Water Balance : Keeping your water balance in balance
Maintaining your pool water in the proper balance pays big rewards. First, water that has its key chemical factors in the appropriate balance range makes for very comfortable swimming. Second, balanced water makes pools easier to maintain. Properly balanced swimming pool water meets the following criteria:

  • Free Chlorine Residual: 1 to 1.5 ppm in unstabilized pools; 1.5 in stabilized pools and 1.5 to 2 ppm in an aboveground pool.
  • pH: 7.2-7.8.
  • Metals: none
  • Total Alkalinity: 80-150 ppm.
  • Calcium Hardness: 180-250 ppm (vinyl pools). 200-275 ppm (plaster pools).
  • Stabilizer Concentration (Cyanuric) 20- 60 ppm

As with all pool chemicals, make sure to follow the instructions and precautions on the labels of all products.
Use your JoPa Test Kit to check your water’s pH and alkalinity once a week, or after any major change (such as when you add a large amount of new water, or after a long, heavy rain). For best results, take a water sample to JoPa Company each month for a full water analysis.

Free Chlorine Residual
Once the initial chlorine demand is met at the beginning of each summer, a residual supply of active available chlorine is required to keep up the fight against organic contaminants as they enter the pool environment. The amount of this uncombined, active chlorine remaining in your pool at any given time is called "free chlorine residual"
Free chlorine residual level ideal level for unstabilized pools is 1 to 1.5 ppm; 1.5 in stabilized pools and 1.5 to 2 ppm in an aboveground pool.

Stabilizer Concentration
Sunlight works to destroy the free chlorine residual in outdoor pools, but stabilizers can slow the process.
Cyanuric acid is the most frequently used stabilizer. Applied correctly, it can cut chlorine use in half. Proper concentration of cyanuric acid is between 20 and 60 ppm.
Have your water tested by a JoPa professional and we can recommend a working solution that will save you money.

Total Alkalinity Control
The amount of alkalinity in your water can affect swimmers’ comfort. High alkalinity will push the pH reading upward, while low alkalinity can promote pool corrosion and cause "pH bounce," which is a large change in the pH reading after you add adjustment chemicals. The ideal total alkalinity range is 80-150 ppm. Always test and adjust the total alkalinity level before adjusting the pH.

pH Control
pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of the water and is measured on a scale ranging from 0-14. Swimming pool water should have just a little basicity with a pH reading between 7.2 and 7.8.
If pool water is too basic, scale can develop — particularly in hard water areas. If it is too acidic, the water can become corrosive.

Calcium Hardness Control
Calcium Hardness also affects the balance of your pool water. Low Calcium Hardness will promote corrosion. High Calcium Hardness can cause cloudiness and scaling. The ideal Calcium Hardness content is 200-275 ppm for plaster pools, and 180-250 ppm for all other types.
Take a water sample to JoPa Company if you have a Calcium Hardness problem.

Metals
It is not uncommon to find metals, often called free metals, dissolved in pool water. Usually they come from source water, sometimes they come as a result of the erosion of metal pool fixtures, such as heater cores.
Free metals in pool water can cause staining of pool surfaces and inhibit the performance of water sanitizers. Ideally, there should be no metals in the water: 0 ppm.
JoPa can determine the presence of free metals in your water. If you have metal fixtures or a heater bring in 1 qt. of water for testing and we can recommend a solution that fits your pool.

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