Category Archives: Pool and Spa Chemicals

Pool and Spa Chemicals, Chlorine, Shock, Algaecide, Ph Increaser, Stabilizer every kind of pool chemical you will need to keep your swimming pool water clean and sparkling all summer long.

Pool and Spa Chemicals, Pool and Spa Maintenance, Pool Opening

Cheat Sheet for Ideal Pool Chemical Levels

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Pool season is close! Most pool owners know how to chlorinate their pool or treat for algae if needed at opening. Balancing the other key elements in your pool chemistry, such as pH, stabilizer, calcium hardness, and total alkalinity levels, can be more confusing. Here are the instructions that you need to make sure that your pool water is sparkling clear. Testing and correcting your pool water at home has never been easier.

  • If your total alkalinity is low, you will need to add sodium bicarbonate to your water to get it to the ideal range of 80-100 ppm. You can find complete sodium bicarbonate dosage instructions here.
  • If your total alkalinity is high, you will need to add muriatic acid to lower your alkalinity to the idea range of 80-100 ppm. You can find muriatic acid dosage instructions here.
  • If you need to raise the pH level in your pool water, you need to add sodium carbonate (soda ash). Here are complete instructions for raising your pool’s pH with sodium carbonate.
  • If you need to lower the pH level in your pool water, you will use the same muriatic acid mentioned for lowering your total alkalinity, but in different dosage amounts. Here are the complete instructions for muriatic acid dosage when trying to lower pH.
  • To raise the stabilizer level in your pool, you will need to add Cyanuric Acid in the dosages recommended in these instructions: cyanuric acid dosage chart. If the stabilizer level is too high, you must drain and refill the pool. There is no chemical corrector.
  • To raise the calcium hardness in your pool, add calcium chloride. You can find the exact calcium chloride dosage here. If your calcium hardness level is too high, you must drain and refill the pool. There is no chemical corrector for this problem.
Pool and Spa Chemicals, Pool and Spa Maintenance, Pool and Spa Safety

Poop Happens — How Long Before It’s Safe to Swim Again?

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Pool Chemicals for Clean Pools

We love our kids and pets, but they often find the most curious ways to make more work for the adults in their lives.  Take the backyard swimming pool, for example.  We spend countless hours every month ensuring that the pool stays clean and safe for our family and friends.  We clean the filters, we test the chemical balance in the water and adjust the pool chemicals as needed, we scrub the sides and bottom of the pool regularly to remove dirt and debris, and more.  So, when one of our beloved children (furry or otherwise) decides to use the pool as the drop zone for their poop, we understandably freak out.  What now?

The first steps are probably obvious — clear all the swimmers out of the pool and then remove the offending poop from the water.  But, then what?  How long will it take before it’s safe to go back into the water?  Well, it depends on what’s in the poop.  Poop can contain the E. coli bacterium, the Hepatitis A virus, the Giardia parasite, and/or the super nasty Cryptosporidium parasite.  Not many private pool owners have the desire or ability to test the poop to find out what kind of contaminants it contains, but it is important to note that the disinfection time varies greatly depending on the contaminants that the poop introduced into the pool water.

The best approach is to take the most cautious route in case water is contaminated with the hard-to-kill and chlorine-resistant parasite Cryptosporidium.  Disinfecting means hyperchlorinating the pool water by increasing free chlorine to either 10 parts per million (ppm) or 20 ppm.  The difference comes with the amount of time you’ll have to wait before it’s safe to swim again.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), increasing free chlorine to 10 ppm means you’ll have to wait approximately 26 hours before swimming again.  At 20 ppm, swimming can resume after about 13 hours.  If you’re using a chlorine stabilizer, though, the game changes a bit.

For full details about what to do when you’ve had poop in your pool, read the CDC’s instruction sheet on “Hyperchlorination to kill Cryptosporidium.”  Additionally, instituting a mandatory pre-pool time potty visit for both kids and pets can help prevent future accidents.

 

 

Holidays and Gift Ideas, Pool and Spa Chemicals, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool and Spa Maintenance, Pool and Spa Safety, Pool Opening

New Year’s Resolutions for Pools

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Now that 2011 is coming to a close, have you started thinking about what your New Year’s resolutions will be?  If you own a backyard swimming pool, will any of those resolutions include a plan to open up your pool sooner in 2012 rather than waiting until the swimming season has long begun?

Part of what makes this kind of resolution successful is to start planning early for opening the pool.  Take the time now to check your existing stock of pool chemicals, and keep an eye out for off-season sales so you can nab these necessities at the best prices.

Take a look, too, at your pool equipment to evaluate whether it may be time to replace or upgrade items like the pool pump, pool heater, or pool covers.  Test your pool alarm while you’re at it to be sure that it is still in good working order.

New Year’s resolutions like these can be accomplished easily and with little stress involved, especially if you enlist the help of family members.  Make a short list of tasks you’d like to accomplish in order to get your pool opened in a timely fashion, and stick to it.  Before you know it, the warm weather will return, and you’ll be ready to relax by the poolside instead of scrambling to complete pool-opening tasks.

Relax by the Pool

Innovative Solutions, Pool and Spa Chemicals, Pool and Spa Maintenance, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Fix-A-Leak the Fast and Inexpensive Way!

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Fix-A-Leak

Hopefully, your pool is now protected for the winter and properly closed (unless you are one of the few lucky enough to live in a tropical location year round). If you DID have a winter time disaster, such as frozen pipes, do you know how to solve to problem come spring? For cracked pipes or leaking pools, excavation can be extremely expensive. Try Fix-A-Leak first. a blended concentrated material designed to seal leaks in virtually any material. It works extremely well on all types of plastics, from spas to plumbing. Fix a leak forms a permanent seal on holes up to 1/8″ in diameter. It is perfect for leaks in the walls, floor, or shell of a pool or hot tub. One quart works on up to 22,000 gallons and cures in 48 hours. At under $30.00 a quart, it will save hundreds or even thousands of dollars versus excavation.

Pool and Spa Chemicals, Pool and Spa Equipment, Pool and Spa Maintenance, Pool and Spa Safety, Pool Closing and Winterizing

Preventing Mosquitoes Around Your Home and Pool

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No Mosquitos

Late summer and early fall are the prime time of year for mosquito breeding. With West Nile Virus being carried by these insects, it is very important to safe guard your home and family. All mosquitoes need water to pass through their life stages. Did you know that your swimming pool can turn into a breeding ground for mosquitoes? It is very important to keep your pool chemicals at their proper levels even when the pool is covered. Proper chlorination prevents stagnation that cause draw mosquitoes in. Mosquitoes will develop in any puddle that lasts more than four days. Even water that pools on top of your winter cover can provide the right conditions. Using an automatic cover pumps to keep pooling water off your cover is a great way to prevent this. Below are more tips on protecting your family against mosquitoes and West Nile Virus during the early fall months.

  • Remove tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots, discarded tires,  or similar water-holding containers and areas that may have accumulated on your property.
  • Drill holes in the bottom and elevate recycling containers, garbage bins, etc. that are left out of doors to prevent pooling water.
  • Turn over wheelbarrows and do not allow water to stagnate in bird baths, ornamental ponds, or other water features around your home.
  • Clean clogged roof gutters. Gutters are easily overlooked but can produce millions of mosquitoes each season.
  • Repair leaky pipes and septic systems or outside faucets. Do not let air conditioner run off water collect in shady areas.