Swimming Pool Chemicals Guide and Chemistry

We know how confusing Pool Water chemistry can seem especially to new Swimming Pool owners. But to understand your swimming pool water chemistry, you also need to understand which Swimming Pool Chemicals can reset the balance of your pool water. You can add chemicals for sanitizing, alkalinity, pH and stain removal. We put together a list of the common Swimming Pool chemicals to show you.   Chlorine Chlorine is an extremely effective bacteria and algae killer. Chlorine is the chemical most often used to keep swimming pools and Jacuzzis free of bacteria that can be hazardous to humans. It kills bacteria though a fairly simple chemical reaction. The chlorine solution you pour into the water breaks down into many different chemicals, including hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and hypochlorite ion (OCl^–). Both kill microorganisms and bacteria by attacking the lipids in the cell walls and destroying the enzymes and structures inside the cell, rendering them oxidized and harmless.

1. CHLORINE 90 This is a powder form of chlorine with 90% available chlorine. The base is trichloro-isocyanuric acid and its use has the added benefit of reducing the chlorine loss from sunlight. The daily dosage rate can thus be reduced to 15 gms for every 10,000 litres when the water is clear and blue or 50 gms for CHLORINE “65” and CHLORINE “90” is often recommended as it helps to stabilize the water.

   

1. CHLORINE 65 Also known as Calcium Hypochlorite, chlorine “65” is a granular form of chlorine and as the amount of available chlorine is 65%, the daily dosage rate is 25 gm for every 10,000 litres if the water is clear rising to between 75 and 150 gm for ‘shock’ treatment.

Flocculant / Water clear Flocculant helps in bringing together all the small particles of dead algae or debris and combining them together into bigger particles that can be filtered out. The flocculant then sinks these particles to the bottom of the pool. You will now have to manually vacuum out these particles to waste.   pH Plus Rainwater, Swimmers or just about anything that enters the swimming pool can affect the pH level. pH plus (alkali, soda ash or sodium carbonate) is used for increasing the recommended pH level of your swimming pool water when it falls below 7.2. The ideal ph level is between 7.2 and 7.6   pH Minus pH minus is used to decrease the pH level of your pool when it rises above pH 7.6. Add 500g of pH minus per 100m of pool water in soft water areas and 1kg pH minus per 100m of pool water in hard water areas. The quantity required will depend on the total alkalinity and calcium hardness level of the water. Add pH minus every day until the correct pH is achieved. Algaecide Algaecide is algae preventative. The algaecide works in conjuctionwith chlorine to kill the algae cells. Algaecide should be used after every chlorine treatment (recommended weekly) to support your chlorine as it works its magic. Magic touch Magic touch is an organic algaecide, which is used to improve the clarity of the water. The dosage rate is 200ccs (gms) per 10m3 (10,000 litres) and a single dose is normally sufficient to kill all the algae in the pool. Hth Sparkle it Sparkle It is a water clarifier which clears cloudy water and aids filtration. It contains liquid flocculators and should be used when the pool water is cloudy or lacks sparkle. Add up to 1 litre of sparkle It to the skimmer basket or to the line strainer and then allow the water to circulate for 12 hours before switching the pump off preferable overnight. The dirt deposited can then be vacuumed off the pool floor. The filter should then be backwashed. Anti-Stain Anti-stains are detergents specially formulated for use in swimming pools. They are effective in the removal of scum from the top tile layer as well as for cleaning handrails and other exposed pool accessories. It is normally applied by cloth but where the staining is excessive a scouring pad can be used.   In nutshell, To maintain a safe and healthy swimming pool, you need to keep your pool chemicals at the following levels:

• pH: 7.4 to 7.6
• Alkalinity: 100 to 150 ppm
• Calcium Hardness: 175 to 225 ppm and 225 to 275 ppm for plaster pools
• For Chlorine or Salt Water Pools: 1 to 3 ppm (I recommend you keep it at 3 ppm)