Chemicals to Use for a New Pool

Balancing Chemicals

Use a pool water testing kit that has drops instead of paper strips, because the drops will give a more accurate reading when testing. Take a sample of your pool water and test the alkalinity, adding as much Total Alkalinity Increaser to the pool as needed. Break up the additions into half doses and retest the alkalinity after each addition. Always use a fresh water sample that is not near the insertion point of the increaser, which may skew results. Once the ideal alkalinity range reads between 80 parts per million (ppm) and 120 ppm, resample and test the PH. Add either PH Plus or PH Minus to arrive at the ideal PH range of 7.2-7.8. Next, test your sample for calcium hardness and add Calcium Hardness Increaser if needed to reach the ideal range, which is between 180 ppm and 240 ppm.

The most common type of sanitizing system, and it has been for years, is chlorine. There are two basic chlorine systems, the first of which involves placing 3-inch chlorine pucks into the skimmer basket. Water moved by the filter system flows over them dispensing chlorine into the pool and when tested should yield a result of between 1.5 ppm and 3.0 ppm of chlorine. If the reading is too high or too low, then remove or add pucks as necessary until the ideal is achieved. This system requires the weekly addition of pool shock, which spikes the chlorine reading up to around 9.0 ppm. The shock oxidizes and removes organic and inorganic debris from the pool before the pool drops back down to the ideal swimming range again. Another chlorine system involves adding powdered chlorine on a daily basis, providing a mini daily shock to the pool to achieve the same results.

A patented molecule developed in the 1980s still destroys cell membranes today in this sanitizing system. The sanitizer penetrates the membrane of a bacterial cell and kills it. Oxidizer is the next ingredient in the system, which burns up the debris left by the sanitizer. Finally, algaecide added as a maintenance precaution to arrest any growth keeps algae in check. Clarifiers help restore water clearness and defoamers reduce or dissipate any foam brought on by an accidental overdose of chemicals. The system was originally formulated and distributed exclusively by one company until the patent on the formula expired. Multiple companies now manufacture this product and market it under different names.

Copper-based products kill or suppress bacterial growth without actually sanitizing the water. They require a non-chlorine shock to work in conjunction with them to destroy and oxidize microorganisms and debris. The ideal operating PH range is the same as for a chlorine system, but the alkalinity range is only 30 ppm to 90 ppm. When necessary, alkalinity levels must rise slowly when copper is already present in the pool, otherwise a large addition will cause the copper to fall out of solution and become visible as a light green color in the water.

Salt-water generators produce chlorine molecules that function like a chlorine system, but without adding chlorine. Salt added to the pool dissolves and passes through the generator where electrolysis occurs. This process separates the salt into its basic components, one of which is sodium hypochlorite, which sanitizes the water. Corrosiveness is a byproduct of this system that affects any metal it contacts, yet there is less salt than in ocean water and it is not harmful on the skin.

Bromine is a natural element that has similar disinfectant properties to chlorine. It is more stable than chlorine in warmer water, which is why it is widely used in hot tubs. Place bromine tablets in the skimmer basket and replace as needed. An alternative two-part bromine system creates a bromide reserve in the pool water by the addition of the first chemical of the system. Every week the second chemical, once added, creates bromine sanitizer by combining with the bromide salt reserves. The unused bromide reserve goes back into the dormant stage again until activated by the second chemical. The bromine kills and oxidizes the foreign debris in the pool just as the chlorine system does.