The swimming pool service contractors from SwimRight Pool Service & Repair in Scottsdale, Arizona always get asked by new pool owners, “Why is pool water chemistry important?” The reason is simple — you want to swim in water that is clean and free of bacteria.
One of the most important tasks that a pool contractor will perform on your behalf is o keep the swimmng pool water chemicals balanced. While pool maintenance can be a do it yourself project, it sometimes will cost a pool owner less money to hire a pool contractor than to try and undertake pool maintenance on their own. The reason is that pool water chemistry is a complex balancing act when you’re looking to keep the pool water:
- Free of bacteria
- Safe for swimmers
- Properly balanced so pool equipment doesn’t get ruined or corrode
Why is pool water chemistry important?
A pool contractor will explain the importance of pool chemical balacing and will undertake the tasks for you. Those maintenance tasks include:
- Keeping the pool water comfortable for swimming. If there is too much chlorine or too much free chlorine in the water you will be able to smell the chlorine and when that happens it will lead to red eyes and itchy skin. If the water pH is too acidic or not acidic enough the water simply will not be comfortable to swim in.
- Safety matters when it comes to pool chemistry. If the water is teeming with bacteria you run the risk of infection (especially true if someone is ill or has an open cut or scratch. Proper water chemistry kills germs and bacteria and also makes it safe to swim in.
- If the water chemistry is out of balance it can corrode the ladder, handrail, other equipment and even damage the pool liner.
- The total alkalinity in the water is the precursor to proper pH levels. If the water has high alkalinity it will have high pH.
- Your pool contractor will add stabilizer to the water as a way to help the chlorine remain longer in the pool water to do its cleaning job. If the stabilizer in the pool water is too low you will need to use more chlorine to keep the water clean. If the stabilizer levels are too high you may need to dilute the water (add more water to the pool) to get it back within proper ranges.
- Test the pool water’s total dissolved solids (TDS); the TDS measures the undissolved minerals in the pool water. All water — pool or otherwise contains undissolved minerals. The more concentrated the minerals are, the more difficult it is for any chemical additives to perform their tasks in keeping the pool water clean and bacteria-free.
As you can see, it is a delicate balancing act to keep the pool chemicals properly in line. When one gets a bit out of line, the can cause a domino effect with the chemistry and chemical balances of the rest of the chemicals in the water. Ask us for an estimate on what it will cost to hire us to do pool service and maintenance and weigh out whether it makes dollars and “cents” to hire a contractor or do the cleaining yourself — don’t forget to figure in how long it will take you to perform these tasks — valuable time when you could be swimming!
