what order do you balance pool water

7 Steps to Balance Pool Water

• 1. Test and Adjust Total Alkalinity Total Alkalinity (TA) is the first thing you should balance in your pool water. ...
• 2. Test and Adjust pH ...
• 3. Measure and Adjust Calcium Hardness ...
• 4. Add Sanitizer to Your Water ...
• 5. Check and Adjust Cyanuric Acid ...
• 6. Measure Your Water’s Total Dissolved Solids ...
• 7. Shock Your Swimming Pool ...

Full Answer

How do you balance a bonus pool water balance?

BONUS POOL WATER BALANCE TIPS! Test 2-3x per week, adding adjustment chemicals as needed. Run the pump after adding chemicals, to help distribute. Add one chemical at a time, or add them into different areas. Test and adjust in order. First alkalinity, then pH, then calcium. Use the Saturation Index to consider water Temperature.

What does it mean when a pool is balanced?

Chemistry of Water Balancing Chemicals Water balance for pools essentially means to bring into balance, the most important being the pool pH, Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness levels. pH measures the acidity or basicity of the water. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14, and 7 is considered neutral.

How much chemicals do I need to balance my pool?

The label often lists the amount of chemical required to achieve a desired effect. This measurement is usually based on 10,000 gallons of pool water. However, it can vary widely based on the type of product you’re using. BONUS TIP: When balancing a pool, always add chemicals to water. NEVER pour water over chemicals in an attempt to dilute them.

What chemicals are used to balance pool water?

Chemistry of Water Balancing Chemicals. Water balance for pools essentially means to bring into balance, the most important being the pool pH, Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness levels. pH measures the acidity or basicity of the water. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14, and 7 is considered neutral.

Should I adjust chlorine or pH first?

Generally speaking you adjust PH first, chlorine second, and worry about everything else more gradually. However, there are many situations where you can adjust two or more numbers at the same time if the correct combination presents it's self. For example baking soda raises TA and PH.

Should I adjust alkalinity or pH first?

We always recommend adjusting alkalinity first as it's so important to the pH. Alkalinity is, after all, a measure of how much acid the water can neutralize.

Do I add chlorine or stabilizer first?

Add Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid) Stabilizer is cyanuric acid. It's important that you get this right BEFORE adjusting the chlorine levels.

What chemicals do I add first to my pool?

Once the pool is opened and the floor and walls have been brushed the first chemical you should add is chlorine to shock it. It's recommended you add a gallon of liquid chlorine or pound of granular chlorine for every 5,000 gallons of water in the pool. You can also add more chlorine at the end of the opening process.

How do I balance the pH and alkalinity in my pool?

A rule of thumb is 1.5 lbs. of baking soda per 10,000 gallons of water will raise alkalinity by about 10 ppm. If your pool's pH tested below 7.2, add 3-4 pounds of baking soda. If you're new to adding pool chemicals, start by adding only one-half or three-fourths of the recommended amount.

What is more important pH or alkalinity?

For all water sources, it is the alkalinity that actually determines how much acid to use, not the pH.

Does lowering pH lower alkalinity?

Low pH also tends to lower total alkalinity. High pH is also a problem for your pool. When the pH is too high, your water is very basic. That can cause scaling on the walls and other components of your pool.

Can you lower pH without lowering alkalinity?

It's not possible to lower pH without lowering alkalinity, but with a bit of chemistry trickery, it's possible to achieve the same end result. All you need to do is lower both pH and alkalinity using a measured dose of muriatic acid, then follow it up with baking soda to increase total alkalinity back to where it was.

Why is it important to keep your pool water balanced?

Keeping your pool water balanced is crucial to having a safe and healthy swimming environment. And it’s not as simple as just making sure you have chlorine. If any factor is out of whack, it can throw the others off, making your pool a hospitable place for all kinds of nasty bacteria and annoying algae.

What is the purpose of a water balance system?

It’s basically a system of measurement that is used by some people to make sure the water maintains the most perfect balance possible.

What about the saturation index?

The saturation index, or Langelier Saturation Index (LSI), is used to “determine the tendencies of water toward corrosion or scaling based up on the pH of calcium carbonate.”

What to do if your pool pH is out of whack?

If your pool testing kit indicates that your pH levels are out of whack, you will need to add the proper pH balancing chemical to get it back to normal.

What does pH mean in water?

A pH level is how acidic or base your water is. It’s an unstable factor that is affected by the other factors as well as debris, rain and algae. The higher the levels, the more base the water. The lower the levels, the more acidic.

Can you get too much chlorine in a pool?

You can actually get too much chlorine in your pool. When chlorine levels are too high, it can cause skin and eye irritation and in extreme cases, even chlorine poisoning. Chlorine poisoning can cause symptoms such as nausea, burning throat, itchy eyes, difficulty breathing and chest pain. But aside from keeping the proper levels ...

Can you put sanitizer in a pool?

You will use some type of sanitizer in your pool water. That’s what keeps it...well...sanitized. And usually that sanitizer is chlorine. But it’s not enough to just throw some chlorine tabs in the dispenser or pour some solution in the pool. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.

A Step-by-step Guide To Keeping In-ground Pools Safe & Protected

Did you know that the average in-ground pool can add around 28% value to your home when it’s safe and protected? And the best way to keep your pool safe is to balance the pool water.

How Often Should You Balance Pool Water?

Since pools are used less often during the cooler months, they may demand less chlorine. This can result in excess chlorine levels, which are detrimental to pool equipment and blankets.

What Happens If Your Pool Is Not Balanced?

Unbalanced pool chemicals often lead to eye problems or skin irritations. They make it easier for bacteria to thrive and cause discomfort.

In What Order Should You Add Pool Chemicals?

You must add pool chemicals in a certain order for the perfect balance. As you adjust the pool chemicals, focus on the alkalinity and pH levels. Next, focus on the calcium hardness and stabilizer, and end with chlorination.

7 Steps to Balance Pool Water After Refilling

Testing and learning how to balance water chemicals can be quite challenging, especially if it’s your first time doing it. Stick to the following steps to balance your pool water.

What About Pool Temperature?

Depending on your area’s climate, you’ll have to heat your pool often. This will make it comfortable enough for your household. Maintain temperatures in the range of 78 to 82 degrees when heating your pool. As you do this, note that every degree of temperature will raise the pool maintenance costs.

How to Balance Pool Water: The Takeaway

Balancing new pool water is one of the important duties you have to honour as a pool owner. If you neglect this task, the water may turn green or cloudy and irritate your eyes or skin.

How to balance pool water?

1. Test and Adjust Total Alkalinity. Total Alkalinity (TA) is the first thing you should balance in your pool water.

Why is it important to balance pool water?

Keeping your pool water balanced is critical to ensure a safe and healthy swimming environment. But it’s not as simple as just making sure you have chlorine. If any chemical is slightly off, it can throw the others off, making your pool a breeding ground for bacteria. Thankfully, balancing your pool water chemicals isn’t difficult.

What About Pool Temperature?

The temperature of pool water will influence the effectiveness of pool chemicals. At higher temperatures, the water and chemicals are more active, so you may need to use fewer chemicals to balance the water. And at lower temperatures, you may need to add more chemicals to balance the water.

What is the ideal alkalinity for pool water?

The ideal Total Alkalinity range for pool water is 80 – 120 ppm. If you need to increase the Total Alkalinity, add an alkalinity increaser such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), adding up to 25 pounds per 10,000 gallons of pool water. And if you need to decrease the Total Alkalinity, add muriatic acid or sodium bisulphate (dry acid).

What is the best sanitizer for swimming pools?

Sanitizer will keep your pool clean and free of bacteria, so the water remains safe and healthy to swim in. Chlorine is the most common type of sanitizer used in pools, and comes in the form of: 1 Liquid chlorine 2 Granular chlorine 3 Chlorine tablets 4 Salt chlorine generators

How to lower alkalinity?

And if you need to decrease the Total Alkalinity, add muriatic acid or sodium bisulphate (dry acid). 2. Test and Adjust pH. The pH level of a substance refers to how acidic or basic the substance is, and falls within a range of 1.0 to 14.0, with 0.0 to 7.0 being acidic, and 7.0 to 14.0 being basic.

What happens if you use too much chlorine in a pool?

If pH levels are too high, the water will become cloudy and create scale deposits on your pool walls and equipment.

Why is it important to balance the water in a pool?

Some aspects of water chemistry impact the balance or efficiency of others. Also, some chemicals need time to circulate before you can add other chemicals to the water. Otherwise, you may end up with an inadvertent chemical reaction that’s dangerous for you and/or damaging to your pool. By sticking to a routine water balancing format, you’ll keep your water clean, clear, sanitary, and safe.

How to know how much water to use in a pool?

In order to know how to properly dose your pool, you first need to know how many gallons of water the pool holds. If you don’t already know the volume of your pool, just do a bit of math to get a close estimate. First, find the cubic footage of your pool. Then multiply that number by 7.5 to find your pool volume in gallons.

What does low pH mean in a pool?

With Total Alkalinity in the desired balance range, it’s time to adjust your pH. A low pH means the water is acidic , which can be corrosive to pool equipment and pool surfaces. It may also cause skin and eye irritation. Low pH will also cause Free Available Chlorine to dissipate faster than normal.

How to find pool volume?

Does your pool have the same depth throughout? Or is the bottom is sloped with both a shallow end and a deep end? If your pool has a slope, you’ll need to find the average depth in order to accurately calculate pool volume. Please note that this equation only works for pools with a constant slope from the shallow end down to the deep end: (Shallow End Depth + Deep End Depth) ÷ 2 = Average Depth

How to check pool water level before starting?

Before you get started, make sure that the pool water is ready for testing and balancing. Check that the water level is at least halfway up the mouth of the skimmer, and add more if needed. Remove debris from the skimmer and pump baskets.

Is hard water bad for a pool?

That might not sound like a bad thing, at first. However, soft water tries to balance itself by drawing calcium from surrounding surfaces. This results in erosion, etching, and pitting of tile grout, plaster, pebble, and concrete surfaces in your pool. On the other hand, high Calcium Hardness, also known as hard water, can cause cloudy pool conditions. High Calcium Hardness also causes scale buildup on pool surfaces and the inside of your plumbing and pool equipment.

Do you have to balance your pool every time?

It’s important to remember that you won’t have to balance all of these every single time you test your pool. You may only need to address one or two, or sometimes even none at all. So how do you properly balance the different aspects of your pool’s water chemistry? Let’s dive in!

Do I add chlorine or stabilizer first?

Open your pool under normal procedures, and let the filter run with its normal amount of chemicals. When all the other chemicals, such as chlorine. pH and alkalinity, are balanced, add the chlorine stabilizer. Add the stabilizer only after the filter has been backwashed to ensure it is cycled through a clean filter.

What order do you test pool chemicals?

For safe and accurate results, you should always test in the following order:

What should be adjusted first alkalinity or pH?

Check Total Alkalinity (TA) first, then adjust for proper pH range. Proper TA will buffer pH, that is, it will help to prevent pH fluctuations. Use fresh, high quality test strips. Excessively high bromine or chlorine levels can result in false pH and TA readings.

How much chemicals do I add to my pool?

Calculate: 1 bag for each 10,000 gallons, per week or per month. Example: 2.5 bags per week for 20 weeks, or 50 lbs. Or 2.5 bags per month for 5 months, or 12.5 lbs. Recommendation: Get a 50 lb bucket of shock chlorine if you expect to shock weekly, or for 5 monthly shocks, you could buy the 12 Pack of pool shock.

Can I add stabilizer and chlorine to my pool at the same time?

Yes! Just make sure that you wait at least 20 minutes after adding chlorine stabilizer (and that it's completely dissolved into the water) before you go swimming. The same rule applies to all other swimming pool water chemicals including adding alkalinity increaser, chlorine, algaecide, and more.

How long do I wait between adding pool chemicals?

Wait times for adding pool chemicals The wait times between adding pool chemicals is usually around 10 minutes each, as that is also sufficient time for the chemicals to mix in the water. Users also under normal conditions can swim roughly 10 minutes after adding chemicals.

How soon after adding chlorine can you add stabilizer?

It is recommended to wait at least 20 minutes to an hour after adding water balancing chemicals. You should wait 2-4 hours (or one full cycle through the filter) to swim from the moment you use calcium chloride in your pool. It is safe to swim once your chlorine levels are around 5 ppm or after 24 hours.

What is the ultimate guide to pool water balance?

The Ultimate Guide to Pool Water Balance. It really is a balancing act – to maintain the correct levels in the pool water. If pH or Alkalinity is too low, or Calcium Hardness levels are too high, there can be problems.

What is the most important thing to balance in a pool?

Water balance for pools essentially means to bring into balance, the most important being the pool pH, Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness levels.

What should the free chlorine level be in a pool?

Free chlorine levels should be at least 1.0 ppm. Cyanuric Acid retains the chlorine in the water for a longer period of time. Stabilizer is added to some chlorine to protect from breaking down – which occurs from UV rays. When the pool stabilizer levels are low, your chlorine won’t last as long.

Why is my pool water cloudy?

Hard water has higher calcium or magnesium content. These particles can deposit themselves on pool surfaces, lights and ladders, or can frequently come out of solution making the water cloudy. Calcium Hardness is another important factor to any pool. Water can get murky and scale formations can occur as well as stains.

How to lower total alkalinity in pool?

Lowering Total Alkalinity by adding an acid to the pool water. This is harder than it sounds, because it also lowers pH levels when you add acid. Certain types of acid will lower Alkalinity more than pH, but it can still be a process of lowering TA, raising pH, lowering TA, raising pH….

Why add acid to pool water?

Add an acid to bring down the pH to prevent the formation and build-up of scale. Total Alkalinity measures the hydroxides , carbonates and alkaline substances in the pool water. A close cousin of pH, Alkalinity buffers your pH, keeping it more stable. When TA is too low, pH levels are erratic, and not stable.

How to lower TDS in pool?

This in turn gives pool stains an opportunity to come out and appear in the pool. The only way to lower TDS is to drain some water out and add fresh water. Recommended levels for TDS are less than 2000 ppm, or 5000 ppm for pools using salt chlorinators.

What is the best way to maintain a balanced pool?

In order to have a balanced swimming pool, you have to maintain the correct levels of free chlorine (FC). Free chlorine is the available amount of chlorine that has disinfecting power. Free chlorine is consumed by two things, namely sunlight and organic materials in your pool. The amount of FC you need to maintain in your swimming pool depends on ...

What does it mean when a pool is balanced?

The word ‘balanced’, when discussing pool chemistry, comes from the idea that as water dissolves, it holds minerals until it becomes too saturated to hold anymore. Balance is the level at which water is neither over-saturated nor undersaturated.

What happens if your pool water is too low?

If your water becomes undersaturated it starts to look for other sources of calcium like your pool plaster. If it becomes too aggressive, it has the ability to corrode the inside of your pool surfaces.

How to increase CYA in salt water generator?

With a salt water generator, CYA levels are typically kept between 70-80. You can increase your CYA levels by adding more cyanuric acid. In most cases, the best way to decrease your CYA levels is simply to replace your water.

How to adjust pH in pool?

Typically, to adjust the pH in your pool, you add pH increasers (bases) or a pH decreaser (acids).

How to increase CH in pool?

You can decrease your CH by replacing some of the water in your pool to offset the balance.

What is the best pH level for a pool?

The ideal pH level is a 7.7 or 7.8. Anything between 7.5 and 7.8 is good, although, anything between 7.2 and 8.0 is acceptable for swimming. Everything that enters your pool, including rainwater, has a pH. So, it’s always good to check your pH levels once a week, to be on the safe side.

What is the best alkalinity for a pool?

While NSPF water quality standards say that a range of 60-180 is acceptable for alkalinity, I have always tried to keep it between 80 and 120, with 100 being ideal.

How accurate is a pool volume chart?

The second thing you should know is it’s only as accurate as your pool volume entered (gallons), and other data you supply. It can not give you precise measurements unless it knows how many gallons are in your pool, or what your current chemical levels are. Pool Volume Chart

How to calculate shocking breakpoint?

Shocking / Breakpoint Superchlorination FORMULA: Total Chlorine subtract Free Chlorine equals Combined Chlorine / Chloramines. Combined Chlorine multiplied by 10 equals the level of free chlorine necessary to kill Chloramines. We then subtract our existing free Chlorine from necessary level to calculate total adjustment. Once we know how high we need to raise the Chlorine level to neutralize Chloramines, we do a little more math to figure out how much is necessary to treat the amount of water in your pool.

Why do we shock pools?

It creates dangerous levels of something called Chloramines / Combined Chlorine. We shock our pools to kill Chloramines. Few understand the importance of properly shocking a pool. Most people think shock is a special chemical called shock.

What is free chlorine?

Chlorine is used to kill germs, algae, bacteria, and organisms like Cryptosporidium. Free Chlorine is the amount available in your water to kill these things. You always want to maintain a free Chlorine level of at least 1. Min Max Range being 1 to 5, with 2-4 being ideal.

How hard is a pool?

If you have a cement, gunite or plaster pool, then you will want to keep a close eye on Calcium / Hardness. Keeping it between 150 and 1000, with the ideal range being between 200 and 400.

When should I adjust my pool cover?

When I open a pool, or service it for the first time, this is the first thing I adjust. Here in Massachusetts, pools with mesh pool covers tend to have very low alkalinity when opening them in the spring. Once you get alkalinity in range, check it once a month.