As we move into the warmer months, longer daylight hours and stronger sunlight wreak havoc with chlorine levels in your pool. Strong sunlight strips chlorine and this increases the risk of your pool turning green as algae levels build up. Don’t let your pool turn green to cut energy costs – here’s how to make a splash with your outside areas.
If your pool is salt water chlorinated, you’re at increased risk as the amount of chlorine in your pool relates directly to the length of time for which your pool filter runs each day. If your pool requires you to add chlorine liquid or granules, make sure you maintain adequate levels of chlorine otherwise your filter will struggle to work efficiently and that’s just more power wasted.
Time to increase your pump’s hours
Naturally, like refrigerators, hot water services and air conditioners, pool pumps are among the larger consumers of electricity in your home. This makes it tempting to cut back on the number of hours your pump runs each day.
However, while it’s quite acceptable, in fact recommended, to reduce your pump’s running hours during the cooler months, the opposite is true in the warmer months.
Speak to your local pool shop about the recommended number of hours your pump should be running each day in your climate. If your pool is salt water chlorinated, running the pump at night – when electricity can be cheaper – can help you save on energy consumption as the chlorine produced is not immediately diminished by sunlight and you may therefore be able to reduce your pump’s running hours accordingly.
Getting back to blue can be expensive
Once a pool has turned green, it can be a pretty expensive process getting it back to blue. Taking a water sample to your nearest pool shop is usually the fastest path to a solution, but make sure you know your pool’s dimensions and depth. This enables a pool advisor to test your water and calculate exactly what volume of chemicals will be needed to bring your water’s PH levels back to normal. After that, the process of re-establishing correct chlorine levels can begin.
However, don’t imagine that just adding chlorine to a green pool will restore crystal clear water. Once a pool has turned green, the PH has altered and can rapidly burn through any chlorine you add, making the chlorine much less efficient or completely ineffective.
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