#2 – How Do I Use Cyanuric Acid?

Use cyanuric acid with caution. Cyanuric acid is found in dichlor / trichlor tablets. ImageAlthough cyanuric acid is a stabilizing ingredient in chlorine that prevents it from being destroyed by the sun, it does so at the cost of reducing the effectiveness of the chlorine. If you do use cyanuric acid, be sure to test the levels. If the levels are too high, the chlorine will completely lose its sanitizing ability.

  • Certain new studies are showing that CYA really needs to be maintained at a level no higher than 40 ppm allowing chlorine to perform optimally (high levels of CYA contribute to TDS or Total Dissolved Solids which “interfere” with chlorine activity).
  • If you choose to avoid cyanuric acid, look for calcium hypochlorite (solid) or sodium hypochlorite (liquid). You should also make an extra effort to test your pH; these two chemicals contain strong bases and will raise pH if used in sufficient quantity.

Common Swimming Pool Problems

How Do You Clean a Pool – Q & A

Water is hazy but no color

Check your filter turnover rate, and measure your hardness, pH and Alkalinity. Vacuum and clean your pool well. If your chemistry is in balance, then backwash & clean your filter or replace filter media. If your hardness is greater than 400 ppm, you need to drain some of your water and replace it with lower hardness water to bring this value down. If your pH is greater than 7.8 and your Alkalinity is greater than 150 ppm, adjust them down as described in your treatment recommendation. You may also consider adding a clarifier, but please do all of the above first.

Water is dirty looking

Check to see if the water clears when you turn your pump off. Vacuum and clean your pool well. You may consider getting an automatic pool cleaner. Make sure your pH is 7.4 and add a chelating agent. If your hardness is greater than 400 ppm, you need to drain some of your water and replace it with lower hardness water to bring this value down. If your pH is greater than 7.8 and your Alkalinity is greater than 150 ppm, adjust them down as described in your treatment recommendation. You may also consider adding a clarifier, but please do all of the above first.

Cloudy but with a color

Check to see if your water has high nitrate or phosphate levels, and also check your free sanitizer levels (chlorine or other sanitizer). You need to superchlorinate to 10 ppm, brush all the surfaces of your pool, and vacuum it well. Keep your filter running for 24 hours straight. Add an algaecide. Also check your filtration, it may be poor. If so, backwash your filter or replace your filter cartridge.

Tinted by something

Metals come from your feed water source or the corrosion of pool parts. Make sure your pH and alkalinity are within specifications! You may need to adjust your pH up a bit (but stay in spec) and consider adding a chelating agent.Check your hardness and adjust it up with the proper chemical. This will help reduce corrosion.

Discoloration showing in places

You may need to adjust your pH down a bit (but stay in spec) and add a chelating agent. If this color has shown up after shocking your pool, check hardness and pH and get them in spec.

Flaky build up

Check your hardness and TDS (total dissolved solids). You should get a complete water analysis done soon! Reduce hardness by partially draining and then filling your pool with new water. Measure and balance your chemistry after this.

Eyes, ears, nose, or rashes

If your swimmers have red eyes and your pool smells like “Chlorine” it is likely high in chloramines. Shock your pool to 10 ppm chlorine and these compounds will be destroyed. Don’t swim in a pool that is being shocked. If the water stings your eyes, it is likely because the pH is too low or too high. Adjust the pH to spec. Rashes or ear aches should be checked out by your doctor if they are bad and persist. Shocking the pool will kill any bacteria that might be causing rashes. Make sure your sanitizer level is maintained at around 3 ppm. Some folks are simply sensitive to Chlorine or Bromine.

Can not maintain chlorine level

Measure your Total Chlorine. If it is high relative to the Free Chlorine, you have a high Chlorine Demand. You need to shock your pool to 10 ppm and wait over night. Do it again if necessary. Don’t swim in a pool that is being shocked. Remove visible sources of debris like leaves and dirt. If nitrates are high replace a portion of your pool water. If you have a large number of swimmers or lots of rain is diluting your pool, make sure you keep your pool chemistry balanced, and shock the pool over night. Measure your cyanuric acid (stabilizer). Keep it between 30 and 50 ppm.

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Alkalinity Level is Low

Add => 7 lb 5 oz Sodium Bicarbonate

The chemical should be added to the pool in the deep end away from metal fixtures. Split the recommended dosage into three treatments. Allow the pool to circulate for at least 6 to 8 hours between each of the three partial adjustments. Brush any product not dissolved. Wait 30 minutes to swim. Note: It may be necessary to lower the pH after the addition of Total Alkalinity Increaser. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions found on the product.

How Do You Clean a Pool – Acid Wash

A Swimming Pool Acid Wash is a “face lift” for pools. It’s a great way to turn a dirty, green, stained pool into a nice area to relax and enjoy your pool investment.

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How Do You Clean a Pool – Water Chemistry

How to Clean a Pool with Water Chemistry.

We love splashing around in the swimming pool, but would you even step into a pool that creates splashes of contaminated and impure water, filled with bacteria and algae? Well, no, we don’t even want to think about it. Those who own a swimming pool know how important it is to maintain it. And they will also know, most of the time, cleaning it to its best CAN be quite a task. Cleaning the pool and its surroundings is easy, but what about the most important element of the pool? What would we do to maintain the water? The water in the pool is undoubtedly the most important element which requires maximum effort to clean and which also deals with maximum infiltration and contamination.

Tips to Maintain Pool Water Chemistry Image

Don’t you feel that maintaining the water’s chemistry is a big thing, and it should be simplified? Pool water chemistry is not a task only for professionals! It’s simple, and trust me, once you follow the proper guidelines and take appropriate care when sanitizing and chlorinating your pool water, cleaning and maintaining the water will be a quick fix for you. Now let’s get to some easy tips on sanitizing and maintaining the pool water chemistry. We have them listed below, let’s take a look.

  • The most important thing is to keep your water clean. Once in the pool, make sure you maintain the pool cleanliness, it may be a weekly or a monthly task, depending on the usage of the swimming pool. Make sure the pool is free of dirt and debris at the bottom.
  • Next comes chlorine and chlorinating the water. Depending on the water, you can add chlorine to it. You also get tablets and liquid chlorine that you can use. Look for good quality of chlorine that has proper concentrations of it. Salt water chlorinators are a popular option that can help sanitize pool water. Bromine is also another alternative to using chlorine to sanitize the water. These treatments should clean the water off along with bacteria and other forms of contamination.
  • Once the task of the chlorine is accomplished, the used chlorine will no longer be effective, and you will need fresh chlorine to add to the water, to kill the used chlorine or as they are called chloramines. You will need to circulate fresh chlorine in the tank to keep the water treated.
  • To avoid the burning of chlorine, due to sunlight and other factors, one may use a stabilizer, like cyanuric acid, this helps in suppressing chlorine dissipation, while maintaining the disinfectant properties of chlorine.
  • Maintaining the alkalinity of the water is important too. The correct salt content in water will let the chlorine work effectively. The alkaline balance of the water is responsible for its pH balance. If there is no balance in the pH of the water, the chlorine will not be as effective.
  • Keep a check on chlorine levels, pH, bromine and alkalinity of the pool water a minimum of twice a week, when the pool is used often. In case of any difficulty in checking the pool water chemical balance, you can take a sample of the pool water at a pool store, where they can check the water for you.
  • A testing method at home is a strip test, where you dip a strip in the water and observe the changes in the color. It will show you the imbalance, if any, in the pool water chemistry. There is another effective method of testing the water, and most of the people will prefer it over the strip test, it is called the liquid drop type pool test. A digital tester can also help in giving you the correct reading for the pH balance of the water.
  • The ideal pH should be between 7.2 to 7.8. High levels of pH will not let the chlorine sanitize the water. Issues like irritation of the eyes can also be experienced. The water of your pool will also be more cloudy. In case of high pH, you can use options that will lower the pH like pouring liquid hydrochloric acid also known as, muriatic acid. You may also use sodium bi sulfate, or dry acid. Make sure the water is circulating when adding these substances. In case of low pH of the water, you can add soda ash or sodium carbonate to the water.
  • Maintaining the calcium hardness in the water also keeps the water chemistry in place, in case of high calcium dissolved in the pool water, the water can turn cloudy. Maintain these levels by adding certain products available, specially for lowering or increasing the calcium hardness in water.
  • Make sure to follow the instructions on the container when adding any acids to the pool. While taking care of all the above things, make sure you have enough quantity of water in the pool. Too much or too little water, makes a difference to the chemical balance.
  • There are other substances that cause the chemicals in the water to get imbalanced, like sun screens, lotions and swimmers waste, pollen, etc. These can be termed as dissolved solids in the water. So, in case of heavy use of the swimming pool, make sure you change the water in the pool with freshwater, at least once every 2 years.

Once you understand the nature of the pool water, maintaining its chemistry will no longer be a time and effort consuming task. With following simple guidelines and steps, one can easily get control on the water balance in the pool. So now, with these tips, let your pool water worries dissolve and with no worry of maintenance, you have more reason to enjoy the cool splashes and rejuvenating swims in a sparkling clean and hygienic pool!

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