Pool Water Testing Blog

We get this question countless times… because some pool companies either don’t do a good job explaining to customers what they will need to do when swimming season rolls around again OR because people have purchased homes that have a pool — and the former owners didn’t leave instructions.

In either case, we get this question a lot. Below you will find links to four areas of interest for pool owners in the Spring:

And, of course, an area that too many pool owners neglect: Pool Water Test Kits.

Can’t I just dump a bunch of chlorine in and call it a day?

Sure… but then you will more than likely waste money correcting the problems you’ve created or didn’t solve by simply adding chlorine.

Testing your pool water for at LEAST the basics (metals, pH, alkalinity, free chlorine, total chlorine, calcium hardness and cyanuric acid) will give the knowledge you need to purchase the correct pool chemicals and add the correct amounts so you can get your pool started properly and avoid annoyances such as staining caused by the addition of chlorine to water containing high levels of metals, algae caused by poorly balanced water in which chlorine cannot do its job, etc.

Consider This : 99% of the time it costs MORE money to fix a pool water chemistry issue than it does to test in the first place and add the correct chemicals the first time!

In recent years the popularity of ‘salt water pools’ has increased dramatically. Consumers love the convenience offered by chlorine generators that use ordinary table salt to continuously generate chlorine in their swimming pools.

Chlorine generators break down NaCl (salt) molecules using a process called electrolysis which eventually produces hypochlorous acid(HOCl) and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), the sanitizing agents already commonly used in swimming pools traditionally added as harsh chlorine liquids, chlorine tablets or chlorine granules/powders.

Pool professionals suggest maintaining a salt level between 1,800 and 6,000 parts per million (ppm), with most pools hovering around 3,500 to 5,000 ppm.

Testing for Salt:       Pool Check Salt    |    Lamotte Waterproof Salt Meter

Some people believe that salt pools contain no chlorine, but in fact they really do. Salt pools do not, however, usually contain chloramines, often referred to as combined chlorine, which can irritate the eyes of swimmers and result in pools having a strong and unpleasant ‘chlorine smell’. The process by which chlorine generators produce chlorine also destroys chloramines.

Many pool professionals claim that properly installed and monitored chlorine generators make swimming pool ownership about as easy as it will ever get — short of hiring someone else to take care of the pool, of course!

Proper Monitoring/Maintenance of a Salt Pool

Will I Ever Need to Add More Salt?

While salt systems more or less recycle chlorine and in a perfect world would never need anything added to them to maintain a desired salt/chlorine concentration, water splashing out of the pool results in chlorine generators needing to slowly draw off of salt reserves which need replenishing every once in a while.

Will I Ever Need to Shock My Salt Pool?

Yes. Pool professionals suggest adding a non-chlorine shock treatment once a week to oxidize any accumulated bacteria or other contaminants not affected by normal chlorine residual levels.

Please note that merely cranking up a chlorine generator and running the system for a long time (24 or more hours in a row) will result in super-chlorination but it will not adequately oxidize contaminants in the water.

Will I Need to Use Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid)?

Most experts agree that a salt pool should have a chlorine stabilizer residual to keep the sun’s UV rays from depleting the pool’s free chlorine levels. A chlorine stabilizer concentration of 50 to 75 ppm will usually suffice, though pools in areas that get a lot of sun may require higher concentrations.

Seasonal Maintenance on a Chlorine Generator?

A definite YES. Each year, and possibly several times a year, pool experts recommend removing and cleaning the ‘salt cell’ in a mild acid in an effort to keep it free of calcium build-up and scale.

To help reduce and/or prevent calcium build-up on the cell you can use a product such as the Aquapill Salt Cell Guard.

Is There a Downside to Salt Water Pools?

Nothing great comes without a price of some sort, so yes, salt water pools do have a few negatives associated with them.

For starters, the initial cost of a decent chlorine generator can deter people from converting their pool over to a salt system. The cost of replacement cells, which most people WILL need at some point, may also make some people think twice about installing a salt system on their pool.

A second negative side to salt water pools deals with the fact that salt water tends to corrode many types of metal, including stainless steel, faster that standard chlorinated water. For that reason pretty much all above ground pool manufacturers will tell you that they will NOT honor any warranty claims for salt water pools.

Where Can I Get a Chlorine Generator for My Pool?

So glad you asked… An online pool products by the name of Amerimerc has a decent selection of chlorine generators and really great (inexpensive) shipping & handling policies.

Last year we published a blog entry called Peeing in the Swimming Pool… Americans Admit Doing It and many of you thought we made the whole thing up… but we didn’t. Take a look at the following article, published 5/20/2010, and you will understand why we urged, and continue to urge, people to take the matter of public pool testing into their own hands.

For those who opted not to check the link we just posted about how 1 in 5 Americans admit urinating in swimming pools, we ask you to think about the number of times you have waded through a pool and discovered a ‘warm spot’.

Granted that warmth may have come from the sun, sure, it could happen, but realistically, you may have just wandered through a patch of human urine before its warmth had a chance to dissipate into the rest of the pool. Gross.

Makes you think, right? It ought to… and it ought to make you think about testing the pool to make sure it has an acceptable pH and free chlorine level before you get in the water!

ARLINGTON, Va., May 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Unhealthy pools are more common than you may think. Newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) underscores the importance of protecting yourself and your family at the pool this summer. The CDC reports a disturbing statistic: About 1 out of 8 public pool inspections conducted in 13 states in 2008 resulted in pools being closed immediately due to serious code violations. The venues that had the most disinfection violations were kiddie/wading pools and water play areas.

Improperly chlorinated water puts swimmers at risk for recreational water illnesses like diarrhea and ear and skin infections. This summer the CDC is encouraging all swimmers to be activists – check your pool water and immediately report any problems to pool staff. Test strips are a quick and easy way to measure if there is adequate chlorine to kill germs and if pH is in the proper range. Swimmers can take action to protect themselves with free pool test kits offered by the Water Quality & Health Council on its website.

“You can’t always trust your fellow swimmer to practice healthy swimming habits,” said Chris Wiant, Chair of the Water Quality and Health Council. “But, what you can do is test the chlorine level and pH of the water to make sure your pool is properly treated – and immediately approach pool staff if it is not.”

Test strips are an easy way to check the water and maintain a healthy pool. When testing pool water, swimmers should be sure that the free chlorine level is between 1.0 and 4.0 parts per million (ppm) and the pH registers between 7.2 and 7.8.

Last year’s survey by the Water Quality and Health Council found that one in five Americans pee in the pool. Urine, as well as sweat and even sunscreen, contains nitrogen that eats up some of a pool’s free chlorine, making it less effective in fighting off waterborne germs. To ensure on-the-spot protection, it is important to regularly adjust a pool’s chlorine levels. ( source )

Scary, right? Can’t even take the kiddies, or your own hot self, to the local water spot to take a dip w/o worrying that someone has tainted the water — on purpose ‘cuz they’re lazy and don’t feel like walking alllllll the way to the bathroom OR because someone failed to heed the warning of ‘do not go swimming if you have, or have recently gotten over, diarrhea or some other gastrointestinal disorder’.

In the (un?)likely event that one or both of the types of people swim where you swim, don’t you want to know if the water has enough chlorine to kill the bacteria, germs, and other nasties? Don’t you want to know that the pool water has a pH level that will allow the chlorine to work properly?

Simple Pool Testing Options?

The Water Quality & Health Council has an offer of free test strips out there, so naturally we suggest jumping on THAT opportunity.

Free test strips always sounds better than having to shell out a few bucks. But let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that you DID have to pay for free chlorine and pH test strips… what would they cost?

Not a whole lot, actually. Right now a company called National Safety Products has Pool Check 3-Way Test Strips on sale for roughly $5 for a pack of 50 test strips that test for free chlorine, pH and Alkalinity.

For those who don’t trust test strips and would prefer to re-live old chemistry class moments and prefer to use ‘wet kits’ that use drops of reagents, don’t worry, they still make basic 4-Way Liquid Reagent Test Kits that test for free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, and alkalinity.

Regardless of how you look at it, in the end the safety of you and your children at the pool will ultimately come down to the quality of the water and in out opinion, if nationally recognized agencies suggest testing, well, we will heed their suggestions dutifully.

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Testing for bacteria in pool water? Yep. You can do that, too: WaterSafe Pool/Spa Bacteria Test Kit ought to do the trick.

Sam from Georgia wrote in and asked,

I badgered my husband into taking the cover off the pool last weekend at our new house. The cover ripped part way off the pool and dumped a lot of ‘stuff’ into the water. Should we wait to test until all the junk gets removed? And what should we test for?

First of all, congratulations on the purchase of your new home and ownership of a swimming pool.

We suggest you begin testing your pool water as soon as you have finished filling it up to the proper level, assuming you had to add water after taking the cover off. Often times the water people use to fill their pools may contain dissolved metals so you definitely want to test after you top off your pool.

At the beginning of each pool season we suggest people test for the following pool water parameters before adding anychemicals to their water:

• Free/Total Chlorine
• pH
• Alkalinity
• Calcium Hardness (in some cases total hardness)
• TDS
• Cyanuric Acid
• Iron
• Copper

Most people take a sample of water down to their local pool store in the beginning of the season and have trained pool water specialists examine their water. This works out well because they can get all the corrective and maintenance chemicals they need at the same time. It doesn’t hurt, either, that most pool stores don’t charge for water tests!

Suppose I Want to Test My Own Water… What Do You Suggest?

To start, we suggest that new pool owners not attempt to diagnose and fix their own water chemistry issues w/o assistance from experienced pool water professionals… so that means most people should take their water to a store and get it tested at the beginning of every swimming season.

Persons w/ degrees in chemistry and/or water science exempted from previous statement.

Now should you choose to go it alone, you have roughly three choices when it comes to testing your own water:

• Pool Water Test Strips — least expensive & very subjective
• Liquid/Tablet Test Kits — ‘wet’ chemistry & very subjective
• Pool Testing Meters — most expensive & least subjective

One of the most important thing you can do at the start of any pool season: TEST the WATER before you add chemicals!

Why? Because one of several things could happen if you don’t:

1. You may waste chemicals by adding them to water not properly balanced and the chemicals will not work properly.

2. You might not add enough of what you need and your water will take a lot longer to clear up and/or get properly balanced.

3. You may add too much of something and need to add MORE chemicals and/or drain water to counteract what you added by accident.

The best way to get an accurate reading of your pool water’s chemistry involves taking a trip to your local pool store where you pick up your pool chemicals and having trained staff test your water. Short of making that trip, you have a few pool water testing options: Liquid Test Kits, Test Strips (Pool Check, Aquachek) and Meters.

Liquid Test Kits

Pool Testing Meters

Pool Test Strips

Some people have not yet made the connection that bad tap or ground water stays bad whether you drink it or fill your swimming pool with it.

For most people opening their swimming pool means raising the water level off with fresh, untreated water from a garden hose or in some cases, a delivery truck. Once full of water, the testing can begin.

How Should Pool & Spa Owners Test Their Water?

Excellent question! In the ‘old’ days most pool and spa owners had a simple two-sided test kit for chlorine/ bromine and pH which looked like this:

… and each year the owners of these pool water and spa water owners made a pilgrimage to their local pool store to acquire replacement reagents for their pool and/or spa water test kits which looked like this:

While at their local pool store picking up the replacement reagents for their pool/spa water test kits, pool and spa owners would usually submit a sample of water from their freshly filled pool or spa to a smiling person behind the counter at the ‘water testing station’. Within minutes of handing over a soda can, mason jar, yogurt container or other (hopefully) sealed container full of water the same smiling water station attendant would return with a sheet of paper telling them the free chlorine, total chlorine, ph, alkalinity, total (or calcium) hardness, cyanuric acid, total dissolved solids, copper and iron levels in their water.

Can’t Pool & Spa Owners Test Their Own Water?

Of course they can. Swimming pool and spa water test kits

Then came the fun part: Picking up and paying for all the various tubs and canisters of powders and liquids that would hopefully bring their water back in line with what pool and spa water professionals consider healthy.

This seems like a good time to end today’s posting. Later we will go into the different methods a person can use to test their OWN pool or spa water: At-Home Pool & Spa Water Test Kits & Water Testing Meters and At-Home Pool & Spa Water Test Kits and Testing Supplies

For a lot of people the phrase Water Chemistry brings back memories of nightmarish chemistry exams in school. In this case, though, checking the chemistry means keeping track of certain parameters in the water and making sure they stay in the proper ranges.

Monitoring the water chemistry in a pool will not cause you the pain you suffered through earlier in life. For the average pool owner, simple dip-n-read Pool Check test strips will work just fine. They allow for easy monitoring of the basics: Chlorine Level, pH, Total Alkalinity, and Hardness. Additionally, a trip to the pool store with a sample of water works equally well. Plus the fine folks at the store will give excellent directions on how to correct any problems they may find.

For those who maintain commercial or public pools, use of dip-n-read test strips will typically NOT suffice.

Most local Health Departments prefer to see pool/spa professionals using EPA Compliant methods for the monitoring of certain things like Free & Total Chlorine. They also want to see a host of other parameters like Cyanuric Acid (chlorine stabilizer) monitored on a regular basis. Sound intimidating? Let us help you with that.

Prior to the introduction of portable, easy-to-use handheld meters like the eXact Micro 7+ Advanced Photometric System, EPA Compliant chlorine testing required messy wet kits, dropper bottles, titrants, tablets and/or irritating dusts. No other chlorine detection method involving DPD Chemistry existed.

Now, however, with affordable EPA Compliant (for chlorine monitoring) water quality testing meters such as the eXact Micro 7+ Advanced Photometric System which makes use of a new, more convenient DPD Delivery System known as DPD ReagentStrips available, chlorine testing has become a lot easier and pretty much anyone can obtain accurate, reliable water test results in minutes.

With temperatures soaring to record and near record highs all across the United States, it comes as no surprise to us that we have received numerous questions pertaining to the proper treatment of green swimming pool water, smelly swimming pool water… and some water that would make the average sewer worker vomit.

Therefore we have located yet another online source for Pool Water Testing and Pool Chemical Supplies. Below you will find quick links to various pool testing supplies, pool chemicals, pool shock treatments and other items such as automatic chemical feeders for swimming pools.

Just as with your drinking water, though, nothing beats a professional water test if you have reason to suspect that harmful bacteria or harmful levels of contaminants have entered your pool water.