Chemistry Tips

In an effort to help our customers, we provide the following information to help you if you want a better understanding of your water chemistry.

Chemistry: The Basics

1.  The pool needs the proper amount of salt (4,000 ppm)  See below for directions.
2.  The salt pool needs conditioner, otherwise known as stabilizer or cyanuric acid.  This is not the same acid as muriatic acid for PH.  The purpose of cyanuric is to prevent the chlorine gas in the pool from evaporating and acts as a sunscreen to the ultraviolet rays of the sun.  Therefore, without cyanuric, you produce chlorine gas from the salt machine but the chlorine gas evaporates and you have a little to no chlorine reading remaining in the pool.
3.  PH is the most important level to maintain in balance.  PH can be compared to the temperature of your body.  For example, if your temperature is high or low, you are sick.  Everything works better when the PH is correct.  The PH must be kept between 7.2 and 7.8, and ideally it should be 7.5.  HIGH PH causes chlorine to be ineffective with the potential for a green pool even though you have a good chlorine reading.  LOW PH is bad for the pool because the water is acidic and can cause damage to the pool walls, grout, and is also very uncomfortable for the swimmer. 
4.  Black Algae will grow if:
    A.  High PH - which makes chlorine ineffective or weak
    B.  Direct sunlight - most of us have this
    C.  A low or no chlorine reading
To prevent black algae, the PH must be kept in check.  Again, high PH is the major cause of black algae.

We provide a device called the CLEANCELL.  This administers a small amount of acid into the cell chamber which cleans the titanium plates and keeps the PH of the pool level.  The CLEANCELL system is the greatest solution for ALL salt pools because salt pool systems cause PH to rise; therefore, the small amounts of acid injected into the pool counteract the PH rise and keep the plates clean and the chemistry healthy.  Some will say the acid injector will damage the pool.  This is not true if installed properly.  We are the experts, call US. 

Salt: 
When to add it:  The first rule is can you taste the salt?  If you cannot detect any salt, then your salinity is below 3,000 ppm. (parts per million).  The correct amount of salt it 4,000 ppm.  If you like gadgets, there are tds meters available to measure salinity or test strips (which always seem to read way too high) .  Your choice, your taste buds, tds meters, or test strips.

How to add it:  The manual instructs not to pour salt into the skimmer, although this method works very well if you pour slowly.  Take your time and do not block up the pump.  Otherwise, pour the salt into the shallow end of the pool then brush the salt until dissolved.  If you do not dissolve the salt completely, the concentrated salt on the floor will cause a brownish stain which is removable with a product called "stain treat".