A Beginners Guide To Testing Your Pool Water
Testing your pool water is an integral part of pool ownership, failing to do so can lead to a variety of pool issues, and you may not be able to swim in it as often as you may like due to its condition. If you are new to pool water testing, it can seem a little overwhelming but worry not, we've compiled our beginner's guide to help you have it down pat in no time.
Why Is Testing Your Pool Water So Important?
Many things can contaminate your pool water and without proper testing and rebalancing of chemicals, your pool will become unsanitary and swimming in it when it’s in this state could see you pick up a nasty infection or reaction from the contaminated water. This can be anything from an eye or ear infection to a rash or respiratory issues. A clean pool is safer to swim in and prevents avoidable wear to your pool and its equipment.
How Do I Test My Pool Water?
The easiest way to test your pool water is by using a strip water testing kit. You can purchase these from any good pool shop, and they are super simple to use. The kit contains a collection of testing strips along with a chemistry chart. It’s as easy as dipping one testing strip in a sample of pool water and comparing it to the chemical chart. You can then see what’s unbalanced and what’s not. There are other options out there, such as test kits and digital water testers however, these are usually priced higher than strip water testing kits.
What Am I Supposed To Test The Water For?
Here are some of the main chemicals that you should be testing your pool for, and they are:
- Free Chlorine
- Total Chlorine
- Calcium Hardness
- pH Levels
- Total Alkalinity
- Cyanuric Acid
- Total Dissolved Solids
What Levels Should These Chemicals Ideally Be?
Here are the ideal levels for each chemical, so you know what course of action to take if they don’t correspond:
- Free chlorine levels – These should sit somewhere between 2.0 and 4.0 ppm.
- Total chlorine levels – The total chlorine should be 1 to 3 ppm.
- Calcium hardness – Your pools calcium hardness levels need to be between 200 – 400 ppm.
- pH levels – Anything from 7.4-7.6 are considered good pH levels.
- Total Alkalinity – Ideally, aim for total alkalinity levels that are 80 to 120 ppm.
- Cyanuric Acid – needs to be around 30 to 50 ppm.
- Total Dissolved Solids – 0-2500 ppm is desirable for pools other than salt. Salt is 1500 to 4500 ppm.
Sometimes your pool may be slightly out of these ranges, and it’s no need for concern, if you are actively testing your water, it’s unlikely that your water will be negatively affected by such a minor imbalance.
When Do I Need To Test My Water?
You should test your water every week to see if everything is balanced as it should be. If there has been heavy rain, the pool has had a lot of use, or it’s summertime, you should test your water more often. These things often disrupt your pool chemistry levels and by testing more regularly when they occur, you can prevent a drastic imbalance from arising and your pool from becoming green or cloudy. Ensure your pump is running when you test your water and get a sample that’s around 50cm into the pool, rather than on the surface. For best results, don’t get the sample near the returns or chlorine dispensers if any.
What Do I Do When My Pool Chemicals Are Unbalanced?
Here is a breakdown of what the different chemicals do and what to do if they are too high or too low:
Free Chlorine
What Is It?
Free chlorine is good chlorine, and it actively kills bacteria and contaminants in the water.
How To Fix Free Chlorine Levels That Are Too High
There are several ways, but allowing the sunshine to degrade the chlorine is one way, diluting the pool is another.
How To Fix Free Chlorine Levels That Are Too Low
Add chlorine to the water.
Total Chlorine
What Is It?
Total chlorine is the sum of free and combined chlorine together. Combined chlorine is the chlorine that has been used up in the sanitation process and is now ineffective.
How To Fix Total Chlorine That Is Too Low
Add more free chlorine to the pool.
How To Fix Total Chlorine That Is Too High
Turn your chlorinator down and stop adding chlorine to the pool. It should remedy itself in a couple of days.
Calcium Hardness
What Is It?
Calcium hardness is essentially how soft or hard your pool water is and it refers to the amount of magnesium and calcium that is dissolved in the water.
How To Fix Calcium Hardness Levels That Are Too Low
Add a recommended dose of calcium chloride to the water.
How To Fix Calcium Hardness Levels That Are Too High
To lower your calcium hardness levels, drain a small amount of pool water and refill with fresh water. Add a flocculant, this will bind to the excess calcium and sink it to the bottom of the pool. It is then much easier for your pool cleaner to remove it from the water.
pH Levels
What Is It?
The pH levels of your pool refer to how acidic or base the water is.
How To Fix pH Levels That Are Too Low
To raise the levels of pH in your pool, adding sodium carbonate should help.
How To Fix pH Levels That Are Too High
To lower your pH levels, muriatic acid or sodium bisulphate are effective pH decreasers.
Total Alkalinity
What Is It?
The total alkalinity in your pool is the level of alkaline material that is in the pool. Alkaline acts as a pH stabiliser, so when its levels are off, it will subsequently affect the pH levels.
How To Fix Total Alkalinity That's Too Low
Sodium bicarbonate can be added to elevate the total alkalinity in the pool. For the correct dosage, refer to the user guidelines.
How To Fix Total Alkalinity That's Too High
Muriatic acid works well to lower total alkalinity levels.
Cyanuric acid
What Is It?
Cyanuric acid works to prevent chlorine loss in your pool. It protects it from UV rays which actively breakdowns chlorine.
How To Fix Cyanuric Acid That Is Too Low
Add more cyanuric acid to the pool to elevate the level.
How To Fix Cyanuric Acid That Is Too High
Drain some of the pool water and refill with fresh water. Run the pump for a few hours and then retest.
Total Dissolved Solids
What Is It?
Total dissolved solids are the level of dissolved combined organic and inorganic substances in your swimming pool.
How To Fix Total Dissolved Solids That Are Too Low
Total dissolved solids that are too low are generally not an issue, it is when they are too high that it causes problems.
How To Fix Total Dissolved Solids That Are Too High
Filtering with fresh water is the most effective solution. This involves draining water out and replacing it with fresh water.
Conclusion
We hope this guide has given you a basic idea of testing your water and how to do it. If you have any questions or are interested in installing a swimming pool at your home, contact our friendly team here at Factory Pools Perth!
A Beginners Guide To Testing Your Pool Water
Testing your pool water is an integral part of pool ownership, failing to do so can lead to a variety of pool issues, and you may not be able to swim in it as often as you may like due to its condition. If you are new to pool water testing, it can seem a little overwhelming but worry not, we've compiled our beginner's guide to help you have it down pat in no time.
Why Is Testing Your Pool Water So Important?
Many things can contaminate your pool water and without proper testing and rebalancing of chemicals, your pool will become unsanitary and swimming in it when it’s in this state could see you pick up a nasty infection or reaction from the contaminated water. This can be anything from an eye or ear infection to a rash or respiratory issues. A clean pool is safer to swim in and prevents avoidable wear to your pool and its equipment.
How Do I Test My Pool Water?
The easiest way to test your pool water is by using a strip water testing kit. You can purchase these from any good pool shop, and they are super simple to use. The kit contains a collection of testing strips along with a chemistry chart. It’s as easy as dipping one testing strip in a sample of pool water and comparing it to the chemical chart. You can then see what’s unbalanced and what’s not. There are other options out there, such as test kits and digital water testers however, these are usually priced higher than strip water testing kits.
What Am I Supposed To Test The Water For?
Here are some of the main chemicals that you should be testing your pool for, and they are:
- Free Chlorine
- Total Chlorine
- Calcium Hardness
- pH Levels
- Total Alkalinity
- Cyanuric Acid
- Total Dissolved Solids
What Levels Should These Chemicals Ideally Be?
Here are the ideal levels for each chemical, so you know what course of action to take if they don’t correspond:
- Free chlorine levels – These should sit somewhere between 2.0 and 4.0 ppm.
- Total chlorine levels – The total chlorine should be 1 to 3 ppm.
- Calcium hardness – Your pools calcium hardness levels need to be between 200 – 400 ppm.
- pH levels – Anything from 7.4-7.6 are considered good pH levels.
- Total Alkalinity – Ideally, aim for total alkalinity levels that are 80 to 120 ppm.
- Cyanuric Acid – needs to be around 30 to 50 ppm.
- Total Dissolved Solids – 0-2500 ppm is desirable for pools other than salt. Salt is 1500 to 4500 ppm.
Sometimes your pool may be slightly out of these ranges, and it’s no need for concern, if you are actively testing your water, it’s unlikely that your water will be negatively affected by such a minor imbalance.
When Do I Need To Test My Water?
You should test your water every week to see if everything is balanced as it should be. If there has been heavy rain, the pool has had a lot of use, or it’s summertime, you should test your water more often. These things often disrupt your pool chemistry levels and by testing more regularly when they occur, you can prevent a drastic imbalance from arising and your pool from becoming green or cloudy. Ensure your pump is running when you test your water and get a sample that’s around 50cm into the pool, rather than on the surface. For best results, don’t get the sample near the returns or chlorine dispensers if any.
What Do I Do When My Pool Chemicals Are Unbalanced?
Here is a breakdown of what the different chemicals do and what to do if they are too high or too low:
Free Chlorine
What Is It?
Free chlorine is good chlorine, and it actively kills bacteria and contaminants in the water.
How To Fix Free Chlorine Levels That Are Too Low
Add chlorine to the water.
How To Fix Free Chlorine Levels That Are Too High
There are several ways, but allowing the sunshine to degrade the chlorine is one way, diluting the pool is another.
Total Chlorine
What Is It?
Total chlorine is the sum of free and combined chlorine together. Combined chlorine is the chlorine that has been used up in the sanitation process and is now ineffective.
How To Fix Total Chlorine That Is Too Low
Add more free chlorine to the pool.
How To Fix Total Chlorine That Is Too High
Turn your chlorinator down and stop adding chlorine to the pool. It should remedy itself in a couple of days.
Calcium Hardness
What Is It?
Calcium hardness is essentially how soft or hard your pool water is and it refers to the amount of magnesium and calcium that is dissolved in the water.
How To Fix Calcium Hardness Levels That Are Too Low
Add a recommended dose of calcium chloride to the water.
How To Fix Calcium Hardness Levels That Are Too High
To lower your calcium hardness levels, drain a small amount of pool water and refill with fresh water. Add a flocculant, this will bind to the excess calcium and sink it to the bottom of the pool. It is then much easier for your pool cleaner to remove it from the water.
pH Levels
What Is It?
The pH levels of your pool refer to how acidic or base the water is.
How To Fix pH Levels That Are Too Low
To raise the levels of pH in your pool, adding sodium carbonate should help.
How To Fix pH Levels That Are Too High
To lower your pH levels, muriatic acid or sodium bisulphate are effective pH decreasers.
Total Alkalinity
What Is It?
The total alkalinity in your pool is the level of alkaline material that is in the pool. Alkaline acts as a pH stabiliser, so when its levels are off, it will subsequently affect the pH levels.
How To Fix Total Alkalinity That's Too Low
Sodium bicarbonate can be added to elevate the total alkalinity in the pool. For the correct dosage, refer to the user guidelines.
How To Fix Total Alkalinity That's Too High
Muriatic acid works well to lower total alkalinity levels.
Cyanuric acid
What Is It?
Cyanuric acid works to prevent chlorine loss in your pool. It protects it from UV rays which actively breakdowns chlorine.
How To Fix Cyanuric Acid That Is Too Low
Add more cyanuric acid to the pool to elevate the level.
How To Fix Cyanuric Acid That Is Too High
Drain some of the pool water and refill with fresh water. Run the pump for a few hours and then retest.
Total Dissolved Solids
What Is It?
Total dissolved solids are the level of dissolved combined organic and inorganic substances in your swimming pool.
How To Fix Total Dissolved Solids That Are Too Low
Total dissolved solids that are too low are generally not an issue, it is when they are too high that it causes problems.
How To Fix Total Dissolved Solids That Are Too High
Filtering with fresh water is the most effective solution. This involves draining water out and replacing it with fresh water.
Conclusion
We hope this guide has given you a basic idea of testing your water and how to do it. If you have any questions or are interested in installing a swimming pool at your home, contact our friendly team here at Factory Pools Perth!
