Pool chemicals are essential for maintaining clean and healthy water that’s safe to swim in. Yet the very chlorine you add to control bacterial growth and prevent algae development also slowly damages your pool equipment. While chemicals are important, they can’t replace the water cleaning work done by the skimmer, filters, vacuums, and other essential pieces of cleaning equipment.
Watch out for overuse of shocking treatments and chlorine tabs to prevent unnecessary damage. Protect your pool equipment by avoiding these common chemical mistakes.
Miscalculating Chemical Amounts
Almost all of the problems with pool liners and equipment damaged by high chemical levels start with miscalculations. Over time, it’s easy to assume you’ve got the right amounts in mind as you treat your pool. Yet relying on a pool chemical calculator is the only way to ensure you’re using the right amount of calcium hardness increasers, pH buffers, total alkalinity increasers, and other chemicals in addition to chlorine.
With so many pool chemicals involved in maintaining water quality, it’s essential not to overuse any of them. Most pool chemicals, including chlorine, bromine, and cyanuric acid, tend to accelerate corrosion and weaken plastic materials when applied in high concentrations.
Failing to Test Water Quality Regularly
Using a pool chemical test kit every week might sound like overkill if you’ve had your pool for a few years already. But how else will you know what parameters you’re dealing with? Everything from sun exposure to ambient temperatures and debris falling in the pool can alter the chemical levels. If you’re not checking pool chemicals already in the water before adding more, you risk damaging almost all parts of the pool’s filtration system.
If the pH of the pool water falls too low, it can damage your equipment by corroding metal parts and weakening plastics. If the pH remains too high for too long, calcium build-up and mineral scaling tend to occur and damage equipment as well. Properly balanced water is safer to swim in and better for your pool equipment.
Leaving Pool Cleaning Robots in the Pool All the Time
Pool cleaning robots can do a great job at removing debris like leaves, hair, and bits of dirt. However, they’re not designed to linger in the chlorinated water at all times. Even normal chlorine and bromine levels can damage the more sensitive parts, such as the robot’s paddles or wheels. Take the robot out when it has completed a cleaning cycle and store it out of the sun to prevent UV damage as well.
Exposing Solar Covers to High Chlorine Levels
Solar covers help prevent algae growth while raising the water temperature, but they’re not designed to withstand the high chemical levels required during a shock. Whenever you plan to shock the pool, remove the solar cover first and place it folded up in a shady area to protect it from UV exposure.
Dropping Chlorine Tabs in the Pool Skimmer
If you’re still at the stage in your pool ownership journey where you’re asking questions like “What chemicals do I need for a pool?”, you’re at risk of developing a few bad habits from the start. For example, many newer pool owners figure that the pool skimmer basket is the perfect place for dropping a chlorine tablet so it can dissolve before mixing with the rest of the water.
These tabs are designed to dissolve slowly in the pool itself, so they’ll expose the skimmer to very high levels of chlorine if they’re left to dissolve there instead. It can also damage the pipes, heater, and pump when the concentrated water is sucked through the circulation system. Use tabs as directed and mix any granulated pellets or powders in a plastic bucket before adding to pool water to reduce the potential for damage.
Letting Calcium Hardness Fall Too Low
You need to track more than just pH, total dissolved solids, and sanitizer levels to keep your water balanced by adding the right chemicals to swimming pool water. Calcium hardness levels are particularly tricky to balance, yet letting them drop too low runs the risk of serious damage to your pool equipment and surfaces. When there’s not enough free calcium dissolved in the water, the other chemicals in the pool will begin to dissolve the pool’s surface or liner to gain it. Metal fittings and equipment also become damaged by corrosion, and the water looks murky or off-colored. You need a minimum of 150 ppm calcium hardness in vinyl-lined pools and 200 ppm to protect plaster and pebble surfaces.
Using Too Much Algaecide
There are many techniques to reduce algae levels and prevent their growth, but some pool owners tend to rely on algaecide chemicals alone and not much else. It’s best to use a combined approach to control algae by improving filtration and circulation, reducing sun exposure with shades or covers, and keeping the water balanced ahead of large parties or storms that will drop debris. Avoid using a pool robot during algae blooms since it’s likely to spread spores around. Limited use of algaecide is just fine, but having to use it too often runs the risk of damaging many plastic and vinyl materials.
Improving Circulation with In-Floor Pool Cleaning Systems
Even when chemicals are carefully measured and added at the right time, their effectiveness depends on how well they’re circulated throughout the pool. Dead spots in the water can lead to algae growth, uneven sanitizer levels, and scaling that shortens the life of pool equipment. Traditional return jets only push water in one direction, which often leaves corners and the pool floor under-treated.
An in-floor pool cleaning system, such as Blue Square Manufacturing’s Q360+, solves this problem by continuously moving water across every surface of the pool. As the system cycles, it evenly distributes chlorine, pH stabilizers, and other chemicals, preventing the high-concentration damage that can occur in stagnant areas. Beyond keeping the pool looking clean, this balanced circulation protects heaters, pumps, and filters from unnecessary wear caused by chemical buildup or uneven treatment.
By pairing balanced chemical use with an advanced circulation system, pool owners can maintain sparkling water while extending the lifespan of both their pool equipment and surfaces.
Take care of your pool equipment to spend less money repairing, maintaining, and replacing it over the years. Poor water quality also allows for scale build-up that worsens the performance of heaters, pumps, and more, so don’t avoid chemicals when they’re necessary either. Learning to balance the water’s many quality parameters will pay off in the long run by providing a clean, sparkling swimming environment with minimal wear on the essential equipment that keeps it that way.
