Swimming Pool Healthy Water

Healthy water is water that is safe for you and your family to swim in.

Maintaining healthy water makes it less susceptible to harmful bacteria, viruses, algae, cloudiness, stains and protects your pool, spa and equipment against corrosion and scale build-up.

Pool and spa water can be contaminated with algae and bacteria from a variety of sources, including wind, rain water, top-up water, organic debris and number of swimmers.

One of the key measures for healthy water is pH levels, it is recommended that pH levels measure within a range of 7.2 - 7.6, otherwise it can damage your pool and make your sanitisier less effective. This may put a strain on your pool circulation system that can lead to costly repairs. It can also lead to fading, discoloration and chalking of the interior surface of your pool or spa.

Water balance

A chemically balanced and sanitised pool and spa will provide a healthy and visually appealing swimming environment for you and your family to enjoy. A poorly maintained pool and spa exposes users to unnecessary health risks.

Having the right water balance is also crucial to the longevity of your swimming pool and spa equipment. A chemical imbalance can lead to corrosion and scale build-up on and in your swimming pool and spa, and possible damage to equipment.

Regular testing and balancing of pool and spa water takes very little time and ensures that you and your family are always swimming in ideal conditions.

Monitoring water quality

When monitoring and maintaining pool and spa water quality, there are several aspects of operation that will need to be considered:

• the quality of the water supply

• rainwater

• the type of pool or spa

• number of swimmers in the pool

• chemicals already in the water

Maintaining water quality.

Maintaining water quality to ensure water balance and appropriate, regulated disinfectant levels requires the use of appropriate chemicals. Safe processes for using chemicals and not exposing swimmers to unsafe chemical levels should be monitored.

Water balance is important as it ensures that the correct chemical balance of the water is in an appropriate state to protect the pool surface and equipment and make water comfortable to swim in.

A proper balance of chemical factors such as total alkalinity, pH and calcium is needed for the sanitiser to work correctly, making the water to be pleasant to swim in and to prevent scaling or corrosion of the pool surface and equipment.

To balance your pool and spa water you will add chemicals according to your test kit results or advice from your local SPASA pool shop, which uses more thorough testing than can be achieved at home. When your water test results are within the ideal levels below, your water is balanced. 

• To help your local SPASA pool shop with their recommendations, complete this form and take it with you.

• Use this Inspection Sheet to log your water test results to identify any trends.

Pool shop and service technicians

Whilst home pool test kits test the most essential indicators, they don’t test everything and are not as accurate as having a professional do it for you. Normally, pool shops and service technicians offer a free water testing service. They can test for things that you don’t normally or can’t test at home such as copper, total dissolved solids and water hardness. Getting pool and spa water testing by a professional means that they can create a pool or spa profile, track and record history as well as any requirements. They will also advise you of what chemicals are needed to get your pool and spa in tip top shape.

Frequency of testing

Testing frequency will vary for individual pool environments and bather loads, but testing should be undertaken at least once per week. Testing frequency should increase depending on how often the pool and spa is being used along with the weather conditions.

All pool and spa water tests should be recorded in a logbook:

• indicating date & time

• parameters tested

• results of tests

• action taken

• and relevant notes

Getting a pool and spa water test at a pool shop or by a service technician means that they can track and record results of your pools history and requirements. However, you may still need to keep your own logbook if professional pool testing is undertaken less frequently than every week.