In the Deep End - a RED-E-2-SWIM blog

New Challenges Facing Pool Owners and Swimming Pool Service.

Mon, 19 Jul 2021 16:38:21 GMT

Shortages in Pool Chemicals Creating Challenges

We know that many of our clients are struggling to get their pools repaired and working properly. The 100-year ice storm in February, a shortage in drivers to deliver product, supply chain shortages in plastics to produce buckets and containers for chlorine and Hurricane Laura in August 2020, that caused a fire that destroyed one of the nation’s largest makers of the chlorine tablets, BioLab, in the Lake Charles, Louisiana, have created a shortage of pool chemicals including Chlorine, Muriatic Acid and stabilizer.

Keeping your pool clean and inviting this summer could become more challenging than ever, as these market forces have converged to reduce chlorine supplies and drive up prices.

The team at Red-E-2-Swim, thought that liquid chlorine was going to be available, but have found out that pool companies are on a restricted allocation now, as manufacturers are saving the product for municipalities’ water treatments and services.

We are working diligently to have enough product to service your pools. We are getting in line at 7 o’clock each morning to secure a limited amount of powdered chlorine and acid. We do not know how long the strategy is going to last.

In an effort to work together with you, and ensure that everyone has a clean, safe, inviting pool to swim in this summer, we offer the following recommendations:

Keep the debris out of your pool by emptying the skimmer baskets daily
While this shortage persists, we are asking you to purchase a pool RX for your size pool as a preventative measure. Pool Rx has been an effective tool to eliminate algae growth.
If you are able to get any chlorine products at Costco, Sam’s Club, Walmart, Amazon or any other places that sell Chlorine, we suggest that you do so, as a contingency in the event that we are unable to secure product.

Please know that we will continue to work diligently to secure product to maintain the high level of service that you’ve grown to expect. We realize that this may seem unorthodoxed, but we pride ourselves on our integrity and feel that given the unforeseen severity of the chemical shortage, we’d rather remain transparent and focus on keeping your pool Red-E-2-Swim!

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The Wrong pH Level Can Damage Pool Plaster

Mon, 05 Jul 2021 18:00:20 GMT

Pool water pH levels are measured on a scale of 0 to 14. The proper pH balance level for any pool should be between 7.4 to 7.6. When your pool’s pH level gets off balance, it can cause damage to your pool equipment and pool plaster, as well as irritate and harm your skin.

The Wrong pH Can Damage Your Pool Plaster

If your water has a pH that is below 7.0, then your pool water is acidic. Acidic water is corrosive. For swimmers, this means that the water will sting their eyes, nasal passages and will dry out skin and hair, and causing itching.

The low pH level (acidic water) will also cause etching in your pool plaster, grout, stone and tiling. It will also corrode any metal surfaces, including ladders, light fixtures, handrails, and any metal in your pool pumps, filters or heaters.

You will notice a marbling effect in your pool plaster and make it look like your pool plaster needs to be redone within a few years and plaster should last between 10-15 years with proper maintenance. If your pool water pH level is consistently low and causes this marbling, your pool plaster will not last the standard ten years and, in fact, could result in the need to replaster in HALF that time.

In addition, low pH water in your pool will greatly decrease the amount of working chlorine, which can lead to bacteria and algae build up.

A pH above 7.6 indicates that you water is more alkaline. High pH levels will also cause chemical reactions that can lead to murky water, scale formation, and corrosion in your pool water, equipment, and surface. When your pH is high, it also affects the chlorine’s ability to kill off harmful bacteria and you will not be able to swim in your pool.

Do You Have Pool Algae?

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 22:23:31 GMT

Everyone knows that being Green-friendly is a good thing. Unless you are talking about pool water. Green water means you have an algae invasion.

Having Problems with Green or Yellow Algae in Your Pool?

Green algae, Chlorophyta, gives your pool water a greenish tint, can float on the water, but more often sticks to the pool walls and pool floor and can create a slimy residue. Green algae can be the result of poor filtration or unbalanced pool chemicals. There are times that a great deal of rain can cause the pool to become unbalanced chemically and cause algae to form.

Yellow algae looks similar to pollen stuck and is found often stuck in the corner of your pool. It usually grows in the shade as yellow algae avoids sunlight. There are times that yellow algae can resemble a brownish-yellow Dijon mustard. Because yellow algae is chlorine-resistant, it takes an aggressive shock treatment to get rid of yellow algae once it is found in your pool.

Having yellow algae in your pool is generally an uncommon sight, because you have to live fairly close to a river, lake, pond or a creek. It is extremely easy for the wind to blow yellow algae into your pool.

Any chemical imbalance in your pool water will actually help that algae grow.

So how do you treat algae?

You will need to test your pool’s chemical balance, including the pH. You will then need to sanitize (or shock) your pool with a large amount of chlorine – depending on what the chemical balance of your pool water is. We suggest that you try to shock your pool later in the day or evening, as the sunlight can cause some of the chlorine molecules to evaporate and the whole process will be much less effective.

In addition to shocking your pool, you may need to add algaecide after you shock your pool. You may need to clean your filters and brush your pool regularly to get rid of the algae. If you have a green pool, we suggest you not try to shock the pool yourself and cause further harm. We will come out and follow a proven process to bring your pool from Green-to-Clean. In severe cases, where your water is green or black, and cloudy, it is quicker, easier and more cost-effective to simply drain the pool and have it acid-washed.

Water pH – It’s a Balancing Act

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 21:31:00 GMT

Balancing pool water is one of the most important things that you can do for your swimming pool. Properly Ph-balanced water can help increase the life of your plaster, tiles, and pool equipment. It is a critical part of weekly pool maintenance. Understanding water balance can be a very confusing part of pool maintenance for homeowners.

Because of its complexity, many pool owners don’t know all they need to know about keeping their pool water safe, comfortable, and corrosion-free. The last thing you want is for a pool with unbalanced water to cause skin irritations and eye problems for swimmers.

Why are Chemical needed in Pools?

Pool water chemicals keep the water clean and free from harmful bacteria. A pool is basically a giant puddle of standing water and keeping bacteria and chemicals at the right balance is necessary to keep your swimmers from experiencing the harsh effects of that bacteria.

An unbalanced pool can also cause corrosion and damage to your pool equipment, filter, and motor resulting in costly repairs.

There are numerous components that must be balanced in the pool water.

Each chemical plays an important role in keeping your pool water clear, healthy, and safe —for example, high alkaline water leads to high pH. Low alkaline water leads to low pH.

If the pH gets higher than 7.8, the water is becoming too alkaline and that reduces the effectiveness of the chlorine — the pool chemical that kills pathogens and bacteria. Water with a pH that’s too high can also cause skin rashes, cloudy water and scaling on pool equipment.

Too low of a pH can cause many issues, from maintenance headaches such as etching and deterioration of plaster, grout, stone, concrete and tiling to discomfort for swimmers such as itchy skin, rashes and burning eyes. These dissolved minerals will hold in the solution of your pool water, resulting in staining and cloudy water.

Maintaining your pool’s pH water levels can be challenging on your own. REDE s Swim recommends having a professional come, test your water, and help you with your maintenance to help extend the life of your plaster, tiles, mastic and pool equipment.

SCHEDULE YOUR POOL MAINTENANCE TODAY.

Laboratory Testing Brought Poolside

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 23:31:00 GMT

Red-E-2-Swim is excited to be able to bring laboratory quality water testing, poolside. LaMotte Laboratories has introduced a new device, the Clear360Touch Analyzer that is an automated laboratory grade chemistry water testing devise in a fully mobile application.

This device results out 10 tests in less than a minute using carrousels that have the testing reagents precisely measured so all you do as the technician is to add the water using the special syringe and load the carrousel into the analyzer.

The spinning action of the carrousel mixes the water with the reagents in the clear chambers and the device uses a photometric optical system to record the precise measurements at exactly the right time. No more estimating or guessing. The results are far more accurate than test strips and allow the us to calculate the correct amount of chemicals to add to your pool to keep it operating a peak efficiency.

This is just one more way the Red-E-2-Swim is raising the bar when it come to maintaining your pool like it was our own. HANG TEN and catch a wave from Rick in his SURFMOBILE. We are the smarter way to keep your pool Red-E-2-Swim!

Does Your Pool Tech Deserve a Game Misconduct Penalty?

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 15:42:00 GMT

The Cyanuric Acid (CYA) or Stabilizer in your pool at the right concentration helps the chlorine remain available in the pool water to oxidize organic matter, sweat, oils, lotions, decaying matter, as well as sanitize the water by killing harmful bacteria, like e. coli.

With too low of a CYA concentration, the sunlight burns off the chlorine ions within hours. At too high of a concentration, the Cyanuric Acid acts to bind the chlorine so that the chlorine either can’t do its job or requires a much higher chlorine content than recommended is needed to have enough Free Chlorine in your water.

The right concentration of Cyanuric Acid is a matter of debate. The current allowable levels are between 30 and 100 ppm, but performance issues can start when the range hits 50 ppm. Many states are beginning to set the CYA limits of 10 - 30 ppm for commercial pools. And guess what? Many of the test strips don’t show the levels above 100. So, the CYA always looks in range if specialized test or strips aren’t used.

The tap water or make up water for our pools contains no Cyanuric Acid. So, how does the CYA get into the pool in the first place? When your pool is fill initially it is common to put a product called stabilizer, which contains CYA, or CYA directly into the water. The other way the CYA gets into the pool is through the use of Stabilized Chlorine Tabs commonly referred to as, Tri-Chlor or Di-Chlor. While the chlorine is used up or burnt off, the CYA remains in the pool and builds up overtime. If no action is taken to remove the CYA it will build up each time stabilized chlorine is added to the water.

For that reason, Red-E-2-Swim is using a new Non-Stabilized Chlorine Tablet in all pools with a CYA above 50 ppm. These tablets are a new product not widely used, but the results are noticeable. The water in these pools are brighter and more sparkling than they were using the traditional Tri-Chlor Tabs.

I liken many of the Pool Technicians that use the Tri-Chlor Tabs exclusively, to a new hockey referee that can drop a puck on the ice but hasn’t fully learned the complexity of the game.

Many pool techs fall into this category especially when it comes to maintain appropriate oxidation and sanitization levels. They can sure drop a Tri-Chlor Tab in the chlorinator but are they really servicing your pool the way they’d care for it if it was their own?

More on monitoring effective sanitization levels to follow, but until then HANG TEN and catch a wave from Rick in his SURFMOBILE. We are the smarter way to keep your pool Red-E-2-Swim!