Ideal Alkalinity in Commercial Pools

ideal pool alkalinity

As swimming pool operators, we know the importance of water chemistry. Not only does it keep our bodies of water looking great, but it also helps prevent damage to our pool’s surface, plumbing and equipment. The most important thing proper water chemistry does is keep our bathers safe.

Getting to Ideal Alkalinity in Pools - Water Testing

We cannot balance our chemistry without first knowing where our levels are, right? That is why testing often is so important. Some health departments only require once-daily testing. Some require every hour! Even after we get our test results, how do we know what to do? Well, with the Pool Shark H2O App, the mysteries are solved. This app can be paired with the LaMotte Spin Lab. How the spin lab works are you take a syringe with a minuscule amount of pool water and fill the disc. You then place the disc in the spin lab. Just 60 seconds later…BOOM! Your test results are sent to any device you have the Pool Shark H2O App installed on. Not ready to get involved with the spin lab? That is A-Okay. You can test using your regular method and input your results into the Pool Shark H2O App.

Why is this App so important? For many reasons. It will give you proper dosing instructions based on the Langelier Saturation Index. This index determines if your pool is neutral, scale-forming or corrosive. While looking at each individual field is important, using the required fields, including the pool water’s temperature, will give you the most accurate dosing instructions.

The Pool Shark H2O App also saves a digital pool log of all of the water tests you and your staff perform. You don’t even have to be on-site to see if your pool water is balanced or not! It also eliminates the need for old-fashioned paper log books. No need to worry about the logs getting lost, or wet or having to store them in boxes for years. The Pool Shark H2O App is the future of water testing and logging. While we take all the fields into consideration, here are some guidelines for ideal ranges in swimming pools.

Getting to Ideal Alkalinity in Pools -Alkalinity

Alkalinity acts as a buffer to your pH. What this means is it takes the hit to help protect the stability of your pH. Alkalinity and pH tend to go up and down together. Once in a while, you may find your alkalinity is too low. This causes an unstable pH and causes the reading to “bounce” around. It is known as pH bounce. Sometimes your alkalinity will be fine, but your pH is too high. This involves lowering the pH, which will lower your alkalinity. If it drops the alkalinity too low, adjust with sodium bicarbonate (Alkalinity Up). It is a bit of a dance we are faced with from time to time and is perfectly normal. The ideal recognized range of alkalinity is 80 ppm to 120 ppm. Most pool operators shoot for 100 ppm.

Getting to Ideal Alkalinity in Pools - pH

pH stands for potens hydrogen. AKA the potential of hydrogen. Having the proper pH makes the sanitizer more effective. It also helps protect your equipment, surface, and plumbing. Finally, it makes the water feel more comfortable to bathers. The ideal range of pH is between a 7.2 ppm to a 7.8 ppm. Preferably, keeping the pH at around 7.5 will get you the best results.

Getting to Ideal Alkalinity in Pools - Sanitizer

This is what fights off bacteria and algae. It is unsafe for a bather to use your body of water without the proper amount of sanitizer. While it might vary a bit per region, the normal acceptable range for chlorine is 2-5 ppm. (Parts Per Million). Although as long as you maintain at least a 1 ppm, you have enough sanitizer to fight off the unwanted elements. If you are using a pool controller, the controller will read and dose with small amounts of chlorine to keep things safe. Heck, pool controllers are required by law in some places.

Getting to Ideal Alkalinity in Pools - Cyanuric Acid

There are a lot of opinions out there on proper cyanuric acid levels. Some regions don’t even allow it. Cyanuric acid acts as a sunscreen for your chlorine. Too little and your chlorine could burn off in a matter of hours. Too high a level and your chlorine become less effective. The general range of cyanuric acid is 30 ppm to 99 ppm. I have my pool owners aim for a 30 ppm in a traditionally chlorinated pool and a 60 ppm in a saltwater pool. Why higher in a saltwater pool? Because we are not getting the weekly addition from our trichlor tablets, which contain CYA. The traditional method to lower cyanuric acid is by draining the pool, but studies are being done that prove it can be lowered by other chemical methods.

Getting to Ideal Alkalinity in Pools - Calcium Hardness

Think of a flowing river versus a stagnant pond. The stagnant pond is green because of the lack of circulation. A flowing river, due to the constant movement, is clear. While it is moving, it is also picking up the “nutrients” it needs. One of which is calcium. Consider your body of water as “trapped” water. Without establishing a good calcium level, the water will still seek it out as it does in the wild. Where does it seek? Why, your plaster and plumbing! It is important to have at least 200 ppm of calcium in your body of water. The reported maximum is 400 ppm. The only way to lower calcium hardness is to drain and add fresh water. But wait! Test your fill water first. If it comes out with high calcium right out of the tap, draining and refilling won’t do any good. Studies are also being done to determine a chemical means of reducing calcium. High calcium can build up around the water line, salt cell, and plumbing. This scale is made worse the more scale forming one’s water is. Even more reason to maintain a proper pH and alkalinity.

Yes, proper testing and dosing are super important to doing our jobs well and keeping people safe. The Pool Shark H2O App helps make our jobs just a bit easier. See you poolside!