Balanced

Keeping your Water Balanced

There's more to taking care of a pool and spa than just keeping the water clean. You also have to make sure the water is properly balanced. Water that is not balanced -- that is too acidic or too basic -- can cause bather discomfort, cloudy water and damage to the pool and spa surfaces and equipment. To help you get a handle on what water balance means -- and how you can maintain it -- let's look, one at the time, at the factors that shape your water quality.

pH

The most fragile and arguably the most important component of water balance is pH, a reading that indicates how acidic or basic your pool and spa water is. Without going into the entire story of what pH is and how it works, suffice it to say here that it's important to monitor it because it has an impact on your sanitizer effectiveness, not to mention your pool or spa's surfaces, equipment -- and you.

Here are the most common problems associated with both high or low pH levels:

High pH readings

Poor sanitizer efficiency

Cloudy water

Shorter filter runs

Scale formation

Skin and eye irritation

Low pH readings

Poor sanitizer efficiency

Etched or stained plaster

Corroded metals/equipment

Skin and eye irritation

Destruction of total alkalinity

The ideal pH range for pools is between 7.4 to 7.6. For spas, the range is 7.2 to 7.8. Any reading below 7.4 for pools or 7.2 for spas means your water is acidic.

To correct the situation, you would add soda ash or sodium bicarbonate, two substances available at your local pool/spa supply store. Note: You should not add soda ash to a spa as you would to a pool -- it is too strong for the small spa environment.

If the pH reading is above 7.6 for pools or 7.8 for spas, it means the water is basic or alkaline. To bring the pH level down in pools, you'll need to add some liquid muriatic acid to the water. Muriatic acid is also available in pool/spa supply stores.

Here again, you need to take special care with your spa: Liquid muriatic acid is too powerful for the small volumes of water found in spas. Therefore, experts do not recommend using muriatic acid in spas. Instead, you should add dry acid.

A final note: Before adding any chemicals to adjust your pH levels, you must first consider total alkalinity.

Total alkalinity

Now that you know where your pH level should be, it's time to consider the total alkalinity.The most important thing to remember about total alkalinity is that it affects your pH levels and therefore must be tested before you do any pH testing and adjustments.

Total alkalinity and pH go hand in hand, but total alkalinity has the upper hand.

Basically, total alkalinity is a measure of the water's ability to neutralize acid (called the water's buffering capacity), and keep your pH level within the proper range. This is why you test and adjust your total alkalinity before even touching your pH test kit.

Your goal? To keep total alkalinity readings inside the acceptable range of 80 to 140 ppm for pools and 80 to 120 ppm for spas.

What happens if you don't? Let's take a quick look at the problems that can result.

High total alkalinity

Hard to change pH

Scale formation

Cloudy water

Skin and eye irritation

Poor sanitizer efficiency

Low total alkalinity

Rapid changes in pH or "pH bounce"

Stained, etched or dissolved plaster

Corroded metals/equipment

Skin and eye irritation

Hardness

Wait -- there's more! One of the last two things you need to know about your water is its hardness.

Water hardness is a concentration of the calcium and magnesium in your pool and spa water but is often referred to simply as calcium hardness.

The amount of calcium hardness your water will have varies depending on your water source. Well water, for example, has a higher mineral content -- or is harder -- than a fresh-water source that has gone through a treatment plant.

Note: You do want your water to have some level of hardness. If it's too soft, the water will slowly but surely dissolve the plaster and any metal in your pool and spa equipment. If there's too much hardness, you'll see scale formation on the walls and the water will take on a cloudy appearance.

Dissolved solids

Here's the last piece of the water-balance puzzle: total dissolved solids or TDS.

By definition, TDS is absolutely everything dissolved in your pool and spa water, from metals to chlorine to alkalinity to sulfates and salts. The acceptable range of TDS in a swimming pool is between 1,000 and 2,000 ppm. For spas, the level is 1,500 ppm above your start-up TDS.

If you have a problem with TDS, your pool or spa water may taste salty or it may have a tint to it, although there isn't any clouding. You might also see algae growth and get false test readings, among other things.

If you suspect your water's TDS is too high or low, call a professional service technician or take a water sample to your pool/spa supply store's water lab for further tests -- and some advice.

The numbers game

By now, you should have read the basic definitions of the different chemicals and substances found in your pool and spa water. And while keeping the upper hand on them doesn't require a Ph.D. in chemistry, it does call for regular attention.

Your ultimate goal is to reach and maintain a certain level of sanitizer and a certain water balance. That is, you want to keep all your chemical readings within their proper ranges.

Here's a quick rundown of the numbers:

Chlorine: 1.0 - 3.0 ppm in pools, 1.5 - 3.0 ppm in spas
Bromine: 2.0 - 4.0 ppm in pools, 3.0 - 5.0 ppm in spas
pH: 7.4 - 7.6 in pools, 7.2 - 7.8 in spas
Total Alkalinity: 80 - 140 ppm in pools, 80 - 120 ppm in spas
Calcium Hardness: 200 - 400 ppm in pools and spas
Total Dissolved Solids: 1,000 - 2,000 ppm in pools, 1,500 ppm above your start-up TDS in spas