by Terry Arko
Why is it so important to test the water in your pool? It is easy to see that the water quality in a pool can become unpredictable and chaotic if it isn’t properly managed. Water is itself an unpredictable element. Water has a long list of needs from the moment it is turned on. Water will be able to enter through a hole in the ground if it is added. To control the chaos that could result from water’s existence, immediate action must be taken.
Calcium (Ca), is the main ingredient water yeilds for. Water goes on the hunt for calcium when it is starving due to a lack of it. It will search for food in aggregate or plaster pools. Plaster and other cementitious surfaces contain a lot of calcium. A minimum amount of calcium addition, such as calcium chloride (CaCl 2), is required to maintain the integrity of the surface. 150 parts per million (ppm) is the minimum amount of calcium that must be added to the surface. A calcium hardness test will be required to verify this.
The source of water should be tested for calcium before adding it to a newly-surfaced pool. It is important to test the calcium levels before the pool is filled. This could prevent aggressive fill water from removing calcium from the pool’s surface. Some startup systems allow owners to add calcium to their pool as it fills, to keep any calcium from being removed from the surface.
350 ppm is the ideal calcium level for plaster pools. Vinyl liner and fibreglass require 250 ppm. The source of hard water should also be checked if the pool is located in such an area. Hard water has high calcium levels. This will reveal what it can hold in the form a calcium carbonate scale (CaCO3). It is therefore important to conduct a calcium hardness test on source water before filling a swimming pool.
Pool water testing is an important skill that every service professional should use was first published on Pool & Spa Marketing.
