Chlorine-liquid, granular, tablets

The primary reason for treating pool and spa water with chlorine is to disinfect and cleanse the water of unwanted bacteria, algae and body oils, thus keeping the water sparkling clean and ultimately preventing pool users from getting sick. The amount required – called chlorine demand – depends upon the number of swimmers using the pool, the amount of sunlight, temperature and other factors.

Once the initial chlorine demand is met, a residual supply of active, available chlorine is required to keep up the fight against organic contaminants as they enter the pool environment. The amount of this uncombined, active available chlorine remaining in your pool at any given time is called “free chlorine”

Shock Chemicals

Non-filterable wastes such as body fats, suntan oil, urine, perspiration, hair sprays, etc. can contribute significantly to the formation of chloramines in your pool/spa. Chloramines cause eyes to sting, irritate the skin and cause the water to be dull.

It is therefore very important to rid your pool/spa of chloramines by “shocking” it. Treating your pool with Shock chemicals will bring the pool water back to its clean, safe, sparkling condition by controlling the growth of algae and chemically reacting with the chloramines to make active chlorine. Shock chemicals are ideal for salt chlorinated pools as the active ingredients react with the dissolved salt to create active chlorine.

Spa Brominating Tablets

Like chlorine, bromine is an aggressive oxidizer, bactericide and algaecide; it also has the additional advantage of being a proven viricide. Bromine causes the formation of bromamines which unlike the chloramines produced by chlorine, are neither irritating nor emit unpleasant odours. Bromine, unlike chlorine, is effective in wide pH and temperature ranges.

As Spa Brominating Tablets dissolve, hypobromous acid and hydrochlorous are released into the water. The hypobromous acid deals with disinfection and oxidization. The hydrochlorous acid is used to convert the “Bromide Ion” (or used up bromine) back into active hypobromous acid, hence there is no wastage.

Algaecides

Algae are widely regarded as a pest organism in swimming pools and enter the pool by rain, wind and dust. Although not directly harmful to people, dead algal cells do provide food which can sustain more harmful organisms. Algal photosynthesis also causes the chlorine in your pool to be consumed more rapidly, reducing the chlorine available in your pool to kill other harmful organisms. Long filtration times are required to remove algae from the pool water and the algal cells are often the main component of the “dirt” which blocks filters, requiring them to be backwashed more frequently. Even small amounts of algae can make a pool look cloudy and unclean.

Some types of algae exist suspended in your pool water, however, most algae forms in green-black spots on the walls and floor of your pool. The latter type builds a protective barrier of impervious wax around itself. Chlorine is prevented from entering into the barrier and therefore cannot kill the algal colonies. One of the active ingredients of the algaecide will break down this protective coating, allowing chlorine and the other active ingredients to kill the algae. Treatment of very bad cases of pool algae involves the pool owner scrubbing the top layers of dead algae off alga clumps; therefore exposing live algae, which can then be affected by the algaecide and chlorine.

It is important to note that algae is highly unlikely to form if the free chlorine residual has been maintained at a satisfactory level at all times and the circulation is adequate.

Starver

There are two ways of eliminating algae from your pool - prevention and cure. All current treatments aimed at eliminating algae use some kind of poison (e.g. chlorine). A better way to ensure your pool is algae-free is to starve it of the nutrient which is vital to its growth-phosphate. Growing algae feed on the phosphate in pool water and dead algae release phosphate back into the water. By removing the phosphate from your pool water with a starver, existing algae will be starved of food. Spores entering a pool that has no phosphate will not flourish.

Stabilizers

UV (ultra-violet) radiation is a form of energy emitted by the sun. Just as high doses of UV can cause severe burns and skin cancers, UV radiation also has debilitating effects in unstabilised chlorine in pool water. Just as you protect your skin with zinc cream and sun lotions; it is also possible to protect the chlorine in pool water from the effects of the sun’s harmful rays. Without an effective sunscreen for your pool, the UV radiation will penetrate the water and destroys the active chlorine; thereby decreasing the water’s disinfecting capacity.

The active ingredient is cyanuric acid, which attaches itself to a portion of the active chlorine, preventing it from being destroyed by the UV radiation. This greatly reduces the chlorine loss and ensures that the outdoor pool owner will save money on sanitizing in the future. A pool “stabilized” in this way typically requires half the amount of chlorine compared to “unstabilised” pools. The stabilizer releases the chlorine it holds as the uncombined chlorine is consumed during normal sanitation process.

Clarifiers / Flocculants

Pool water clarity can be affected by tiny particles suspended in water, causing a cloudy appearance. These particles can be so tiny that they escape from conventional filtration, but are still large enough to scatter light, as their size and weight prevent them from sinking to the pool floor. Particles such as dirt, rust and lint are generally brought into the pool by the swimmer, while the pool surrounds often contribute particles such as leaves, bugs and other organic material, which break up in the pool water. These particles generally repel one another, so they will almost always remain at the same hard-to-filter size.

The charged polymer in the clarifier becomes useful in solving this problem by attaching itself to the suspended particles. The polymer’s long molecular structure attracts smaller particles (due to its charged nature) and eventually becomes a large particle built of tiny particles. The larger particles can therefore be removed from the water by filtration.

Generally, the size and weight of the larger polymer particles causes them to sink and be vacuumed from the pool floor. If the clarifier is used regularly, the filter will be used more efficiently and vacuuming will not be required. A clarifier therefore helps to keep your pool crystal clear. Stain & Scale Treatments

Scale formation is a result of high concentrations of calcium ions and carbonate ions in pool water. The calcium is present from the natural hardness of water; from calcium salts added to the pool, (especially in new pools) or from plaster on the wall itself.

In properly balanced water, calcium exists invisibly as dissolved calcium ions. However, high pH and/or total alkalinity cause an increase in the amount of carbonate ions. These combine with the calcium ions to cause precipitation of calcium carbonate, more commonly known as scale. Dirt, algae or iron can become trapped in the scale, resulting in discolouration and stains. Furthermore, scale can be very sharp and abrasive. The plaster on the pool walls may also become scratched or chipped, readily absorbing substances from the water, such as metals and minerals. This occurs especially in aggressive or unbalanced water where the water “attacks” any metals it contacts.

Stain & Scale Treatments contain special chemicals that bind with dissolved metal ions, disperse solid materials and inhabit insoluble materials from forming on the pool surface. Therefore, all stains, scale and discoloured water are eliminated. Used regularly, Stain & Scale Treatments can be used to prevent further stain, scale or discolouration problems.  

Salt Chlorinator Water Conditioner

What is Water Hardness? Hardness is a term which indicates the mineral content of water. All pool water contains some degree of hardness due to dissolved calcium and magnesium, which exist in our water supplies. This hardness can cause scale to build up, particularly where the pH is high (such as in a salt chlorinator) or where the water temperature is high (such as the surface of the heat exchange elements of a gas or electric heater).

What is Scale? Scale consists of sandpaper-like calcium bearing deposits that can coat pool walls and clog pipes. Scale can also build up on salt chlorinator electrodes and heat exchange elements of gas and electric heaters, preventing them from working to their full efficiency.

A salt chlorinator Water Conditioner does not stop the formation of scale but prevents it from forming a hard shell over these surfaces. The water flow in the plumbing will help to disperse future scale formations. Routine maintenance of the salt chlorinator electrodes will therefore not involve harsh acids to remove any scale-the scale can simply be hosed off with tap water.  

Water Balancing Chemicals

Correctly balanced water is essential when considering the long-term effect on pool finishes, exposed metal and equipment. If water is out of balance it will either be corrosive or scale forming. In either case it is totally detrimental to the management of the pool.  

Alkalinity Increaser

Total Alkalinity is the measurement of all the alkaline chemicals in pool water. Not all alkaline chemicals have the ability to buffer pH. It is therefore important to have a Total Alkalinity comprising mainly of pH buffering alkaline chemicals. Alkalinity Increaser contains sodium bicarbonate, which is such a chemical.

Of all factors that contribute to water balance, Total Alkalinity is very important in that it sustains the pH at a level comfortable for swimming and appropriate for chlorine sanitation. If the pH was any higher or lower, the effectiveness of the chlorine in the water will be altered. The ideal range for Total Alkalinity in swimming pool water is between 80 and 150 mg/L. Low Total Alkalinity makes it very difficult to control pH and a water balance problem referred to as “pH Bounce” will occur. Low Alkalinity is also very corrosive, similar to low pH.  

Hardness Increaser

Calcium Hardness is the measurement expressed in milligrams per liter of the amount of dissolved calcium in the water. When there is a high concentration of calcium in the water, we say the water is “hard” and when there is little or no calcium, the water is referred to as “soft”.

A certain amount of dissolved calcium required to ensure balanced pool water. Low levels of dissolved calcium can cause etching and corrosion of the concrete-based pool surfaces as the water tries to obtain calcium from another source. The ideal range for Calcium Hardness in swimming pool water is between 150 and 300 mg/L.

Hardness Increaser raises the calcium hardness when added to your pool, thus maintaining the dissolved calcium level and ensuring that the pool water is properly balanced.  

pH Adjusters

The pH is a measurement of the acid / alkaline balance of the water on a scale of 0-14, with 7.0 being distilled neutral water, which is neither acid nor alkaline. The ideal pH level in a swimming pool should be between 7.2 and 7.8. This is not only the ideal level for body comfort, but also the ideal level for achieving maximum chlorine efficiency.

Two major causes of pH change in swimming pool water are the top-up water and the regular sanitizing chemicals. However, there are many other factors that influence the change in pH: perspiration from swimmers, organic matter blowing into the pools, or even rainwater.

A low pH level (below 7.0) will cause sore eyes, eventually cause corrosion of any metal parts exposed to watch, etch marble finished pools and wrinkle vinyl liners. Fibreglass pools will also suffer surface degradation when exposed to low pH levels over a period of time.

pH Increaser raises the pH when added to your pool. This means that when your pool is too acidic, a pH Increaser can be added to maintain the pH of the water at a level suitable for both swimmer comfort and for the chlorine to carry out proper disinfection.

A high pH level (above 8.0 common in salt chlorinated pools or pools that use hypochlorites as a regular sanitizer) will drastically reduce the effectiveness of chlorine-in fact, with a pH of 8.0, chlorine will react twice as slowly in killing harmful bacteria. pH Decreaser lowers the pH when added to your pool. This means when your pool is too alkaline, pH Decreaser can be added to maintain the pH of the water at a level suitable for both swimmer comfort and for the chlorine to carry out proper disinfection.