Keep your pool sparkling this summer
As we head towards the hot summer months, those of us with swimming pools are looking forward to refreshingly cool dips throughout the season. Here are a few tips to keep your swimming pool sparkling and clean.
Filling up the first time
If you have just installed a brand new pool, I'm sure you can't wait to get the water in and start using the pool. Before you do, follow the instructions below for filling up and treating your pool for the first time.
- Tie a cloth over the garden hose. Put the garden hose into the deep end of the pool. Switch the pool hose on and fill the pool until the water level reaches the middle of the entrance to the weir. The colour of the water will be greenish – this is normal
- Check and correct the pH level to between 7.2 – 7.6.
- In the evening, add 2 cups of HTH® Classic for every 10 000 litres of pool water. Follow label instructions.
- Filter continuously for 24 hours.
- After the first 12 hours, test the pH and recorrect if necessary to between 7.2 – 7.6.
- At this stage, the automatic pool cleaner may be connected. (If this is a new marbelite pool, wait the recommended 28 days before connecting the automatic pool cleaner).
- Continue filtering until the 24 hour cycle is completed
- Check the TA and adjust to between 80 – 120ppm.
- Freshly filled pools will have a low calcium hardness level. This must be increased to prevent premature deterioration of the pool shell and equipment. Maintain calcium hardness between 250 – 1000ppm by scattering calcium chloride over the pool water while the filter is running.
If you are filling your pool up from a borehole, follow the above instructions but when there is a depth of approximately 1 metre of water in the deep end, dilute 1 litre of HTH® Metal Remover in 10 litres of water and distribute over the surface of the water. This will reduce the possibility of staining.
Increase PH level
Note: To raise pH in fibreglass pools, only HTH® Alkalinity Up should be used
- If the pH is lower or has been lower than 7.2, first add 1 litre of HTH® Metal Remover to the pool - follow label instructions.
- With the pump on the filter position, add 250g of HTH® Alkalinity Up around the sides of the pool.
- Let the filter run for 3 - 4 hours and re-check the pH. If the pH is still too low, repeat the addition until within the required range.
NB: One cap of 3kg HTH® Alkalinity Up holds 500g of product.
Recommended Products: 1. HTH® Metal Remover 2. HTH® Alkalinity Up
All dosages are based on an average pool with a capacity of 50 000 litres. Adjust according to your pool size.
Decrease PH level
- Add 1 litre of HTH® Metal Remover to the pool - follow label instructions.
- With the pump on the filter position, add 250g (1 cup) of HTH® Dry Acid or 250ml HTH® Easy Acid around the sides of the pool.
- Let the filter run for 3 - 4 hours and re-check the pH. If the pH is still too high, repeat the addition until within the required range.
NB: Never add more than 500ml at any one time.
Recommended Products: 1. HTH® Metal Remover 2. HTH® Dry Acid/HTH® Easy Acid
Maintaining correct pool
Because chlorine can dissipate under the ultraviolet rays of strong sunlight, HTH® Classic should always be added in the early evening so that the job of disinfecting the pool is accomplished overnight. Night-time addition of chlorine allows more effective use of the chlorine for oxidising and disinfecting.
Chlorine loss can be reduced by stabilising pool water with cyanuric acid (pool stabiliser).
In a pool treated exclusively with HTH® Classic, the initial dosage of cyanuric acid (pool stabiliser) should be between 40 - 60ppm.
When using a stabilised monthly floater or stabilised pills, the start-up dosage should be 30 ppm. Stabilised floaters and pills deposit a residual of cyanuric acid in the pool water which gradually build up and if not checked, can reach an unacceptable level.
- Remove the automatic pool cleaner. Backwash and then rinse the filter thoroughly.
- Adjust the pH to 7.2.
- In the evening, shock treat the pool by adding 3 cups of HTH® Classic or one sachet of HTH® Super Shock It. Run the filter continuously for 12 hours.
- Mix the required amount of HTH® Pool Stabiliser in a clean plastic bucket. 1kg of HTH® Pool Stabiliser in a 50 000 litre pool will raise the stabiliser level by 20ppm.
- Pour the slurry into the weir and run the filter for at least 12 hours.
- Check and correct the pH to 7.2.
- Reconnect the automatic pool cleaner.
- Thereafter continue with normal filtration and chlorination programme.
- Although cyanuric acid is totally soluble, it is very slow dissolving and because of poor solubility, some product may settle on the filter media. Do not backwash for at least 48 hours. If you backwash before product dissolves, you may lose some of the product.
Note:
- Pool stabiliser added in the recommended quantities, is sufficient for a whole season. Splash-out and backwashing will reduce its concentration, so a check should be made at the beginning of each season.
- If you intend using one of the stabilised products as a sanitiser, at start-up, raise the cyanuric acid level to 30ppm because these products add cyanuric acid to the water as they dissolve.
- To ensure that the water does not become overstabilised, always backwash for an extra minute or two. When replacement water is added it will dilute the concentration of the cyanuric acid. Therefore, test the cyanuric acid level at least twice a season.
- The chlorine residual level must be maintained at a slightly higher level i.e. between 1.5 - 3.0 ppm if using stabilised products. The pool water should, therefore, be shock treated with HTH® Classic every 7 - 10 days during the summer months.
All dosages are based on an average pool with a capacity of 50 000 litres. Adjust according to your pool size, regional variations and weather conditions.
Pool tips provided by HTH. Find HTH products and equipment at your local Builders Warehouse.