Keeping Clean with Chemicals
Pool Chemicals

When warmer weather makes its debut, the first thing pool owners are eager to do is open their pool. Once the pool is opened, the whole family is ready for some summer fun. But how do you keep your pool as fresh as the first day for the rest of the season? Here’s a breakdown of the common pool chemicals used to ensure your pool is crystal clear.

Chlorine – The Most Common of all Pool Chemicals

Chlorine is the most common chemical used in pool maintenance. It is an extremely reactive chemical element, symbol Cl and atomic number 17, and is the second lightest halogen. When paired with sodium, it creates the chemical compound NaCl, which is more commonly known as salt. 

When it comes to sanitizing pools, elemental chlorine is used to create a weak acid that kills off harmful bacteria. While it helps clean and is found in table salt, concentrated chlorine in large doses is incredibly poisonous to all living beings. Have you ever noticed that your swimsuit faded after swimming in a highly chlorinated pool? When putting chlorine tablets in your pool system, always make sure you’re using the correct amount. 

Shock

Shock is extremely concentrated chlorine meant to be used every so often to kill off any germs in the pool in a very short time period. It should not be used every day in the way that traditional chlorine is used. When shocking a pool, it’s suggested that you refrain from swimming in the pool for 12-24 hours until the chlorine levels decrease. 

Clarifier

A clarifier is a concentrated substance that you add to your pool water that helps dirt and other particles suspended in the water make their way to the filter. Essentially, clarifiers are full of positively charged ions that cause the negatively charged ions in the dirt particles to coagulate into larger groups, allowing the filter to catch them. Clarifiers are important to maintaining your pool because they clear up cloudy water that could be hiding some gross bacteria. 

Stabilizer

Using chlorine in your pool is essential and a stabilizer helps your chlorine last longer. By adding stabilizer, known as cyanuric acid, to your pool, you’re protecting the chlorine from UV rays. Without a stabilizer, the chlorine would evaporate before it even cleaned your pool water. 

Certain chlorine tablets already have some type of stabilizer within them so be sure to check whether or not the ones you use do because adding too much stabilizer can have the opposite effect on your pool and not properly sanitize the water.

Algaecide

The name is somewhat self-explanatory — it’s a chemical that not only kills off algae but also prevents future algae growth. It can be used on a weekly basis and should always be added after you treat your pool with shock.

Pool Chemicals – Help From The Pool Professionals

Maintaining a pool can be difficult but we promise that it’s worth it, especially when you have a pool from Aqua Leisure Pools & Spas. If you need assistance opening your pool or just need to order the chemicals to open it yourself, contact us today!