Pool water balance is incredibly important. I can't overemphasize that fact.
When a pool is not properly balanced, you're just asking for all kinds of troubles. Not only will you have water problems such as cloudy water or algae or high chlorine consumption, but you can also put your personal health at risk.
The following is a true story about tooth enamel and a high school swim team.
Two local dentists are talking generally about several patients whose enamel has "suddenly" been stripped from their teeth. It's an odd "coincidence". The dentists sit down & do some comparing of cases. All of the patients are students at a local high school. Further comparing of notes shows that all of these students are on the school's swim team where they spend anywhere from 2 to 3 hours per day, 5 to 6 days per week practicing in the particular swimming pool.
The dentists decide to take a trip to the pool to try to find out the problem. They walk into the pool area. The natatorium wreaks of "high chlorine." The water in the pool is crystal clear. They notice corrosion on the stainless steel handrails & poolside equipment. They check the records. The test records show that all the water balancing levels are "fine".
What's wrong? Let's take a water sample. The new water sample shows Free Available Chlorine (FAC) at almost ZERO! Remember that FAC is the chlorine that is actually working to kill bacteria & algae. The Total Chlorine level is over 3.0 ppm. That means there is a chloramine level of over 3.0 ppm. A test of the Total Alkalinity shows ZERO. The final blow is the pH with a level of about 2.0; that's about 100,000 times more acidic than properly balanced water.
The constant exposure to swimming pool water that was that acidic literally ate the enamel off the students teeth! How can we equate this? Imagine swishing lemon juice or muriatic acid or stomach acid in your mouth for 2 hours a day! Take a look at the chart below for pH values.
Unfortunately, there are many public swimming pool facilities where the upkeep is not what it is supposed to be. As a "consumer" of the pool water, you have every right to ask to record book of the pool. If it looks "too normal" (same & constant values of chlorine and pH), ask the attendant on duty to perform a test right then and there. It's YOUR health & safety that are at stake.
For more information on Water Balance, take a look at our video (coming Aug 15, 2011).
You can read more here.
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