Pool Chemicals Explained

Pool Chemicals Explained

Pool chemicals fit into distinct categories each of which performs a different function. Balancing chemicals, sanitizers, oxidizers, algicides and miscellaneous agents when used correctly, provide the foundation for clean sparkling pool water. The emergence of various pool chemical treatment systems in our free marketplace however gives consumers a choice of how they want to accomplish this task. Mixing components from different systems though can be counterproductive, so understanding what to use and how it affects your pool water is critical.

 

    Types of Pool Chemicals

    Balancers

        Balancing chemicals adjust three of the natural properties of water to provide an acceptable medium for all other chemicals to function properly. Municipal drinking water used to fill swimming pools usually requires the addition of these balancing chemicals in varying quantities. The alkalinity of pool water must be between 80 and 120 ppm (parts per million). The Ph needs to be set between 7.2 and 7.6 on the Ph scale that ranges from 1 to 14, with 7.0 considered neutral like the water in a fish tank. Calcium hardness must be between 180 and 240 ppm to prevent either the corrosion of any metal that is exposed to the water or the depositing of a scaly material on the pool wall.

    Sanitizers

        Once the water is balanced, it is time to use a sanitizer. This is the first line of defense against an onslaught of negatively charged particles in the pool, such as dirt, pollen, body oils, suntan lotion and organic waste. Sanitizers penetrate the outer membrane of organic particles and destroy them. They also bind themselves to inorganic particles and render them ineffective on a molecular level. Both scenarios however, leave the debris of the bound or destroyed cells in the pool, which may appear as cloudy water.

    Oxidizers

        Oxidizers burn up and remove the debris left by the sanitizer. Chlorine shock is a powerful oxidizer that will raise the chlorine level in a pool from between a normal 1.5 to 3.0 ppm up to 9.0 ppm, which will burn a person's skin. Each manufacturer places a label warning about re-entering the pool only after the level of oxidizer has decreased to a safe level of under 3.0 ppm once again. Hydrogen peroxide is a primary ingredient in other oxidizers, which also requires careful handling due to its caustic nature.

    Algicides

        Algae can bloom in a swimming pool overnight if the conditions are right, so most systems include an algicide as part of their regular pool maintenance program. Algicides come in various concentrations, engineered to combat the widest variety of algae types that may affect the pool. Black algae, mustard algae and something called pink slime are all stubborn variations of organisms that each require an application of a specific product designed especially to neutralize their one type.

    Miscellaneous

        Other pool chemicals such as flocculent combine small particles together so their larger size will trap them in the filter instead of simply passing them through it and back into the pool. Metal binding chemicals are required if the pool's source water has iron, copper or manganese. These metals if not neutralized will become visible when chlorine mixes into the water, turning it brown, purple or even black.

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