If you have never had a pool in your yard, you may not realize how important it is to have the pH just right. Without monitoring the pH in your pool, you can run into problems that are expensive to fix. It will also have a big impact on the comfort of your pool for those that are swimming in it. The pH balance in your water has to do with acidity levels in your pool. Metropolitan Pools is here to talk about the importance of the pH balance and how important it is to monitor it closely.
How Does pH Affect Pool Water?
When it comes to pH of your pool, it is important to know what pH even is. When someone is referring to the pH it stands for potential hydrogen. It is used to measure the acidity or the baseness of your pool. Pure water has a pH of 7. Anything above that is basic and anything below it is too acidic. Both too acidic and too basic can be damaging to your pool and the equipment that you use to maintain it.
Why is High pH a Problem?
The biggest problem with water that has a pH that is too high is that it can cause skin irritation, dry or red eyes and damage to swim gear. When the pH is too high it can also make it so the chlorine in your water isn’t able to effectively do its job. The most common culprit of high pH is a chlorine stabilizer. Anytime you add this stabilizer, it will cause your pH to rise. The best way to lower the pH is to add pH minus which is an acidic solution that works to lower the pH of your pool.
What Harm is Caused By Low pH?
While having a high pH is a problem, having a pH that is low will cause problems as well. If the pH is only slightly low, you don’t need to be concerned, but if it starts to drop significantly, you run into problems like irritated skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Too much acidity will start to eat away at the metal ladders, handrails and other fixtures that are usually found in swimming pools. One of the most common causes for low pH is acid rain. Because of the environmental pollution, most of the rain that we get has an extremely low pH. Heavy rain can be enough to cause the pH of your pool to become too acidic. A pH increaser can which contains sodium carbonate will help to increase the pH of your pool.
Vinyl Pool Installation, Repair, Liner Replacement, Maintenance & More in Sandusky, Lorain, Elyria, Medina, Parma, Mentor, Akron & Greater Cleveland, Ohio
Maintaining the pH in your swimming pool is a complicated process. If you aren’t careful, you can end up struggling to get it under control and making your pool somewhere that uncomfortable for swimmers. It will also end up damaging your pool equipment and pool itself. This is why it is so important to rely on the pros at Metropolitan Pools to help you keep your pool well maintained. Call us today!