Water Testing

One of the most mind boggling aspects of a new pool is balancing the water chemistry. Many people wil lhave suggestions and their own ideas on how to treat your water. The best advice that we can give to you is to be clam, patient, and to follow these simple instructions listed below. You will understand your water chemistry inpracticvally no time at all!

Let's start will pH and Alkalinity. pH is the acidity level and the alkalinity is thye measure of the alkaline materials, eg sodium bicarbonate, in the water. The alkalinity holds the pH in range and helps to prevent "pH bounce". A normal pH level is about 7.4 on the pH scale. If you add acid, the pH level will lower. To raise the pH level, you would add soda ash. The normal amount of alkalinity is 80ppm. To lower alkalinty, you need to add acid. To raise the alkalinity, you add sodium bicarbonate.

There are two types of chlorine that you need for your pool: stablized and unstabilized. Stabilizer is like sunscreen for your chlorine - it keeps the UV (ultra-violet) rays of the sun from burning the chlorine out of the water. Our tablets for the chlorine feeder are stabilized. The acceptable chlorine levels are between 1ppm and 3ppm. We recommend keeping the chlorine level toward the bottom level of the scale. The unstabilized chlorine is called shock. You can add either 1 gallon of liquid shock or 1 pound of granular shock per 10,000 gallons of pool water once poer week when the water temperature is above 80 degrees and the water is clean and clear. This will shock the water and oxidize any organic materials in solution. Add double that amount when you first see signs of algae:

1. clear pool water, but slippery walls or hoses
2. milky looking pool water
3. the pool water looks aqua or green

If the water is really green, you may need to triple or quadruple the amount of shock added.
(see table below for sample)

Sample pool of 20,000 gallons

WATER CLARITY	AMOUNT OF SHOCK
Clean & clear pool water	2 pounds / 2 gallons
Clear water, slippery walls, hoses	4 pounds / 4 gallons
Milky looking water	4 pounds / 4 gallons
Aqua green colored water	4 pounds / 4 gallons
Green colored water	8 pounds / 8 gallons
Really green pool water	12 pounds / 12 gallons

Bring your water sample to us in a clean container and let us test it for you. The testing is free, so come on in! Feel free to call us, if needed, for any water chemistry related questions.