Water Chemistry and Water Balance

Protecting the swimmers, bathers, users, the equipment and the vessel is the main job of water balance.

Chemicals alone will not produce safe, clear and pleasing water. The water must be effectively filtered and circulated. If the pump is too small for the pool, if the pump is not run long enough each day, if the filter is too small, if the filter is old, broken or is not functioning correctly, then water quality will suffer.

Filtration physically removes insoluble or suspended matter and other debris from the water. Circulation helps brings water to the filter and it assures that the chemicals that have been added are being dispersed and moved throughout the entire pool. It doesn’t help much if the chlorine in the water is in the shallow end while the bacteria and algae that need to be killed are in the deep end.

The pool end its equipment are best protected by maintaining water balance. In addition, balancing the water makes the most efficient use of the sanitizers, disinfectants and oxidizers that have been added.

Water balance

There are 5 or may be 6 or 7  parameters or constituents involved in the water balance.

There are:

• PH
• Total Alkalinity
• Calcium Hardness
• Temperature
• TDS (Total Dissolve Solids)
• Cyanuric Acid (Conditioner or Stabilizer)
• Additional Buffers such as Borates (Sodium Tetraborate)

By “Water Balance” we mean keeping the water parameters within their proper ranges:

Parameter	Minimum	Ideal	Maximum
PH	7.2	7.4-7.6	7.8
Total Alkalinity	60 ppm	80-120 ppm	140 ppm
Calcium Hardness	150 ppm	200-400 ppm	500-1000 ppm
TDS	250 ppm	300-2000 ppm	2500 ppm
Cyanuric Acid	10 ppm	30-50 ppm	100 ppm
Borates (if used)	20 ppm	25-50 ppm	60 ppm