With pool season being back in full swing, you’re likely worrying about keeping the waters clean and safe to swim in. You might even find yourself scratching your head at the idea of having to keep your pool water chemically balanced, especially if you’re a new pool owner. Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered.
Why should you test the pool water?
Keeping your pool water clean and properly chemically balanced is essential for the well-being in those that are swimming in your pool. In fact, too much chlorine is known to cause many negative side-effects, such as eye and lung irritation, dry skin, hair, and nails, chlorine poisoning, and even burns. On the other hand, not enough chlorine can lead to all sorts of microscopic impurities that are bad for your health. So it’s important that you regularly test your pool water so that you can keep yourself, as well as your loved ones, safe.
How often should you conduct pool water tests?
Pool water testing should be done on a regular basis, but the general rule of thumb is that you test the waters at least once per week. However, when it comes to testing, many factors come into play.
For example, if you tested the water on Monday, and your area saw a huge rainstorm on Tuesday, you should test it again on Wednesday to make sure the chemical levels are where they should be. Similarly, if you had many people over for a swim, you should test your waters afterwards. Factors to look out for include the weather (warm or rainy), frequency/amount of usage, and clarity issues. That being said, testing once a week will usually satisfy the minimum requirements for keeping your pool waters clean and safe to swim in.
What should you be testing your pool water for?
In order for your pool water to be safe to swim in, Hayward suggests that your chemical levels should stay within the following ranges:
- Free chlorine: 2-4 ppm
- pH: 7.2 – 7.8
- Total Alkalinity: 80-120 ppm
- Total Hardness: 200-400 ppm
- Phosphates: less than 500 ppm
- Metals: 0 ppm (Ideal)
- Bromine: 3.0-5.0 ppm
- Salt (for saltwater pools): 2700-3400 ppm
If your chemical balance falls slightly out of those ranges, don’t worry too much! It’s normal for your pool’s chemical balance to fluctuate. As long as you’re taking the necessary steps to maintain proper balance, everything should be fine.
How to test your pool water
Now that you know what the right chemical ranges are for your pool, it’s time to actually do the testing. There are a couple of ways you can do this. You can use test strips, a liquid test kit, or a digital pool tester. All of these tests vary on price and accuracy. Read below to find out which you should get and how to use it.
Test strips
Test strips are easy to find and the most inexpensive option of the three. It’s usually the most widely used due to how easy the testing process is. Unfortunately, they are also the most inaccurate. That doesn’t mean they’re inaccurate, though! You can either procure yourself individual test strips that only test for one chemical, or you can purchase all-in-one test strips that test for multiple chemicals at once.
Among all testing kits, test strips are the easiest to use. You simply dip the strip into the pool water, shake off the excess water, check the colour of the strip, and compare it to the colours on the colour chart on the bottle.
Liquid test kits
Liquid test kits are pricier and a bit more time consuming than test strips, but they’re known for giving more accurate results. So if you’re dedicated to keeping your pool waters clean and clear, and want to avoid having your chemical balance be slightly out of range, then liquid test kits are right for you.
Although they’re a bit more difficult to use, they’ll get easier the more you use them. All you have to do is dip the tester into your pool at least 18 inches from the surface to get water into the vials. If you draw water close to the surface of the water, your results won’t be as accurate. Make sure you filled the vials up until the “fill” lines on the tester. After ensuring that you have the right amount of water in the vials, add drops of solution for testing. Rinse the tester between each test.
- For chlorine: 5 drops of solution No.1
- For pH: 1 drop of solution No.4 and 5 drops of solution No.2
- For total alkalinity: 1 drop of No.4 and 1 drop of No.5B and count how many drops of solution No.3 you add until the colour becomes clear, light yellow, or light green. Multiply the amount of No.3 drops you add by 10 for total alkalinity.
Digital pool testers
Digital pool testers are the most expensive option, but they are both extremely easy to use and the most accurate of the options. There are a variety of different digital pool testers on the market. Some work with reagents and a photometer, some use test strips, and some use electrodes to measure the chemical levels in the water.
Digital pool testers are the most expensive type of testing kit, but they’re useful for pool owners who want to remove and margin of error caused by the human eye. They’re also especially useful for people with mild to severe colour blindness.
Although testing the chemical balance of your pool gets easier the more you do it, if you find that you’re unable to properly balance it out and don’t have the luxury of time to keep trying, contact a pool professional. Your pool professional can provide you with an in-depth training session to make testing fast and easy, or he can offer you weekly pool cleaning for a low fee. Simply put, your pool professional will ensure that testing will take little to no time so that you can spend less time struggling with different gadgets, and more time enjoying your clear-blue waters!
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