Opening Your Pool Properly For An Easy Pool Season

Opening Your Pool Properly For An Easy Pool Season

Pool opening season is right around the corner and there is no better way to ensure a smooth, easy pool season than by opening your pool properly.

Opening Your Pool

The first thing to consider when opening your pool is when to open your pool. The earlier you open your pool the better chance you have of opening with clear water. Algae will start to grow around 5°C (40°F). The warmer the water is, the greater the potential algae growth so it is important to get the pool running and treated with chlorine as soon as possible. This is especially true if your pool has a safety cover as they let some sunlight in, accelerating the algae growth further. By opening your pool early you avoid the cost of fixing a serious algae problem. To clear a typical algae bloom can cost $300 or more in chemicals and requires you to run your pool pump 24hrs a day until the water is fully cleared. If you are unable to open it early, or are waiting for someone to open it for you, you can pull back a corner of the cover and add some chlorine to the water to inhibit algae growth until you are able to get it open.

Spring Cleaning

Silica sand under a microscope. Notice how rough the sand is.
This roughness is what helps the sand to trap debris.

The two things that are most neglected when opening pools are the filter and the salt cell (if you have a salt pool). The sand in your filter should be chemically cleaned at least once a season; either in the fall right before you close it, or in the spring right after you open it. Backwashing will remove any debris the filter traps but oils and lotions will remain on the sand and can eat up your pools chlorine residual. This will increase your chlorine usage, costing you money, and will also increase the chance of your pool turning cloudy or green due to a lack of sanitizer. The sand should also be completely changed every 5-7 years. Silica sand (the type of sand used in sand filters) starts off having sharp peaks and valleys. It's these peaks and valleys that trap the debris in the filter. As water passes over the sand it starts to round off those peaks. This leads to the sand becoming less and less effective over the years and can cause the water in the pool to become cloudy much easier.

A salt cell before and after cleaning.

If you own a salt water pool you should also be cleaning your salt cell every spring. Over the course of the pool season calcium and other minerals can deposit on the cell, causing scale to form. This scale can drastically reduce the efficiency of your salt cell, a layer of scale as thick as one sheet of paper can reduce its efficiency by up to 50%! This either leads to less chlorine in the pool, causing cloudy/green water, or you having to boost the output of the cell, reducing the life of the cell. To clean the salt cell simply soak it for a few hours (or overnight) in a special cleaning solution that you can pick up at any local pool supply store.

Other Things to Consider

• It's important to get the water balanced properly as soon as you can. Improper water balance can cause damage to your pumps, filters, heaters, salt cell, vinyl liner, concrete, and plumbing. Improper water balance can also lead to cloudy looking water and will reduce chlorine's effectiveness, leading to water turning green more easily.
• To get the best possible circulation make sure that your pool's return jets are pointed downward on a 45° angle and (if you have more than one) that they are pointed in the same direction. This creates a "vortex", ensuring the maximum amount of water possible is being moved while minimizing "dead spots" (areas of no circulation where algae can grow much easier).
•  For the first few days after your pool is opened the pump should be running 24 hours a day. This will ensure all of the water is properly treated and filtered, and will help to clear any cloudiness or algae blooms (along with maintaining a chlorine residual). After a few days, if the pool is clear, you can start running the pump for less time. Note: It is much better to run the pump during the day and shut it off at night. During the day the water is warmer and the Sun's UV rays are hitting the water, both of which will quickly deplete your chlorine residual. By running the pump during the day you will keep a steady dose of chlorine entering the water, greatly reducing the likelihood of running into issues with water clarity or algae growth.
• Only backwash your pool when your pressure gauge reads 8-10lbs higher than the pressure you started with after your last backwash. Dirty filters will actually filter better than clean filters. Consider replacing your pressure gauge every year as they are generally very poor quality and do not last much more than a year. They are inexpensive to replace and make it much easier to gauge when to backwash your pool.

Anything we missed? Add your suggestions in the comments section below. 

The Spa Shoppe is a hot tub and pool supply store in Whitby, Ontario. We carry the full line of Hydropool hot tubs and swim spas; and offer service on all brands of hot tubs, pools, and swim spas. Like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TheSpaShoppe) or follow us on Twitter (@thespashoppe) to get notified when new blog entries are posted.

PH and Alkalinity and Why They Matter

PH and Alkalinity and Why They Matter

Most hot tub and pool owners are aware that they need to maintain a proper pH and alkalinity in their water, but few people actually know why. In this post I will go over what pH and alkalinity are and why they matter.

What is pH?

The pH scale

pH stands for "potential of hydrogen" and is the measure of how many hydrogen (H+) ions are present in water. The less hydrogen ions there are in the water the more acidic the water becomes. pH is measured using the pH scale you're familiar with from science class where 7 is  neutral, 0 is the most acidic, and 14 is the most basic (also known, confusingly, as alkaline). This scale is logarithmic and not linear; meaning that as you go from one number to the next you increase or decrease acidity by a factor of 10 and not one. (For example, water with a pH of 6.0 is 10 times more acidic than water with a pH of 7.0).

What is alkalinity?

Total alkalinity of water is a measurement of how much acid the water can neutralize without changing the pH. As things are added to the water that could raise or lower it's pH, alkalinity will act as a buffer and prevent sudden shifts in pH. It is measured in ppm (parts per million). The higher the ppm, the more buffering ability the water has, and the less the pH will be affected by highly acidic or basic substances being added to the water.

What causes changes in pH and alkalinity?

The short answer is basically everything and everyone that goes in to the water. Everything has its own pH and alkalinity. If you add something to the water (Including humans. Our skin is fairly acidic with a pH of around 5.5) that is acidic/basic or has low/high alkalinity you will lower/raise the overall pH or alkalinity of the water.

pH in Hot Tubs and Pools

So how does this relate to pools and hot tubs? There are four main things that pH will affect; bather comfort, water clarity, chlorine efficiency, and the longevity of the equipment. Equipment in this case refers to pumps, heaters, filters, o-rings and gaskets, pool liners, concrete pool finishes, hot tub jets, pillows, covers and basically everything else that comes in contact with the water.

Cloudy water caused by high pH.

Water with a pH of less than 7 will start to become more uncomfortable and will wear out equipment quicker (especially anything made of metal). Water with a pH of more than 7.8 will also become uncomfortable, can become cloudy looking, cause scaling on surfaces of pools and hot tubs, and reduce chlorine's effectiveness.

The pH of your eyes is slightly basic, sitting around 7.3-7.5. By keeping the pH in the ideal range of 7.4-7.6 you will greatly reduce the red, irritated feeling eyes that many people experience when swimming in unbalanced pools while also keeping your chlorine working effectively, keeping your water clear and getting a longer life from your equipment.

Alkalinity in Hot Tubs and Pools

A hot tub heater element that has been
corroded by low pH.

The ideal range for total alkalinity is between 80-120ppm in hot tubs and between 80-150ppm in pools, depending on the finish of the pool. Water with an alkalinity less than 80ppm won't be able to buffer acids well; leading to rapid fluctuations in pH (tending to stay on the acidic side). Water with an alkalinity higher than 150ppm is buffering too well. The pH of the water will stay the same or raise despite pH reducers being added to the water. This can lead to the discomfort, cloudy water, chlorine inefficiency, and scaling that high pH brings.

Tips and Best Practices

Always adjust alkalinity before pH. Wait between 2-3hrs for a pool and 1hr for a hot tub after adjusting alkalinity before adding any other chemicals. This will give the alkalinity booster/reducer a chance to fully work and give you the most buffering ability before adding anything else.

• Adding air to water will increase it's pH. Turn your hot tub's air controls off when you get out to prevent pH creeping up on you.
• Make sure to regularly change the water in your hot tub (between 2-4 times a year, depending on usage) to keep the chemicals you add working at peak efficiency.
• Make sure to get your water professionally tested at least once a month as the test kits at a pool or hot tub store are generally far more accurate than home test kits/test strips.
• If your test kit is always reading low the reagents/test strips may be expired. Bring a water sample to your local pool or hot tub store and see how the readings line up. If the water test results are higher than what you tested it's time to replace your reagents/test strips.
• Is your water looking crystal clear? It might still need balancing; just as basic water can become cloudy, acidic water can be very clear.

Anything we missed? Add your suggestions in the comments section below.

The Spa Shoppe is a hot tub and pool supply store in Whitby, Ontario. We carry the full line of Hydropool hot tubs and swim spas; and offer service on all brands of hot tubs, pools, and swim spas. Like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TheSpaShoppe) or follow us on Twitter (@thespashoppe) to get notified when new blog entries are posted.