February 2012 Pool Doctor's tip of the month: The pool in the rainy season Your water is changing constantly. Wind, dirt, rain, cosmetics, leafs and last but not lest the sun will affect the water. It is a common thing for many people that your swimming pools condition is changing rapidly after a nice load of rain. It can even go green or brown of just milky. Many different problems can occur to the pool water when rain (including dirt) is directly or indirect entering you swimming pool. Continuous filtration and disinfection remove contaminants which keep the water enjoyable, but this is not water balance. I typically define a pool that is “balanced” by having proper levels of pH, Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness. One may also define ‘balanced water’ as water that is neither corrosive or scaling. This concept is derived from the fact that water will dissolve and “hold” minerals until it becomes saturated and cannot hold any more water in solution. “Scaling Condition” When water is considerably less than saturated it is said to be in a corrosive or aggressive condition. When water is over saturated, and can no longer hold the minerals in solution; this is known as a scaling condition. So then, balanced water is that which is neither over or under saturated. Water which is under saturated will attempt to saturate itself by dissolving everything in contact with it in order to build up its content. Water which is over saturated will attempt to throw off some of its content by precipitating minerals out of solution in the form of scale. How do we know when our water is over or under saturated? I was starting to wonder if you’d ever ask. After any good rain (one that’s measurable), I would recommend testing the following items… 1. pH 2. Alkalinity 3. Calcium Hardness Most standard test kits will painlessly test these very important variables. If you don’t have one and you’re looking to pick one up, I would highly recommend grabbing a Quick Test Kit from Speck. Once you have tested your water can choose to through in any Chlorine that you can find or choose to balance with proper products like BioPlus from Bioguard. Once the Pool is already green the 3 standard test are not enough you better bring in a bottle of water a the FREE OF CHARGE testing station of one of the pool shops and get your self the perfect advise. Prevention: You can’t prevent water coming into your pool but have a careful look at al the other thing that comes in together with the rain. Like leafs, mud, sand they al cause extra algae growth and therefore a lower water quality and to solve it will set you back on higher cost. If you use specialized products like Bioguard the water quality is better and the products are more effective and last longer. Test your pool water now, by a LIC Pool professional, like Francisko Nghinananye, who is in the pool business for over 15 years, ensuring a longer lifespan of your equipment, pool shell and healthy swimming for you and your kids. Pool specialist, Burgert Terblanche Pool Doctor's tip of the month: The pool in the rainy season
LIC Fibre Glass Manufacturing CC Mandume Ndemafayo Ave. 189 Southern Industrial Area Windhoek Please download/print how to find us map here: |