- A Word About Water Chemistry
- Sharing The Pool Opening Chores
- The Early Bird Gets The Swimming Pool
- Our Famous Guarantee
- Budgeting for Your New Swimming Pool
- Temporary or Permanent?
- Understanding the pH of Your Pool
- The 5 Most Important Questions to Ask
- Choosing a Pool: Above Ground or In Ground?
- Swimming: Exercise That's Healthy AND Fun
- Owning a Kayak Pool: Long-lasting Value and Family Fun
- Is A Pool Right For You?
- The 30 Minute Swimming Pool Workout
- Pool Decks: Something For Everyone
- Pool Dealer Questions
- Where to Put the Pool
- Budgeting for Your Swimming Pool: Part 2
- Choosing a Pool: Above Ground or In Ground?
- Things To Remember When Buying a Pool
Splash Zone
Understanding the pH of Your Pool
As the owner of a swimming pool, you will be responsible for keeping your pool water clean and healthy for swimmers. Maintaining the proper chemistry in your swimming pool is essential to a safe, fun swimming pool experience. An incorrect balance of chemicals can not only damage your swimming pool, but can also cause illness and irritation to swimmers.
The most important chemical measure of your swimming pool is the pH. This is a measure of the relative acidity of your swimming pool water. It is measured on a scale of 0 (strong acid) to 14 (strong base), with 7 being neutral.
For swimming pools, the ideal pH is 7.4 to 7.6, which has a slight alkalinity. This allows the water to be comfortable to the human eye while maintaining water that is not corrosive or scale forming. If the pH of the water falls too low (below 7), the water becomes acidic, which irritates eyes, etches plaster walls, corrodes metal fittings and stains walls. If the pH of the water gets too high (above 8), then scales can form on the walls, chlorine becomes inefficient, water becomes cloudy and eyes become irritated.
Your swimming pool should come with the necessary materials to test pH. If not, testing strips are inexpensive and available at your local pool retailer. Chemicals such as sodium bicarbonate are available at retailers which can raise the pH of your swimming pool. If your pH level is too high, your local retailer can recommend an acid compound to reduce pH levels.
For a detailed resource on swimming pool water chemistry, visit the North Carolina Department of Environmental Health Web site: http://www.deh.enr.state.nc.us/ehs/quality/wph.htm
