Have you balanced your pools water in preparation for the pools closing? This is often overlooked and failure to do so, could result in liner wrinkles, fading or even staining. It is suggested to protect your investment, bring in a water sample 2 or 3 weeks prior to closing, this will allow adequate time to adjust and balance the water.
Water balance is not such a complicated exercise. It is simply the relationships of different chemical parameters to each other. Your swimming pool water is constantly changing. Anything and everything directly and indirectly affects water balance - from sunlight, wind and rain to the oil, dirt and cosmetics which may enter the water.
You will likely not change the water in your swimming pool for many years. Continuous filtration and disinfection remove contaminants which keep the water enjoyable, but this is not water balance. An inground, aboveground pool or hot tub that is "balanced" has proper levels of pH, Total Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness. It may also be defined as water that is neither corrosive or scaling. This concept is derived from the fact that water will dissolve and "hold" minerals until it becomes saturated and cannot hold any more in solution. When water is considerably less than saturated it is said to be in a corrosive or aggressive condition. When water is over saturated, and can no longer hold the minerals in solution; this is known as a scaling condition. So then, balanced water is that which is neither over or under saturated. The cliché that "water seeks its own level" certainly applies here. Water which is under saturated will attempt to saturate itself by dissolving everything in contact with it in order to build up its content. Water which is over saturated will attempt to throw off some of its content by precipitating minerals out of solution in the form of scale.
How do we know when our water is over or under saturated? First of all, we use a good test kit (with fresh testing reagents) to measure the chemical parameters of pH, alkalinity and calcium hardness. Test strips are a good home indicator for daily use. However, we recommend to bring a sample into Aqua-Blue Pools, Spas & Bath Fixtures every 4-5 weeks. We provide a detailed and accurate test to better adjust the water.
