Direct Pool Supplies
Cloudy Water
High pH and high total alkalinity tend to cause cloudy water. If the pH is above 7.6 it should be lowered to 7.2 - 7.6 with Dry Acid . Inadequate filtration may also cause cloudiness; the filter may need cleaning or backwashing. We have available an excellent clarifier here.
Algae
Algae are widely regarded as a pest organism in swimming pools and enter the pool from rain, wind and dust. Although not directly harmful to people, dead algae cells do provide food which can sustain more harmful organisms. Algal photosynthesis also causes chlorine in your pool to be consumed more rapidly, reducing the chlorine available in your pool to kill other harmful organisms. Long filtration times are required to remove algae from the pool water and the algal cells are often the main component of the rubbish which blocks filters, requiring them to be backwashed more frequently. Even small amounts of algae can make a pool look cloudy and unclean.
Some types of algae exist suspended in your pool water, however most algae form green-black spots on the walls and floor of the pool. The latter type builds a protective barrier of impervious wax around itself. Chlorine is prevented from entering into the barrier and therefore cannot kill the algal colonies. One of the active ingredients of algaecide will break down this protective coating, allowing chlorine and the other ingredients to kill the algae. Treatment of very bad cases of pool algae involves the owner scrubbing the top layers of dead algae off alga clumps; therefore exposing the algae, which can then be affected by the algaecide and chlorine.
It is important to note that algae in highly unlikely to form if the free chlorine residual has been maintained at a satisfactory level at all times and the circulation is adequate.
We have available a pool algaecide (which can also be called a winterisier).
There are two ways of eliminating algae from your pool - prevention and cure. All current treatment aimed at eliminating algae use some kind of poison e.g... chlorine or algaecides. The better way to ensure your pool is algae-free is to starve it of the nutrient which is what causes it growth - phosphate. Growing algae feed on the phosphate in pool water and dead algae release phosphate back into the water. By removing the phosphate from your water with a starver, existing algae will be starved of food. Spores entering a pool which has no phosphate will not flourish.
Eye Irritation
Although eye irritation is commonly blamed on an excess of chlorine in the water, it usually results from too little free available chlorine and too much combined chlorine. Super chlorination will eliminate the combined chlorine and convert all the chlorine present into free available chlorine - in the process nitrogen compounds called chloramines, which are the main cause of eye irritation will be destroyed. Also low total alkalinity (a common problem) can cause this. Your water can become very corrosive. By adding Buffer will fix this problem.
Unpleasant Odours
Bad odours, usually like chlorine, are closely associated with burning eyes - the cause is the same - insufficient free available chlorine in the water. These odours are caused by chloramines - the cure is to super chlorinate with Granular Chlorine or Stabilized Chlorine to insure that all the combined chlorine is present as free available chlorine.
UV (ultra-violet) radiation is a form of energy emitted by the sun. Just as high doses of UV can cause severe burns and skin cancers, UV radiation also has debilitating effects on unstabilised chlorine in pool water. Just as you protect your skin with suntan creams, it is also possible to protect the chlorine in pool water from the effects of the sun's harmful rays. Without an effective sunscreen for your pool, the UV radiation will penetrate the water and destroy the active chlorine, thereby decreasing the water's disinfecting capacity.
The active ingredient of a pool stabilizer is cyanuric acid, which attaches itself to a portion of the active chlorine, preventing it from being destroyed by the UV radiation. This greatly reduces chlorine loss and ensures that the outdoor pool owner will save money on sanitizer in the future. In a saltwater pool, the chlorine output on the saltwater chlorinator may be reduced, allowing for a greater cell life! A pool "stabilised" in this way typically requires half the amount of chlorine campared to "unstabilised" pools.
We have a 2kg pack of stabiliser available here. This will cover the average size pool.
You any more info on chemicals you can email as at: products@directpoolsupplies.com.au
To view our full range of pool & spa chemicals, please click here.
