors along a sliding scale of seriousness.
Blue/green is the most common and easiest to eradicate, yellow
lies somewhere in the middle, and black algae usually means
you have a chronic problem. The good news is that each type
can be treated effectively given the proper materials, and in
many cases you can have your pool back to safety in a matter
of hours.
Blue/green algae can usually be removed manually, though the
most important step is to check the pH and make sure
everything is chlorinated properly. If you see no more signs
of the algae or it appears to be on the decline, be relentless
about cleaning on a daily basis. You may also need to invest
in any one of a number of consumer algaecides, particularly
those rated for your precise color strain. Once the pool is
clear, prevention is as simple as cleaning often and being
sure not to introduce foreign populations into the pool. Rinse
off before you dive, for instance, and do not wear the same
bathing suit you recently wore in the ocean.
Yellow algae aren’t terribly different from bluegreen algae,
with the notable exception that it rarely clouds the water
itself. If you find pale gold or orange populations scaling
the sides of your pool, it may be time to look into more
aggressive chemical response. One of the most popular is
potassium tetraborate, which disrupts the metabolic action of
the algae without posing a major risk to family members. It is
important to clean all the water thoroughly and follow
manufacturer recommendations for chemicals such as these,
however, as some take longer than others to clear the system.
Black algae is the one most homeowners dread, and with good
reason. A host of adaptive responses keep the algae hidden
from sight no matter how many times you clean, making it
nearly impossible to ultimately eradicate such a population.
Extreme measures may include draining the pool entirely or
introducing a chlorine shock of sufficient magnitude to
destroy all life in the environment. Beware, however – doses
such as these can be terribly dangerous for swimmers and
loungers, so you will need to cordon off the area and work
with professionals to ensure the fumes do not harm anyone in
the house.
Pool algae can be prevented, managed and eradicated if you are
willing to devote sufficient time to the task. Speak with
local pool pros about their estimates for this kind of work,
and be sure to follow up often once you have addressed the
problem. With proper care and working mechanicals, your pool
should stay clear and inviting for years to come. |
