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Why Does Your Pool Water Need to be Balanced?

Sanitation

The number one reason why we balance pool water is for sanitation purposes. The two primary chemicals are free chlorine and CYA (cyanuric acid). As stated by the Pool Chemistry Training Institute: “A general rule of thumb is to maintain a minimum ratio of 7.5% of free chlorine to cyanuric acid. The World Health Organization recommends no higher limit of 100 ppm of cyanuric acid to prevent adverse health effects.” For example if you have a cyanuric acid of 100 a minimum of 7.5ppm is required of Free Chlorine in order to suppress the growth of algae.

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LSI

Pool water requires a middle ground to prevent aggressive/etching or calcium scale forming water. Aggressive water can cause etching and permanent damage to plaster, eat up metals in heaters and other equipment that can be very costly to repair. Aggressive water (a negative LSI) in most cases can and will void manufactured warranties. Calcium scale forming can cause unsightly calcium buildup on tile lines, water features, spillovers, infinity edge troughs and restrict water flow on pool equipment.

Here at Low Buck Pools we recommend working towards setting target chemistry ranges. For example: Chlorine level 4, PH 7.5, Total Alkalinity 90, Cyanuric Acid 50, Calcium 350, and TDS under 2600 (non-salt pool), and Borates at 50 . Target ranges are important because although water is within “range” your water may still not be LSI Balanced. Temperature is a big factor in the LSI so adjusting chemistry is a MUST. We recommend using a LSI calculator for easy calculations.