Quality Hardware and HTH pool water care products make maintaining a beautiful pool easy.
Balancers
Maintaining the balance of your pool water is essential to the comfort of swimming in your pool, and to the efficient operation of your pump and filter system. Pool water that is out of balance can cause irritation of eyes and skin, and also accelerate the wear on your pool equipment. The three factors to watch for balance are PH, alkalinity, and calcium hardness.
Potential of Hydrogen
PH stands for ‘Potential of Hydrogen’. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 14 and represents how chemically reactive your water is. If the PH is below 7, the water is acidic. If it is above 7, it is basic. Water that is too acidic or too basic is irritating to eyes and skin. It can also corrode your pool equipment, causing serious and expensive damage over time. The ideal PH range for pool water is just above neutral, between 7.2 and 7.8. HTH has two products for balancing PH. They are called PH Up, and PH Down. If your PH is too low, add PH Up. If your PH is too high, add PH Down. It’s that simple.
Total Alkalinity
Alkalinity is the ability of your water to buffer against sudden changes in PH. If your Alkalinity is too low, your PH can fluctuate drastically. If your alkalinity is too high, it becomes very difficult to change your PH at all. The ideal range for alkalinity in pool water is 60 and 120 parts per million (ppm). And the HTH products for balancing alkalinity are Alkalinity Up, and PH Down (which reduces both PH and alkalinity).
Calcium Hardness
Calcium Hardness measures how much calcium is dissolved in your water. Too little calcium in your water will cause it to leach minerals from your pool equipment. And too much will result in calcium deposits, called scale, to build up on your liner and equipment. The ideal range for calcium hardness is between 200 and 500 ppm. To raise your calcium hardness, use Calcium Hardness Up. Lowering your calcium hardness is more difficult and may require diluting it by adding fresh water. Another way to lower calcium hardness is with a flocculant to capture the calcium and drag it down to the bottom, where you can vacuum it up.
Sanitizers
The most essential element of your HTH pool water care plan is the sanitizer. The most commonly used pool sanitizer is chlorine. Chlorine is a term used for a group of chemicals that react in water to form hydrochloric acid. It is the hydrochloric acid that actually kills micro organisms in your pool water. HTH chlorine comes in three basic forms; liquid, granular, and tablet. Each form has it’s advantages and disadvantages. But the most important thing to consider when choosing a chlorine is whether or not it is stabilized. Stabilized chlorine contains cyanuric acid, which protects the chlorine from ultraviolet rays. The ultraviolet rays in sunlight destroy chlorine. So if you use unstabilized chlorine, you will have to add it more frequently in order to keep your chlorine level where you want it. If you use stabilized chlorine, watch your cyanuric acid levels. Because cyanuric acid can build up over time, and reduce the effectiveness of your chlorine. Cyanuric acid can’t be removed from your water. So if you add too much, the only way to remove it is by draining your water, and refilling your pool.
Shock
Shock is unstabilized chlorine. When added to your pool water, it kills micro organisms fast. And then, because it is unstabilized, it dissipates fast in the sunlight. Because of that, you will get the most for your money by using shock in the evening, when the sun has gone down. HTH provides a variety of shock products, some of which contain algaecides, flocculants, and softeners to improve the quality of your water.
Algaecides
Algae is a group of micro organisms that rely on photosynthesis for energy. They are what causes untreated water to turn green. Because they tend to cling to the sides and bottom of your pool, chlorine is less effective at eliminating algae. Most algaecides work by filtering out the wavelength of light that algae needs to live. HTH provides several choices of algaecides. Remember that some algaecides are copper-based. And that copper can build up over several years and become a problem. If that happens, a metal-sequestering treatment can fix it.
The knowledgeable staff at Quality Hardware can help you find the HTH pool water care products you need to keep your pool looking beautiful and crystal clear all summer long.
