Your swimming pool is full of phosphates.
What does this mean?
You might have noticed them when your pool turned green from algal blooms, but they are even in there when your pool looks perfectly blue and clear. Like many people, I’m sure you have a few questions about the phosphates in your pool. Are phosphates safe?
If not, is there a threshold for an acceptable level of phosphates? What are phosphates, for that matter?
In this article, we’ll help you understand the phosphates in your swimming pool, so you can be better equipped for handling them.
What Are Phosphates in a Pool?
In short, phosphates are essential nutrients for photosynthesis in plants. There are a number of materials that contain phosphates. Materials that commonly end up in the water of your swimming pool. How do they get there?
How Do Phosphates Get Into Pool Water?
It’s commonly believed that rainwater and fertilizer are responsible for altering your pool’s phosphate levels. This, however, is only partially true.
Rainwater in and of itself doesn’t contain any phosphates. Indeed, phosphorus can’t atomize in the Earth’s atmosphere, making it impossible for it to be found in rain. That being said, once the rainwater comes in contact with soil, it can runoff into your pool.
Soil does contain phosphorus, and when it gets into your pool it alters its phosphate levels. The vast majority of phosphates, however, come from us.
When we go swimming, we contaminate the pool with our shampoo, dirt, and even makeup. In addition, the products we use to clean our pools contain phosphates. As you can see, it’s relatively easy for phosphates to get into our pools.
How to Lower Phosphates in the Pool
If you suspect your pool’s phosphate levels are out of balance, then test your water periodically. Once you test your water, the first thing many people do is head over to a Texoma pool supply store and buy phosphate remover.
After putting some into the pool, the problem doesn’t go away. They are left with algae on the top of the water, and sediment below it.
For the majority of cases, we at Texoma Country Pools & Spas believe you won’t need a phosphate remover in most situations. What you need to do is remove the algae from the surface of the water and rebalance your pool’s pH levels and alkalinity. You should avoid putting chemicals in the water when you’re not needed. Find: Regional web developer>
One of the only circumstances where you will need to use phosphate remover is if your phosphates exceed levels of 1000 parts per billion. While it won’t remove the algae, it will help rebalance the phosphate levels in your pool.
Bear in mind, however, that phosphate remover is only a means of prevention, rather than a means to fix the problem.
At the end of the day, though, preventative measures are the best way to keep the phosphates in your pool from becoming a problem.
Every year, test your pool for them, and if something’s wrong, rebalance the chemical levels in your pool.
Contact a Texoma pool service near you for more information.
