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How to Choose the Right Pool Cleaning Chemicals for Your Pool

Swimming pools are wonderful to have— they’re great for play, exercise, and leisure but they require a lot of upkeep. Selection of cleaning chemicals is one of the most essential activities of keeping the pool in good condition. Since there is almost everything you need is out there, on selecting the chemicals for your pool, the beginner may find herself or himself lost. Knowing which cleaning materials needed for swimming pool and how to apply them will make your swimming pool always clean and safe for use. This guide will walk you through the key chemicals needed for effective pool maintenance, how to choose them, and some important tips for keeping your pool in top shape.

Understanding the Basics of Pool Chemistry

Let’s first take a brief look at the basics of pool chemistry before getting down to the specific chemicals you need to keep your pool in top-shape. In swimming pools water has to be kept balanced to maintain water quality and to encourage clean, clear and safe water for the swimmers. There are three primary factors you need to control:

  1. pH Levels: This is a measure of acidity or alkalinity in your pool water. The ideal pH for pool water ranges between 7.2 and 7.6, a bit on the alkaline side of neutrality. Of course, very high or low pH will irritate the eyes and skin of swimmers and damage pool equipment.
  2. Alkalinity: Total alkalinity is basically the buffering of pH levels so that acidity in the pool does not change drastically. The total alkalinity level should range between 80 and 120 ppm.
  3. Sanitizers Concentration: Sanitizers like chlorine are effective in killing bacteria, viruses, and algae in the water. The concentration of sanitizers must be at a suitable level (usually 1-3 ppm for chlorine) to make the water safe to drink.

With these factors in mind, let's explore the various swimming pool cleaning items and chemicals you’ll need to maintain a healthy pool environment.

Essential Pool Cleaning Chemicals

  1. Chlorine

Chlorine is most likely the most widely known specialist pool chemical and is the most crucial requirement to guaranteeing clean sanitized pools. In tablet granules or liquid form, chlorine acts as a disinfectant destroying dangerous bacteria, algae and microorganisms.

  • How to Choose: For those who do not want frequent handling of chlorine, slow dissolving chlorine tablets are suitable and long lasting they can be placed in Floating Dispenser or Automatic Chlorinator. Granules and liquid chlorine on the other hand are appropriate in the event you want to add chlorine and increase the chlorine concentration quickly.
  • Usage Tips: The recommended free chlorine level should be ranged between 1-3 ppm. Chlorine can hurt skin and eyes, so avoid going over the recommended amounts.
  1. Algaecides

Algae is capable of turning the water in your pool green and thick and hence making the water look ugly and unfit for use. Algaecides are chemicals that have been developed to check on algae and kill it in the occasion it is growing in your pool.

  • How to Choose: Non-foaming algaecide should be used because foam is unlikely to develop at the surface of the water. There are algaecides for the different type of algae and therefore you need to ensure that you select the right one for use depending on the type of algae that you would always find in your pool.
  • Usage Tips: Even if you’re not experiencing an algae bloom, using algaecides as a preventive measure during hot weather or periods of heavy pool use can keep algae at bay.
  1. pH Balancers

Maintaining the appropriate pH of your pool is crucial because the water, either too acidic or too basic, can make the swimmers uncomfortable, but also has other effects which are adverse long-term to your surfaces and equipment in the pool.

  • pH Increasers (Sodium Carbonate): Use the pH increaser, sodium carbonate, to take the level of your pool's pH up to a safe level if it drops below 7.2.
  • Reducing agents (Sodium Bisulfate): This reduces your pH whenever it exceeds 7.6 in your pool.
  • How to Choose: Be sure to get the best balancer quality compatible with the size and type of your pool. Certain types of pools, like salt water pools, require particular types of pH adjusting chemicals.
  • Usage Tips: Check the pH level of your swimming pool and work on changing it little by little; since extreme changes shock the water chemistry.
  1. Shock Treatments

Shocking treatments or oxidizers as these are utilized in supplying your pool with deep cleaning that finishes off all bacteria and disruptive substances such as sweat, sunscreen and oils among. Pool shocks are normally powerful doses of chlorine or other substances that give non-chlorine stunning pool cleaning.

  • How to Choose: Chlorine shock works best, however, for those suffering from chlorine sensitivity or if you want to get rid of chlorine smell, non chlorine shocks which use potassium monopersulfate are equally effective.
  • Usage Tips: Shocking should be done every week or when the swimming pool has been used heavily, when there are storms or when water in the swimming pool has become cloudy. You should shock at night time or during a time when the pool is not in use because the sunlight will eliminate the shock chemicals.
  1. Calcium Hardness Increasers

Calcium hardness is defined as the level of calcium ions in aqueous solutions in your pool. Limestone caused water to be corrosive to pool surfaces and equipment when calcium levels are low and scaling and cloudy water when calcium levels are high.

  • How to Choose: If water gets low levels of calcium, below about 150 ppm, use a calcium hardness increaser. There are always exceptions to the general recommendation, for example, pools which are filled from soft water will need frequent calcium hardness additions.
  • Usage Tips: Check your calcium hardness levels on a regular basis and modify the results if needed. But must be cautious not to go beyond this level as it can lead to formation of some stubborn scale like formations on the pool walls and equipment.
  1. Stain and Scale Removers

Calcium sulfate, iron, and copper are some precious metals that might deposit in your pool and momentarily bring out unpleasant colors on the surfaces of the pool. Scale buildup may also pose problems on pool equipment especially for the swimming pools located in regions with hard water.

  • How to Choose: It is recommended to select the quality stain and scale remover, especially for the type of metal stains which may be in the pool (for instance, copper-based stains).
  • Usage Tips: These chemicals are usually introduced into the pool and are used occasionally to check water accumulation. Other preventive measures include brushing pool surfaces with some regularity in order to reduce extent to which scale and staining becomes a problem.

Other Important Swimming Pool Cleaning Items

In addition to the chemicals mentioned above, there are a few other swimming pool cleaning items you’ll need to maintain your pool’s cleanliness and balance:

  1. Test Kits/Strips: Regularly testing your pool’s water chemistry is essential to keep the balance correct. Test kits and strips help measure pH, alkalinity, chlorine levels, and more. Ensure you test your pool water at least twice a week.
  2. Clarifiers: If your pool water looks cloudy, a pool clarifier can help by causing tiny particles to clump together so they can be easily filtered out.
  3. Enzymes: Pool enzymes help break down organic matter such as oils, lotions, and debris that can build up in the water and affect its clarity.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Pool Chemicals

Now that you know the essential pool chemicals, here are some factors to consider when choosing the right swimming pool cleaning items:

  1. Type of Pool

The nature of the pool you own (traditional or a chlorine, a saltwater, an above ground or an in ground one) will determine the chemicals you require. For instance, salt water pool employs a device called salt chlorinator that is responsible for chlorine generation and as such, you are likely to apply Chlorine indirectly. In contrast, the above-ground pools may need particular chemicals because of their construction material and low water capacities.

  1. Climate and Weather

Climate weighs heavily in relevance to pool maintenance practices. If you reside in a region with high temperatures and lots of sun exposure, it is even more probable that all that sunshine has been breaking down your chlorine at a faster rate than one might expect and therefore you get to add more chlorine. Water treatments such as chlorine in pools may be washed away by rain and storm hence requires frequent check-up when it has rained.

  1. Frequency of Pool Use

The higher pool traffic is, the more quickly spills and contaminants (body oils, sweat, sunscreen) will end up in the water. Daily users or groups of people will be more draining on a pool because they’ll require regular chemical testing and rebalancing.

  1. Water Source

If you are using water from a municipal supply, this water may have compounds like chlorine introduced into the pool and thus your chemical balance will already be off. Well water, however, may contain metals and minerals that will produce a stain that can only be treated in specific ways, to your pool.

Conclusion

To successfully maintain the hygiene and safety of swim ming pool, one needs to appreciate the different swimming pool cleaning aids and reagents. The chemicals can range from chlorine, algaecides, pH balancer and shock treatment each of these chemicals has a role to play in the pool water maintaining that crystal clear water appearance to the bathers. The stiffness is a sign of health in the pool, but you have to invest in regular water testing, careful adjustment, and using high quality products. Among the leading cleaning suppliers in UAE for those, who are searching for the highest quality swimming pool cleaning items, there is Hygiene Links. They have listed all the maintenance products a pool may requires, regardless of the type of the pool and hence serve as one stop shopping for pool maintenance. By partnering with trusted suppliers like Hygiene Links, you can rest assured that your pool will remain in excellent condition throughout the swimming season.