Chemicals in Swimming Pools Besides Chlorine
Balanced pool chemistry is essential for keeping swimming pool water clear and healthy for swimmers. Chlorine is the most commonly thought of chemical that is used in pool water. It is used for the elimination of bacteria and other harmful organisms. Chlorine is only one of many chemicals necessary to maintain swimming pools. There are a number of chemicals required to take care of algae content, hard water, cloudy or murky water and pH levels. Does this Spark an idea?
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Cyanuric Acid
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Cyanuric acid is typically sold as a product called stabilizer. When chlorine is added to a swimming pool and sunlight strikes the water, chlorine is often destroyed by ultraviolet rays from the sun. Cyanuric acid protects chlorine from the ultraviolet rays and allows it to continue doing its job of sanitizing even in direct sunlight. Most chlorine tablets contain a trace amount of cyanuric acid, but not enough to completely protect it.
Algaecide
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Algaecide is added to swimming pool water as it is needed. The purpose, as the name indicates, is to kill algae growing in the water. Algae can cloud water and turn it to a murky green, yellow or even black color. Algaecide is usually found in liquid form or it can be bought as a granular formula. Killing algae with algaecide is contingent upon knowing the type of algae in a pool. Certain types of algaecide are only good for ridding your pool of one type of algae. Overuse of this product can cause foaming.
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Clarifier
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Pool water clarifier is a chemical that is used when pool water becomes cloudy. When particles are too small to be caught by the pool's filtration system, they are suspended in the water and cause it to take on a white appearance. Often the problem is so bad that a person cannot see the bottom of the pool from the deck.
Clarifiers cause the suspended debris in the water to clump together to form larger particles that the filtration system will pick up and remove from the water. The result is a return to clear water. Clarifiers are often used along with super chlorination or "shock" chemicals to restore clarity.
Bromine
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Bromine is a chlorine alternative that kills bacteria and other harmful microorganisms in pool water. Bromine is more expensive than chlorine and is most commonly sold in tablet form. The advantage of bromine over chlorine is its ability to remain effective and stable in higher temperature waters. This is the main reason bromine is more common in hot tubs, where temperatures are often higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sodium Bisulfate and Carbonate
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Sodium bisulfate is a chemical usually referred to as "pH Decreaser" or "pH Minus." This chemical is used to lower the alkalinity of pool water when pH readings are high. Sodium carbonate works in the opposite way and is known as "pH Plus." The chemical raises pH and alkalinity and is interchangeable for pool usage with the additive known as soda ash.
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