Keeping Your Pool Bacteria-Free

In order to enjoy your pool to the fullest extent, you have to keep up with its routine maintenance. A huge part of that maintenance, of course, is keeping the pool clean and its chemicals balanced. Bacteria is one of your biggest enemies when you're a pool owner, and you constantly need to work to keep it at bay. Otherwise, the people who swim in your pool can get sick and spread their illnesses - and germs - to other swimmers.

Keeping bacteria at bay isn't difficult, but you have to be vigilant about it. The key to controlling the bacteria in your pool is proper sanitation. Sanitising your pool water by using chlorine is the absolute best way to go. After sanitising it with chlorine, you then run the water through your pool filter to remove the dead bacteria. Failure to do so can make pools Brisbane filthy and unpleasant to swim in. You can learn more about keeping swimming pools Brisbane clean and bacteria-free by reading on below.

Understanding Chlorine

How do you know whether you're using the right level of chlorine to keep your pool free from bacteria? By testing the water regularly. For the best results, you want to make sure that your pool water's chlorine level stays between 1.0 and 2.0 parts per million, or ppm. As long as it's within that range, you can rest assured that no dangerous bacteria is lurking in your water and potentially sickening the people who swim there.

Types Of Chlorine

You can purchase chlorine in many different forms; there are granular, liquid and tablet forms, and it is also available as stabilised or unstabilised chlorine. Each of these variations has its own pros and cons. Granular chlorine, for instance, is easy to store; the downside to it is that it can't be used instantly. Liquid chlorine can be used as needed and immediately, but it is difficult to store and loses potency over time. The kind of chlorine that will work best for you will depend on many things, and you'll probably want to do a bit of experimentation, or talk to your local pool shop. Also, an additional alternative would be to install a salt chlorinator, as opposed to manually adding chlorine.

What Does Stabilisation Mean?

Stabilised chlorine is chlorine that is treated with isocyanuric acid, which works to prevent UV rays from compromising the integrity of the chlorine. Indeed, UV rays can lower the effectiveness of chlorine, so many people prefer to purchase stabilised chlorine to avoid the problem. If you decide to use stabilised chlorine, remember that you'll need to keep your eye on the level of isocyanuric acid in your water, too. Otherwise it can get too high and inhibit the effectiveness of the chlorine, allowing bacteria to run rampant in your water without you even realising it. Stabiliser (or sunscreen) can also be purchased and added separately.