When extreme levels of carbonate alkalinity is combined with and extremely low or high pH, it can have severe negative effects on your pool.
As you do your final pool testing for the season, you should be doing an alkalinity measurement along with everything else. Alkalinity isn’t frequently used when people talk about pools–as a consequence, not many people know what it means. They just make sure the colors match up on their pool water test, and do what the boxes say when it isn’t right. But you should always know everything about your pool and its water. Read on to learn more about alkalinity.
What is alkalinity?
Alkalinity is the measure of how likely your pH is to change. There are two aspects to it: total alkalinity, and carbonate alkalinity. Carbonate alkalinity isn’t usually needed, but it is essentially the part of total alkalinity that is due to carbonates. When extreme levels of carbonate alkalinity is combined with and extremely low or high pH, it can have severe negative effects on your pool.
What does it mean to have high or low alkalinity?
It just means that your pH is subject to change. You need to watch your pH, because it defines how acidic your pool is! High carbonate alkalinity combined with high pH can actually dissolve pool linings. You can imagine that the wrong level of chemicals in your pool will cause significant damage to your body. That’s why it’s always important to do water tests; water test kits will usually tell you just want to do if your pool is off balance.
Do I need to add more chemicals?
Before you do that, you should see if you can find the solution on this page. It will teach you more about what you can do if your pool’s chemicals are off at any point. Always make sure your pool is balanced!
Need your pool’s chemicals maintained? Sunrise Premier Pool Builders can help!
We offer full pool maintenance services, repairs and openings/closings. Our services come in convenient packages, so you can make sure you’re getting the most out of your investment.
If you are ready to design the perfect pool for your home, contact the experts at Sunrise Pools & Spas. For more information on our services, contact us online or give us a call at 410-349-3852. To see examples of our work, check us out on social media on Facebook,Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+.