Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions:

What are the ideal chemical levels?
-Chlorine/Free Chlorine 1-3 ppm
-pH 7.2-7.8
-Alkalinity 80-120 ppm
-Calcium Hardness 100-400 ppm

What is Free Chlorine?
-Free Chlorine is considered the good chlorine.  Free chlorine is the chlorine that sanitizes and disinfects the water. 

What is pH and why is it important?
-pH is the most important factor in pool water chemistry.  The pH measures the amount of acid in the pool water.  pH is measured on a scale of 0-14 with 7 being neutral.  When the pH drops below 7.2 the water is more damaging and corrosive to the pump and pool equipment.  A low pH also makes it very hard to maintain and keep chlorine in the water.  A high pH will cause cloudy water and for scale to form.  A high pH also makes it harder to maintain a chlorine level in the water. 

What factors affect the pH and can cause the pH to vary?
-pH is affected by the type of chlorine or sanitizer used.  Typically any form of tablet or granule chlorine has a low pH, while liquid chlorine contains a high pH.  There are also several other contributing factors such as:  rain, dust, algae, and oils/lotions from swimmers.

What is Alkalinity?
-Alkalinity is measured in parts per million (ppm).  Alkalinity is important because keeping it balanced helps to maintain your pH level.  It acts as a buffer to stabilize the pH level.

Is the hardness level important?
-Calcium level is important to maintain in vinyl liner and fiberglass pools.  Low calcium can corrode the heaters, pumps, and equipment much quicker, along with corroding metal fittings.  A low calcium can also make stains form on the interior of the pool.