Why Do I Need To Test My Water?
Testing your water ensures you know what you’re jumping into (pun intended). It lets you know how safe your water is and whether it could start damaging your pool or its equipment.
Picture this, if you will. You’ve been working all week and haven’t even looked at your pool, let alone cleaned it. It’s Saturday morning and you’re ready to relax all day, grilling and swimming with the family. The weather is perfect for it. You peek out the window to get a look at the pool, and to your horror, the water is cloudy! You can barely make out the drain!
Thankfully, you have options. But none of those options are going to get you in the pool within the next couple of hours. In this instance, prevention is key. And testing your water is the best way to ensure the safety and enjoyability of your pool.
Regular testing of your pool’s water ensures a couple things. Most importantly, it lets you know how much sanitizer you have in your pool. Your sanitizer, be it chlorine, bromine, or something else, is what kills the harmful bacteria and germs, preventing illnesses. It also prevents the growth of different types of algae and cyanobacteria. If you don’t test for a level of sanitizer in your pool, you are quite literally flirting with disaster. Testing for sanitizer should be done before anyone goes in the pool. And if there isn’t any sanitizer in your pool, DON’T ALLOW ANYONE IN THE POOL! As the pool owner, you have a responsibility to protect everyone that gets in, and failing to do so subjects you and them to unnecessary risks.
Testing your pool also lets you know if your water is getting aggressive. You’ll know when your water is aggressive because it acts “hangry”. Not really, but kind of. Water is constantly seeking balance and if not balanced correctly, it can damage your pool’s surface and equipment as it tries to balance itself. The most common example of this is the “etching” of concrete pools. If the calcium hardness of your pool is too low, the water will try to pull calcium from whatever it touches. If the calcium in your water is too high, it will attempt to get rid of it in the form of scale. Neither of which condition you want.
Frequent water testing also ensures the environment is suitable for chlorine to work. Chlorine is most effective at its sanitizing job when the water’s pH is in the acceptable range (7.2-7.8). If the pH gets too high, the chlorine is less effective at killing the harmful junk living in your pool, putting you and your family at risk. pH should also be tested before anyone gets in the pool. If it’s too low, your water is considered acidic and becomes not so awesome to swim in. Think itchy eyes and skin.
The Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) is widely used in the pool cleaning and service industry to identify whether the water is corrosive or scale forming. The factors that determine this are water temperature, pH, carbonate alkalinity, calcium hardness, cyanuric acid* (stabilizer), and total dissolved solids. Pool owners can affect all of those values (if they have a heater) to ensure their water is balanced according to the LSI. Notice that chlorine isn’t on that list? While important to ensure the safety of your swimmers, it has no effect on the LSI.
At a minimum, pool owners should be testing all of those factors, plus their sanitizer, to ensure their water is balanced. There are tons of apps out there that will tell you your water’s LSI once you plug the values in. Do your due diligence when deciding which one to use. Some are trying to sell you something.
Testing your water also serves another purpose. It gets you out to your pool. It gives you an opportunity to check on everything and makes sure it’s on the right track. Identifying and fixing problems during the week almost guarantees you get to enjoy your pool all weekend.
Now, back to your scenario. Your pool’s water is cloudy and you had big plans for the day. The first thing you need to do? Correct, go test the water. Then make sure your pool’s equipment is working as it should. You may need to clean the filter or backwash. If you have a variable speed pump, you may need to increase its RPMs to get an effective water flow to meet your turnover. If all of that is up to snuff, chances are the pH is high. In addition to decreasing chlorine’s effectiveness, a high pH is a major contributor to cloudy water. Fix the pH level and your water may clear up. Ensure you follow the directions on the chemicals you use, especially the part that states how long to wait before it’s safe to swim. But this isn’t a guarantee. Your water may not clear up. If it doesn’t clear up, don’t go in. Swimming in cloudy water can be extremely dangerous. It’s not worth the risk.
If you want to avoid this stressful situation all together, make a habit of checking on your pool daily. Daily skimming and emptying debris baskets will greatly improve your water quality and protect your residual chlorine level. Balancing your water during the week also allows sufficient time for the chemicals to disperse before you jump in.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for all your pool water testing questions! We provide quality pool cleaning, maintenance, and education services to Fayetteville, NC and the surrounding areas.
*Cyanuric Acid contributes to the carbonate alkalinity, which affects the LSI
Follow all applicable laws, regulations, and guidelines. This article is intended for informational purposes only and we are not held liable for any injuries or damages resulting from the information contained in it or failure to follow applicable laws and manufacture recommendations. Please reach out to us if you need something clarified. This article in no way claims to be all encompassing of water testing, nor diagnosing any problems. We follow and adhere to local regulations and the most updated version of the Model Aquatic Health Code.
