Winter Water Balance
As the colder weather sets in and the days become shorter, it’s easy to neglect the swimming pool. However, even with limited use, maintaining the correct chemical balance is crucial to ensure your pool remains clean and healthy. Excessive chlorine levels can cause unwanted degradation of pool covers, skimmer baskets, and pool cleaners.
Monitoring the chemical balance each month not only keeps your water clear but also prolongs the life of your equipment!
Here are ideal chemical balances to maintain throughout the winter period:
1. Chlorine Levels
Ideal ranges – covered pool = 0.5 – 1 ppm, uncovered pool = 1 – 3 ppm
If you haven’t reduced your running times or have covered your pool, it’s important to regularly check your chlorine levels to ensure they don’t get too high. Excessive chlorine levels can deteriorate your expensive pool covers and automatic pool cleaners and may even affect the pool surface!
High chlorine levels can also impact your pH balance — the higher the chlorine level, the higher the potential for an unhealthy pool. This can lead to various issues, making it more expensive to correct when the weather warms up and you want to use the pool.
2. pH Levels
Ideal ranges – 7.4 – 7.6
Maintaining the correct pH balance is crucial. If your pH is too high or too low, it can affect other chemical readings in the water. A high pH makes chlorine ineffective and allows scaling to build up on the pool surface and salt cells. Reduce pH with Bioguard liquid Hydrochloric Acid or for easy to use and storage, use Bioguard Lo’N’Slo. Conversely, a very low pH can burn off the chlorine before it can sanitise the water.
3. Phosphates
Ideal range – below 0.1 ppm
During winter, you may take advantage of running shorter filtration times, reducing wear and tear on equipment and lowering power consumption. If your pool is winterised, you can run the filtration system even less.
However, with lower running times, dust and debris in the pool may build up as the cleaner and skimmer may not have enough time to remove it all. This can increase your phosphate levels. High phosphate levels create ideal conditions for algae growth, which could end up costing you more in the long run. Use Bioguard Phos Kill to reduce phosphate levels in your water.
By paying attention to these key aspects, you can ensure your pool remains in top condition throughout the winter.