Algae (plural) are common in swimming pools that struggle with chlorine efficiency, sanitizer killing speed, and high phosphates. This article is an overview of what algae are, and how to kill and prevent algae from taking over your swimming pool.
Our scale and metal control product, SC-1000, is powerful and concentrated, but it has one major downside: the purge dose of SC-1000 wipes out free chlorine for a couple of days. But why?
Pool industry textbooks and certification courses tell us that swimming pools should be maintained ideally between 7.4 to 7.6 pH. But why? Is it for sanitizer efficiency or overall water balance? Or perhaps it is because of swimmer comfort. Everyone we have asked in the pool industry makes mention of the pH of human tears...but a simple online search debunks that myth. So let's challenge conventional wisdom and get to the truth.
Cold water is more aggressive than warm water. Not surprisingly, most pool surface damage occurs during the winter. Problems like calcium crystals and winter dust can be prevented by taking an LSI-based approach to pool winterization. In this article, we will explain how.
By Keith Coursin - President, Desert Aire Corp.
Chlorine is the most popular pool sanitizer. Its responsibilities include sanitization, disinfection and oxidation. Needless to say, having a good residual of free chlorine is essential to having a healthy and safe pool to swim in. This article will explain how to add various types of chlorine to your swimming pool. Let's get started.
First and foremost, a word of caution. NEVER mix different types of chlorine together. Even storing them near each other can be dangerous. Chlorine is a volatile oxidizer and when mixed with other types of chlorine, it can be deadly. Always use protective gloves and glasses, and use caution. In fact, as a rule of thumb, NEVER mix chlorine directly with anything else.
Carbonate scale tends to form in the hottest water first...usually inside saltwater chlorine generators (salt cells) and heat exchangers. This is a function of the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI), as higher temperatures increase the tendency for scale formation. In this article, we will give you some simple tips for preventing scale formation in both of these places.
Do you need to raise alkalinity or pH in your swimming pool? If so, there are two dry chemicals that you can choose from. One is sodium bicarbonate (bicarb), and the other is a higher pH substance called soda ash.
This article will walk you through how to safely and properly add either of these chemicals. And yes, bicarb and soda ash are different! The procedure for adding them, however, is identical. We just dose them differently. Adding dry chemicals like soda ash and sodium bicarb is not as simple as it sounds...you don't just throw them in the pool. Like any other dry chemical, we should pre-dissolve sodium bicarb or soda ash in a bucket prior to adding to the pool. Let's explain.
Many people think The Orenda Startup™ is a calcium-based startup. But that's not always the case, and we want to set the record straight. The Orenda Startup™ is an LSI-based startup.
A "hot start" is a method for starting up a new or resurfaced pool using a lot of acid. It is extremely aggressive–by design–so it etches calcium off the surface, hopefully evenly. The objective of a hot start is to "burn up" plaster dust and any imperfections left behind by the plaster application process, so that the customer is left with a beautiful looking pool. A hot start may also be called a "zero alkalinity startup" or an "acid startup". This article will discuss what hot starts are, why they are used, how they are done, and the chemistry behind the process.
It happens all the time. Swimming pool pH climbs, or sometimes spikes, and all sorts of problems like calcium dust and carbonate scale can occur. But what causes high pH in pools? Why does the pH sometimes climb, and other times stay relatively steady? In this article, we will discuss pH and how it shifts, and offer some remedies to correct the pH, based on each situation.
When first using Orenda products like SC-1000 and CV-600/700, the initial dose is what we call the purge dose. So what is a purge? And why is it necessary? This article will explain.