| Pool water pH & its effect on your
body. "Why
do I have to worry about testing & balancing my swimming pool water? If it
looks clear, everything must be good. Right?" The answer is, "Usually not."
Pool Water balancing
for you & your body: When the pH & Total
alkalinity are out of balance, your chlorine, bromine or other sanitizer don't
work as efficiently as they should. When the sanitizer doesn't work
efficiently, bacteria & other stuff you don't want in your spa start gaining
control. You could easily end up with
skin rashes and eye irritations
at least. Imagine swimming in battery acid (low pH) or oven cleaner (high
pH). You wouldn't do it. It would be foolish.
Here's a case in point. It's
extreme but a true story:
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.
Your physical well-being is at stake.
Adjusting pH:
Adjusting the pH is one of the most essential elements to good swimming
pool maintenance. Almost more important than the chlorine, bromine
or other sanitizer level. When the pH is correct, the sanitizer
works the way it was meant to. Use BioGuard Balance Pak 200 to
increase the pH and BioGuard Lo 'n Slo to lower the pH. Don't use
baking soda (great for baking & cooking, lousy for pools) or any other
household product that isn't made to treat swimming pool water. Lo
'n Slo is a dry acid & is much safer than muriatic acid or sulfuric acid
to lower the pH.

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