Chemistry Tips
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Chemistry and Balance
Chlorine |
1-4 ppm |
pH |
7.2-7.8 |
Alkalinity |
80 - 120 ppm |
Calcium |
200 - 400 ppm |
Cyanuric Acid |
30 - 99 ppm |
Copper |
.2 or less |
Iron |
.2 or less |
Phosphates |
100 ppb or less |
Sanitizers
Chlorine
Chlorine comes in a few forms. We will go over these in detail for you.
Tabs:
Tabs are compressed TriChlor. This is meant to go into a floating chlorinator or an inline chlorinator. Tabs are like pills that dissolve slowly, chlorinating your pool over a period of time. A good tab will have a 90% to 99% strength and 97% dense. If fresh water is entered into the pool by you adding some due to evaporation or through a rain, it will dilute the chlorine in the pool. The tabs can dissipate chlorine at so much of a rate and it cannot catch up to the amount of chlorine the pool needs. This is where shock comes into play.
TriChlor Shock:
This particular shock is a 68% to 73% shock called Calcium Hypochlorite. This is considered a stabilized shock because it has Cyanuric Acid (Stabilizer) in this shock. This is the strongest shock on the market for swimming pools. You use this only if you have algae growing on the walls, floor, or floating freely in the pool. Brush the pool and add TriChlor, brush again. The algae will turn white when dead.
DiChlor
DiChlor is an Un stabilized shock because does not have Cyanuric Acid in the ingredients. Usually, this chlorine shock is 55% chlorine. This is to help raise the chlorine level in the pool when the chlorine is below the 1 - 4 parts per million.
Chlorine-Free Shock
Sounds unproductive. This can get complicated. When testing for chlorine, you have Total Available Chlorine (TAC). This is a sum of the two types of chlorine in your pool. The two types are, Free Available Chlorine plus the Combined Chlorine. Free Available Chlorine (FAC) is chlorine that is free to attack bacteria and other toxins in your water. Combined Chlorine or Chloramine is already used chlorine in the pool that has attacked bacteria and is no longer available for use. You TAC can be 3 ppm but your FAC could be 1 ppm. If there is more than a .2 variance, you can add a chlorine free shock and it will release bacteria into the atmosphere and free the chlorine up for use again. Now your chlorine is at 3 ppm and in good standing balance.
Salt
Salt is a sanitizer that is used in conjunction with a salt system. Different brands of salt systems use different levels of salt in the pool from 2700 ppm to 5,000 ppm. Read Equipment with Salt Systems to see about using salt verses chlorine tabs.
Chlorine comes in a few forms. We will go over these in detail for you.
Tabs:
Tabs are compressed TriChlor. This is meant to go into a floating chlorinator or an inline chlorinator. Tabs are like pills that dissolve slowly, chlorinating your pool over a period of time. A good tab will have a 90% to 99% strength and 97% dense. If fresh water is entered into the pool by you adding some due to evaporation or through a rain, it will dilute the chlorine in the pool. The tabs can dissipate chlorine at so much of a rate and it cannot catch up to the amount of chlorine the pool needs. This is where shock comes into play.
TriChlor Shock:
This particular shock is a 68% to 73% shock called Calcium Hypochlorite. This is considered a stabilized shock because it has Cyanuric Acid (Stabilizer) in this shock. This is the strongest shock on the market for swimming pools. You use this only if you have algae growing on the walls, floor, or floating freely in the pool. Brush the pool and add TriChlor, brush again. The algae will turn white when dead.
DiChlor
DiChlor is an Un stabilized shock because does not have Cyanuric Acid in the ingredients. Usually, this chlorine shock is 55% chlorine. This is to help raise the chlorine level in the pool when the chlorine is below the 1 - 4 parts per million.
Chlorine-Free Shock
Sounds unproductive. This can get complicated. When testing for chlorine, you have Total Available Chlorine (TAC). This is a sum of the two types of chlorine in your pool. The two types are, Free Available Chlorine plus the Combined Chlorine. Free Available Chlorine (FAC) is chlorine that is free to attack bacteria and other toxins in your water. Combined Chlorine or Chloramine is already used chlorine in the pool that has attacked bacteria and is no longer available for use. You TAC can be 3 ppm but your FAC could be 1 ppm. If there is more than a .2 variance, you can add a chlorine free shock and it will release bacteria into the atmosphere and free the chlorine up for use again. Now your chlorine is at 3 ppm and in good standing balance.
Salt
Salt is a sanitizer that is used in conjunction with a salt system. Different brands of salt systems use different levels of salt in the pool from 2700 ppm to 5,000 ppm. Read Equipment with Salt Systems to see about using salt verses chlorine tabs.