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There are five main chemical levels that every pool owner needs to keep track of to keep their pool levels balanced.<\/p>\n
FC \u2013 Free Chlorine \u2013 A sanitizer which keeps your pool water safe and free of bacteria and algae growth. Chlorine must be constantly replenished. (the level you need to maintain depends on your current CYA levels)<\/p>\n
PH \u2013 Acidity\/Basicity \u2013 Needs to be kept in balance to prevent irritation and protect the pool equipment. This also helps the chlorine work more efficiently and can contribute to other factors such as scale development. (7.1 to 8.0)<\/p>\n
TA \u2013 Total Alkalinity \u2013 Appropriate levels help keep the pH in balance. High levels can cause pH to rise. As this acts as a buffer to the pH level its paramount to keep this level correct to keep the pH from fluctuating. This level can also contribute to other factors such as scale development (70 to 100ppm, sometimes higher)<\/p>\n
CH \u2013 Calcium Hardness \u2013 Appropriate levels help prevent plaster & fiberglass damage. High levels can cause calcium scaling especially when paired with other water chemical factors. The hardness level needed changes for a liner pool as they don\u2019t require it as a plaster and fiberglass does and having a salt water generator should be taken into consideration as a higher calcium level will cause the salt cell to develop scale on its cell more rapidly. (250 to 650ppm, vinyl lower)<\/p>\n
CYA \u2013 Cyanuric Acid \u2013 Protects chlorine from sunlight and determines the required FC level. (outdoors 30 to 60ppm, SWG 60 to 90ppm, indoors\/ always covered with auto cover 0 to 20ppm)<\/p>\n
Here are four other chemical levels that come up frequently enough that you should at least know what they are:<\/p>\n
CC \u2013 Combined Chlorine \u2013 CC over 0.5ppm indicates a problem. This is when chlorine has combined with other varying chemicals, most often ammonia, and causes the free to sanitize chlorine level to be lower than the total amount present in the water.<\/p>\n
Salt \u2013 Required with a SWG (Salt Water chlorine Generator), otherwise an optional enhancement. Does make water feel less treated with chemicals and should never smell or taste of salt at correct levels. Not very effective at dealing with an active algae growth.<\/p>\n
Borate \u2013 An optional enhancement. Hard to initially put in but has natural algaecide properties, limits the amount of chlorine needed to very small amounts, as well as keeps the pH buffered better allowing for less adjustments. There is products that allow you to bypass the tedious process to put it in by adding borates directly instead of trying to achieve the chemical reaction.<\/p>\n
Phosphate \u2013 Doesn\u2019t matter, despite pool store claims otherwise. It is considered any material that breaks down in the pool that can be used as a fuel for algae for bacterial growth. However, there is different methodologies that do prescribe to dealing with phosphates and that chemistry doesn\u2019t point to them being a necessary balancing factor if the main levels are kept in check.
All nine are described in more detail below.<\/p>\n
FC- Free Chlorine
Maintaining an appropriate FC level is the most important part of keeping your water in balance, clean, and clear. It is important that you do not allow FC level to fall too low, or you run the risk of an algae growth. If FC levels fall to zero, or you have active algae growth, the pool is probably not safe to swim in as it could be harboring bacteria as well as the algae.<\/p>\n
Free chlorine shows the level of disinfectant available (active plus reserve) to keep your pool sanitary. FC should be tested, and chlorine added daily. If you have an automatic feeder or SWG, you can test it every couple of days. FC is consumed by UV from sunlight, and by sanitizing organic material in your pool. The level of FC you need to maintain depends on your CYA level and how much you use the pool. See the Chlorine \/ CYA Chart for guidelines on the appropriate FC level to maintain based on your CYA level.<\/p>\n
Recommended ways to raise FC include: common bleach, liquid shock\/chlorine, and salt water cells. Tabs in an auto feeder are acceptable but must be used with caution as over or rapid use can lead to high CYA levels as tabs contain CYA in them.<\/p>\n
CC- Combined Chlorine
Combined chlorine is an intermediate breakdown product created in the process of sanitizing the pool. CC causes the \u201cchlorine\u201d smell many people associate with chlorine pools. The best example of this smell is the common place smell of it at most hotel and commercial pools as they have heavy use and deal with this frequently. If CC is above 0.5ppm, you should SLAM (Shock Level and Maintain) your pool. CC indicates that there is something in the water that the FC is in the process of breaking down. In an outdoor pool, CC will normally stay at or near zero as long as you maintain an appropriate FC level and the pool gets some direct sunlight.<\/p>\n
PH \u2013 Acidity\/Basicity
PH indicates how acidic or basic the water is. PH should be tested daily at first. Once you gain experience with your pool, less frequent monitoring may be needed, depending on your pool\u2019s typical rate of PH change. A PH level of 7.4 to 7.6 is ideal, but really anything between 7.2 and 8.0 is doing fine.<\/p>\n
PH levels below 7.2 tend to make eyes sting or burn. PH below 6.8 can cause damage to metal parts, particularly pool heaters with copper heat exchange coils. High PH can lead to calcium scaling.<\/p>\n
Many pools will drift up towards higher PH over time. This is particularly true for fresh plaster (particularly in the first month and continuing for perhaps a year) or when TA is high and the water is being aerated (because of a spa, waterfall, fountain, SWG, rain, kids splashing in the pool, etc).<\/p>\n
For lowering PH use either muriatic acid (preferred) or dry acid. To raise PH use borax or soda ash.<\/p>\n
TA \u2013 Total Alkalinity
Total alkalinity indicates the water\u2019s ability to buffer PH changes. Buffering means you need to use a larger quantity of a chemical to change the PH. At low TA levels, the PH tends to swing around wildly. At high TA levels, the PH tends to drift up.<\/p>\n
You can raise TA with baking soda. It is often best to make large TA adjustments in a couple of steps, testing the water after each one, as adding large quantities of baking soda can raise the PH a little and you don\u2019t want the PH going out of range. However, setting the TA level first before the pH level is important as you will be chasing your tail if you don\u2019t. If you need to lower your TA level, see How To Lower Total Alkalinity.<\/p>\n
CH \u2013 Calcium Hardness
Calcium hardness indicates the amount of calcium in the water. Over time, water with low calcium levels will tend to dissolve calcium out of plaster, pebble, tile, stone, concrete, and to some extent fiberglass surfaces. You can prevent this from happening by keeping the water saturated with calcium. In a vinyl liner pool there is no need for calcium so a regular level of 100-150 from normal tap water is fine, though high levels can still cause problems. A plaster pool or Fiberglass pool should attempt to keep their Calcium between 250 and 650 parts per million. If you have a spa you might want to keep CH at at least 100 to 150 to reduce foaming.<\/p>\n
You increase CH with calcium chloride, sold as a deicer and by pool stores, or calcium chloride dihydrate, sold by pools stores for increasing calcium. You lower calcium by replacing water or using a reverse osmosis water treatment.<\/p>\n
CYA \u2013 Cyanuric Acid
Cyanuric acid, often called stabilizer or conditioner, both protects FC from sunlight and lowers the effective strength of the FC (by holding some of the FC in reserve). The higher your CYA level, the more FC you need to use to get the same effect. It is important to know your CYA level so you can figure out what FC level to aim for. If you don\u2019t have a SWG, CYA is typically kept between 30 and 60ppm. If you have a SWG, CYA is typically kept between 60 and 90ppm. The reason SWG are held at a high level is that while they do produce chlorine at a steady rate as long as the pump is running it is a small amount and the higher CYA allows the pool to retain the level better.<\/p>\n
CYA can be raised with cyanuric acid. Cyanuric acid is sold under a variety of names, including Stabilizer, Conditioner, Instant Pool Water Conditioner, Stabilizer 100, Stabilizer & Conditioner, etc. Instant Pool Water Conditioner is a liquid product which is significantly more expensive than the other forms but, in my humble opinion, is worth the additional cost as it dissolves much faster which means it is not clogging up the filter long and you get the effectiveness of the CYA much faster. This is especially helpful when dealing with a green pool when you need CYA fast to help retain as much chlorine to save money on high chlorine dosage costs. I also find the application process much simpler as you just pour down skimmer, fill jug with pool water and shake to loosen any product left in jug, pour that out and repeat until it runs clear.<\/p>\n
Solid\/granular cyanuric acid (CYA) should be placed in a sock and the sock put in the skimmer basket or suspended in front of a pool return. After adding CYA you should leave the pump running for 24 hours and not backwash\/clean the filter for a week. Squeezing the sock periodically will help it to dissolve faster. Test and dose chemicals in your pool assuming the amount of CYA added is in the pool according to Pool Math. CYA can be tested the day after it is fully dissolved from the sock. I highly recommend against the powder as it takes extremely long to dissolve and can cause other issues.<\/p>\n
In nearly all cases the best way to lower CYA is to replace water. If replacement water is extremely expensive you might want to look into a reverse osmosis water treatment.<\/p>\n
Salt
Salt is required with a SWG. Salt can also be added to the water to enhance the subjective feel of the water. For a SWG, check the manual for the correct salt level for your unit. This level will typically around 3,000, but different models vary. For improved water feel without a SWG, try levels around 2,000ppm. These levels are less then one tenth of the salt level in ocean water, which has around 35,000 ppm of salt. People vary in their ability to taste low levels of salt. A few people can taste salt levels as low as 1,000ppm, others not until 3,500ppm or more.<\/p>\n
Salt can be added using solar salt, sold for use in water softeners (sodium chloride). You want the kind that is 99.4% pure or better and which doesn\u2019t have any rust inhibitor or other additives. Crystals are fine. Pellets will work but I advise against them as they dissolve slightly more slowly and that can cause surface damage. Pool store salt generally costs more and is more finely ground.<\/p>\n
Borate
Borates are an optional enhancement that helps control PH drift and provides various subjective water quality\/feel improvements. If you are not intentionally using borates there is no need to test for them. When using borates, the recommended level is between 30 and 50 ppm.<\/p>\n
Phosphate
Phosphates are sometimes removed from the pool as a way of keeping algae in check. Since chlorine is required anyway, and chlorine alone can keep algae in check (even at very high phosphate levels), and since phosphate remover can be rather expensive and annoying to use, it doesn\u2019t make much sense to use phosphate remover except in rare and unusual situations.<\/p>\n
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Water Chemistry Basics There are five main chemical levels that every pool owner needs to keep track of to keep their pool levels balanced. FC \u2013 Free Chlorine \u2013 A sanitizer which keeps your pool water safe and free of bacteria and algae growth. Chlorine must be constantly replenished. (the level you need to maintain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\n
Heavy rains can overwhelm your pool by significantly altering the chemical balance with the introduction of new water. Storms and flooding can also introduce many other new things into your pool. Dirt, debris, rain water, and even lightning can all affect the overall water chemistry of your pool and put a strain on your equipment. A quick cleanup is essential to minimize potential issues like algae, cloudy water, staining, or excessive filter pressure. The following checklist will help you clean your pool after a rain storm. The main points you need to remember are to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before you get started, or even as soon as the first sprinkle of rain, make sure you have all the right supplies on hand to maintain your pool water. Once the skies are clear and blue again, it's time to get your water clear and blue again, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First things first, you'll need to thoroughly skim and brush the pool. Skimming large debris from the pool with a leaf rake<\/strong><\/a> alleviates the stress on your filtration system, and stirring up dirt by brushing<\/strong><\/a> makes it easier for the system to filter out. Brushing also prevents algae spores and dirt from adhering to pool surfaces. Remember to clean out your skimmer and pump baskets to allow for steady water flow throughout the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there's a lot of dirt and sediment left at the bottom of the pool, remove it manually with a pool vacuum<\/a><\/strong> or use an automatic pool cleaner<\/strong><\/a>. The cleaner the water is to start with, the more efficiently your sanitizer can work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BONUS TIP: If heavy rainfall has left your water levels too high, you can remove the excess water with a submersible pump<\/a> or by turning the multiport valve on your sand or DE filter to the \"waste\" setting.<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Test your water with an at-home test kit<\/strong><\/a>, or bring a sample to your local Leslie\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> for a free AccuBlue\u00ae water test. Rain water and other debris affect pool water chemistry<\/a><\/strong>, most notably the pH and Total Alkalinity. Be sure to look at Calcium Hardness and metal content, as well. If these numbers fall outside normal ranges, prevent scale and stains from forming by adding a sequestering agent, such as Leslie's Stain and Scale Prevent<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is also recommended to test for phosphates, as this number typically spikes after a heavy rainfall. This is included with the Leslie's AccuBlue test<\/strong><\/a>, or you can use a specialized at-home test kit. A chemical such as Leslie's Perfect Weekly<\/a><\/strong> will remove phosphates in the water and starve algae of food, therefore inhibiting its growth. Perfect Weekly also contains enzymes, which break down organic contaminants and help your sanitizer work more efficiently. When using any enzyme product, only add it to the water after your shock treatment, and only once chlorine levels have returned to normal. Otherwise, the enzyme treatment won't work, because the shock will destroy the enzymes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lightning increases the nitrogen in the air. Nitrogen is another algae food source, which can lead to grass and algae turning greener. You can keep these photosynthetic organisms in check with shock treatments, which we'll discuss in the next section. It's also a good idea to also add a preventative algaecide, such as Leslie\u2019s Algae Control<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BONUS TIP: No power? No problem! You can either use a battery-operated pool vacuum<\/a> or a leaf bagger<\/a> to help keep the water clean and circulating until power is restored. If any equipment was damaged during the storm, you'll find a bunch of helpful tips on our other blog post: How to Maintain a Pool With Damaged Equipment<\/a>.<\/strong><\/mark><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n After a hard rain or stormy weather, it's important to shock<\/strong><\/a> your pool with a chlorinated shock, such as Leslie's Power Powder Plus<\/strong><\/a> or Leslie's Chlor Brite<\/strong><\/a>. Shocking helps oxidize any organic contaminants or materials introduced to the water during the storm. The best time to shock is in the evening, so the chlorine doesn't dissipate as quickly as during the day. Chlorine also works most effectively if the water is properly balanced, and pH levels are within the ideal range of 7.4\u20137.6. Add enough shock to raise FAC levels to 10.0 ppm to oxidize organic contaminants in the water. Allow time for the shock to work, and for chlorine levels to drop back down to 2.0\u20134.0 ppm before swimming again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Run your system for at least 12\u201324 hours to ensure proper filtration and circulation. This removes dirt and debris, and also assists in circulating the chlorine throughout your pool. The day after shocking the pool, check the PSI on your filter pressure gauge. When the pressure is 8\u201310 PSI higher than the clean or starting pressure, you'll need to clean the filter<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your pool water is still cloudy after balancing the pool, shocking your water, and running your filter, you can add a water clarifier like Leslie\u2019s Ultra Bright Advanced<\/strong><\/a> or Leslie's Clear Aid<\/a><\/strong> to help expedite the cleaning process.<\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/swimnclean.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/1-1.png\")
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Items Needed for Rain & Storm Cleanup in Pool<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How To Clean a Swimming Pool After Rain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Brush & Skim the Pool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Test & Balance Pool Water<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Shock & Filter the Water<\/h3>\n\n\n\n