Water Chemistry
Contrary to popular belief, the maintenance of your pool's water chemistry is simple and straightforward, and only requires about 10 minutes of your time each week during the swimming season, and every month in the off-season. In drafting this advice, AquaVic have assumed that your pool is structurally sound, free of substantial water leaks, has good circulation, and the filter (sand, DE or cartridge) is in good order.
The synergy of the pure silver component of the electrodes, Aquabrite and the pool water, also produces a user-friendly sanitiser that outperforms chlorine. Contact us for the laboratory reports.
Consumables:
The chemicals we require are Sodium bi-carbonate, Hydrochloric Acid or Sodium Bi-sulphate, and Aquabrite. In some soft water areas, it may also be necessary to use a tad of Calcium chloride to maintain correct water balance.
Our aim is to avoid pool water cocktails. Resist the advice of others to use "quick fix" chemicals.
The Process:
Having established that the pump is running and has been for at least an hour, rinse your test tube/s in pool water several times and proceed as follows.
Caution: Do not return any samples to the pool – always discard to waste.
Total Alkalinity 100 - 120 ppm.
Follow the test kit manufacturer's directions to establish the TA of your pool water. If the level is too low, add Sodium bi-carbonate* (dissolve in a bucket of pool water prior) until the correct level is achieved. Allow plenty of time for the additive to mix before re-testing. It may take a day or two to reach the correct level. Higher is always better at this stage. Test monthly thereafter.
Water pH 6.8 - 7.4:
Never attempt to read pH until the TA is established!
The readings will almost certainly be wildly inaccurate and could result in the addition of chemicals far in excess of requirements. Once again, retrieve your sample of pool water and determine the pH of the sample. If the reading is too low, see TA above and add Sodium bi-carbonate. If it is too high, refer to the maker's instructions for Acid demand, or simply add Hydrochloric Acid. (add the acid to a bucket of pool water). Once again, allow plenty of time for the acid to combine with the pool water and the closer to 7.0 the better. Test weekly. (See also Oxidiser below).
Copper 0.3 - 0.9 ppm:
The Copper level was established during commissioning of your pool and may change slowly. Should the level begin to drop, increase either the Current setting or the Ioniser Run Time - or both. If it begins to increase, reduce the Current or Run Time settings. On rare occasions, and in very small pools with light bather loads, the Copper level may gradually increase in spite of minimum settings. Should this occur, simply turn off the ioniser for a week or so and turn on again when the level drops. Test weekly.
Oxidiser 2.0 - 5.0:
Aquabrite, the non-chlorine oxidiser is required to "burn" organic material (body fats, sun tan lotion, perspiration, faeces, urine etc) out of the water. Refer here to the instructions on the sachet. Test weekly. Note that because Aquabrite has a pH of 4.0 it will lower the pH of your pool and may be used to supplement Hydrochloric Acid.
Total Dissolved Solids: 350 - 1500 ppm:
TDS is arguably the most significant - and misunderstood - component of your pool’s water chemistry. It is directly related to conductivity of the water and therefore to the performance of your ioniser. It simply the arithmetic sum of everything dissolved in the water – just as sugar is dissolved in tea and coffee, minerals in sea water etc. It is a function of your water supply and varies dramatically with it’s source. It may be as low as 20 ppm for major cities, and as high as 5000 ppm– for areas running bore water. If your water has a high TDS, contact us for advice.
Contact us for any further information.
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- 2006 Angus Horwood & Associates Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.
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