The temperatures have gotten a lot warmer in the past few weeks and swimming pool operators now must meet the public’s demand for a place to ‘cool off’. Swimming pool season has arrived!

Problem: Some pools just don’t pass muster.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s the right season to take a dip in the neighborhood pool, but WCNC found almost half the pools in Mecklenburg County fail their first inspection.

The problems were serious enough at 15 percent of Mecklenburg County pools that inspectors shut them down immediately.(source: 6/25/2008 article by Stuart Watson WCNC)

An ‘open’ pool does not necessarily mean a safe pool. Visitors of public swimming facilities, especially those which have privatized maintenance, as in the case of an apartment complex, may want to test the pool water for basic parameters before going for a swim.

Taking a few minutes to use one of the Pool Check^TM brand of test strips will tell you right away if the pool contains the right amount of necessary chemicals. Properly maintained pool water will have a perfect balance of pH, Total Alkalinity, Hardness, and Sanitizer(s). Too much or too little of each parameter can result in potentially unsafe swimming conditions.

For the longest time pool and spa owners had to rely on the chemical testing skills and expertise of their local pool and spa professionals but those days have passed. Now homeowners can test their own pool and spa water for metals — without having to take a year’s worth of chemistry courses!

* The Pool Check^TM Copper test strips offer fast, accurate test results for copper, pH and alkalinity at a reasonable cost.

* The Pool Check^TM Pro Metals test strips offer fast, accurate semiquantitative test results for ‘all’ metals at once. It does not specify which metal(s) it detects, but it does give pool owners a better idea of how much staining potential their pool water has.

* The eXact^R EZ pool and spa testing meter tests for many parameters including iron and copper.

* Other testing methods include using ‘wet’ chemistry kits from companies like Lamotte and Taylor, but they typically involve slightly more advanced testing techniques such as titrations. Wet kits also make use of messy liquids, difficult to dissolve tablets, and awkward powder pillows.

For those who suspect that their source water contains metals, the SenSafe^TM Metals Check test strip will work quite well. It detects the metals commonly found in tap water and well water and provides accurate metals testing results in under 3 minutes.

Can Metals Stains in Pools be Removed?

For the most part, yes. The task will take effort, though, in some cases.

Vinyl liners typically resist staining quite well but the stains that do set in will not come off without a fight. Pool owners must use sequestering compounds and/or chelating compounds which attach themselves to the metal stains/deposits and more or less pull them back into solution.

Owners of concrete and gunite pools suffer even worse fates when it comes to metals staining. Typically they must wash the stains away using diluted muriatic acid — and in some cases that means draining the pool completely before they can begin.

Due to the annoyance, expense and inconvenience associated with the removal of metals stains from pool liners and plastic fixtures, swimming pool professionals recommend testing for metals on a regular basis if the pool has a heater, uses a copper or silver ionizer, or has recently had water added to it that may have contained dissolved metals.

In unbalanced water, copper may ‘drop out of solution’ and cause staining of a pool’s submerged fixtures and pretty much all of its non-metal surfaces (i.e. vinyl liner, fiberglass bottom, concrete/gunite bottom, etc.). Typically a severe drop in alkalinity and/or pH can result in copper staining with the right amount of free dissolved copper present.

In the case where the pool in question has a heater tests for copper in pool water yielding positive results may mean the pool water has become corrosive and has started to eat away at the copper in the heating element(s) in their heater.

A second source of copper, and also a good reason to test for copper in pool water every once in a while, has to do with the pool owner’s choice of algaecides. Some of the algaecides on the market contain trace amounts of copper due to copper’s ability to effectively fend off an outbreak of algae in water whose chlorine or other oxidizer level has dropped. Long-term use, or most often improper overuse, of copper-based algaecides can lead to an excessive buildup of copper in the water. A severe change in alkalinity and pH, possibly as a result of a rainstorm or the addition of ‘new’ water to the pool, may cause that copper to ‘come out of solution’ and cause staining on the surfaces mentioned earlier.

Does Copper in the Water Always Mean Trouble?

Absolutely not! In fact, some pools rely on copper as their primary algistat and use very low levels of oxidizers such as chlorine to destroy any organics that do attempt to make the water their new home.

How Can Pool Owners Test for Copper in Their Pool Water?

Pool owners can test for the presence of free dissolved copper in their pool water using traditional wet kits, by a sample of their pool water into their local pool store for analysis, or by using a test strip such as the Pool Check^TM Copper test strip which detects free dissolved copper levels as low as 0.2ppm and as high as 2.0ppm in under a minute.

The Pool Check^TM Copper test strip also tests for pH and Alkalinity at the same time it tests for free dissolved copper residual. This product tests for pH and Alkalinity because they changes in those two pool water parameters can cause free dissolved copper to come out of solution, settle on surfaces, and stain whatever it lands on — sometimes permanently!

Whether your pool/spa sits outside or under the protective cover of a roof, it still collects dust, debris and other nasty things which can ruin the fun of an afternoon swim or late night soak. Those same nasty items can ruin your health.

In an effort to prevent either of those tragedies, pool and spas come equipped with inline filtration systems designed to remove unwanted items from the water. Several different types of systems are commonly used:

• Sand — Often found on aboveground pools and on commercial pools. Water passes through a body of sand and as it does so, larger particles get filtered out.
• Diatomaceous Earth — Often found on inground pools of all sizes. Cloth covered fins or ‘fingers’ coated in a silt-like, white, material which looks very much like finely ground chalk filter out unwanted solids.
• Cartridge — Often found in spas and on very small aboveground pools. Porous paper sheets filter out unwanted solids.

For a lot of people the phrase Water Chemistry brings back memories of nightmarish chemistry exams in school. In this case, though, checking the chemistry means keeping track of certain parametrs in the water and making sure they stay in the proper ranges.

Monitoring the water chemistry in a pool will not cause you the pain you suffered through earlier in life. For the average pool owner, simple dip-n-read Pool Check test strips will work just fine. They allow for easy monitoring of the basics: Chlorine Level, pH, Total Alkalinity, and Hardness. Additionally, a trip to the pool store with a sample of water works equally well. Plus the fine folks at the store will give excellent directions on how to correct any problems they may find.

For those who maintain commercial or public pools, use of dip-n-read test strips will typically NOT suffice.

Most local Health Departments prefer to see pool/spa professionals using EPA Compliant methods for the monitoring of certain things like Free & Total Chlorine. They also want to see a host of other parameters like Cyanuric Acid (chlorine stabilizer) monitored on a regular basis. Sound intimidating? Let us help you with that.

Prior to the introduction of portable, easy-to-use handheld meters like the eXact EZ Advanced Photometric System, EPA Compliant chlorine testing required messy wet kits, dropper bottles, titrants, tablets and/or irritating dusts. No other chlorine detection method involving DPD Chemistry existed.

Now, however, with affordable EPA Compliant (for chlorine monitoring) water quality testing meters such as the eXact EZ Advanced Photometric System which makes use of a new, more convenient DPD Delivery System known as DPD ReagentStrips available, chlorine testing has become a lot easier and pretty much anyone can obtain accurate, reliable water test results in minutes.

For a look at just how easy pool and spa water testing has become, especially when it comes to detecting chlorine, check out the eXact EZ Advanced Photometric System Test Procedures.

For more information on the eXact EZ Advanced Photometric System, call Industrial Test Systems, Inc. and request a free brochure. 1-800-861-9712

The term biguanide refers to a sanitizer that uses a complex polymer as its base rather than traditional chlorine or bromine molecules. Use of a biguanide sanitizer elimiates the offensive ‘chemical smell in a pool/spa, puts a stop to the bleaching of hair and swimwear, reduces eye irritation and makes it possible for those with allergic reaction to chlorine or bromine to enjoy a dip in the pool/spa.

Mixing Biguanide With Chlorine/Bromine?

A definite no-no. The chlorine or bromine will destroy the biguanide polymer and in some cases cause insightly preciptates to fall out of solution. You will NOT enjoy cleaning up a pool or spa in which biguanides have met up with oxidizers such as chlorine or bromine.

Switching Between Biguanide and Chlorine/Bromine Sanitizers?

For those who seek to switch from a biguanide system to chlorine/bromine system, or vice versa, make certain you remove ALL of the former system’s chemicals before adding the new system’s chemicals.

In the case where a person wants to switch from a chlorine/bromine system over to a biguanide system, they should perform a test for Total Chlorine/Bromine before adding any of the biguanide chemicals. Test strips work well for this application and pool/spa owners can choose from a number of multi-parameter test strips to get the job done:

• Pool Check 6-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, cyanuric acid
• Pool Check 5-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness
• Pool Check 4-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity
• Pool Check Low Chlorine 3-in-1: free chlorine, pH, total alkalinity

And for those who REALLY want to make sure no chlorine resides in thei water, try using the WaterWorks^TM Ultra Low Total Chlorine Strips. Their lowest detection block starts at 0.005ppm total chlorine — an incredibly detection level for a dip and read test strip!

Many people use hydrogen peroxide to treat/clean cuts and scratches, but did you know that it also functions as a ’shock’ treatment in pools and spas? While not used in conjunction with chlorine or bromine, biguanide based sanitizer systems make use of hydrogen peroxide’s strong oxidizing power roughly every other week.

Why is Peroxide Needed

Peroxide works as a shock to the system. Its strong oxidation potential makes it ideal for ‘burning’ organics out of the water that the polymer based sanitizer could not get rid of.

How Can One Test for Peroxide in Swimming Pools?

A good product for testing peroxide levels in swimming pools goes by the commercial name of WaterWorks^TM Peroxide Check and has the ability to detect hydrogen peroxide levels as low as 0.5 ppm and as high as 100 ppm.

WaterWorks^TM Peroxide Check Test Strips

What is a ‘Safe’ Level of Peroxide in Swimming Pools?

The answer to that question depends on the exact type and brand of biguanide system you use in your pool or spa. We have heard that most biguanide systems recommend hitting and/or reaching a peroxide level of 30 ppm, but we HIGHLY suggest you speak with your local pool and spa dealer, or the company who manufactures the peroxide you use, and ask them. . . just to be sure.