Basic pool Care and common water balancing procedures
SwimFresh Chlorine free pools
Chlorine and salt pools require five pool water tests monthly; Total Chlorine, Free Chlorine, Stabiliser, Ph and TA (and Calcium Hardness two or three times a year). However, SwimFresh Pools only require three pool water-balancing tests; PH, TA and Copper. Perform these tests once a month and balance as required. During high Temperatures and heavy swimmer loading, fortnightly pool testing would be suggested. In regards to the Copper tests, increase the Ioniser output if needed otherwise if it is at the required level just leave the dial at the maintenance dose which is approximately 1 hour per 10,000 litres of water.
When conducting pool water tests; take your samples at least 30cms below the pool's water level.
Do not take samples from the top of the water, as it will give you a different reading.
Always correct the Total Alkalinity (TA) before correcting the PH.
TA helps to stabilise the PH.
Ideal Water Chemistry Levels:
• Total Alkalinity- 100– 140 ppm
• pH: 7.2 - 7.4 for Fibreglass & Vinyl Pools : Ph 7.5-7.6 for Concrete and Tiled Pools
• Copper: 0.3 – 0.5 ppm
• Calcium Hardness: 200 – 250 ppm.
Every 3 to 6 months perform a Calcium Hardness test and adjust if necessary. Once calcium added, it remains in the water and only comes out by dilution (from heavy rain and topping up the pool with the hose). If there is insufficient Calcium Hardness in the water, the pool surface can become etched, pitted and damaged. Brush pool walls regularly, this is suggested monthly and Fortnightly during heavy swimmer loading and large pool use. Remove leaves from skimmer boxes, especially if you have a lot of trees and gardens around the pool this will need to be done more regularly. Leaves that build up in a skimmer box can cause a restriction in the water flow, which will then affect pool sanitation and can cause cloudy water.
Backwash Pool filter once a month onto the gardens and lawns, as they will flourish from the Oxygen rich water.
If you have a cartridge filter, this may need monthly rinsing or more depending on the size of the cartridge element. If you do not clean the filter cartridge regularly, it will begin to fill up with debris and micro fats and oils, which will cause the ozone sanitation to work harder trying to clean up the filter before it even spends any time cleaning the pool water. If this happens, circulation is also restricted.
So it is critical to keep your filters clean. Ozone is fantastic oxidizer it pulls everything out of the water resulting with exceptional crystal clear water using chlorine free pools.
For general routine and maintenance on SwimFresh pools:
Swimming season:
Brush walls and vacuum floors regularly.
Test Copper, Ph and Total Alkalinity (T.A.) monthly or fortnightly - depending on bather load & temperatures and adjust if necessary.
Weekly testing may be required for extremely high temperatures and heavy bather load. read more
Test and adjust Calcium hardness every 3 - 6 months
Backwash filters or rinse filter cartridges monthly – or more regularly depending on bather load & temperatures.
Add 100gms Ozone Activator per 10,000lts pool water once a fortnight
Add 200mls Ozone Accelerator per 10,000lts pool water once a fortnight
Run Circulation pool pump 8 – 10 hours a day.
Winter Season:
Test Copper and adjust output. Balance Ph and TA especially after heavy rains.
Test monthly. Run Pool circulation pump 4 – 6 hours a day.
If the pool water becomes cloudy, complete these steps below:
1. Rinse Cartridge filter or backwash filter.
2. Balance Total Alkalinity, pH & Copper as directed above.
3. Shock pool with 500mls of Ozone Accelerator, 500 grams Ozone Activator for every 10,000 litres of pool water, after 2 hrs retest Total Alkalinity and pH and rebalance if necessary.
4. Add Clarifying Tablet (Sparkle Pill) in Skimmer box.
5. Run pump on manual for a 24hour continuous period to increase Ozone saturation in the pool. Cloudy water is fine particles that may take some time to filter out and may require more filter cleaning to catch the fine particles.
For more information view our Why Ozone page https://www.healingwatersupplies.com.au/ozone