Too Much Calcium in your Swimming Pool?

This is a common sign indicating high calcium hardness in your swimming pool.

Are you currently swimming in a pool that has hard water? Do you get out of the pool with dry skin, smelling like heavy amounts of chlorine or deal with itchy or burning eyes? Have you noticed an increase in calcium scaling on your tile, water features, spillways and salt chlorinator (if you have one)? All of the above issues are common signs of increased calcium hardness and total dissolved solids (TDS) in your swimming pool. If you answered yes to any of them, you should have your water tested to be accurate and it will probably be time to change out the water. In the remainder of this blog post, we want to discuss why this happens, what your options are for changing out the water and recommendations to prevent this from happening regularly.

Based on water chemistry and working in the swimming pool industry, changing out the water in your swimming pool must happen every two years to prevent any of the above. Our tap water is extremely hard. Typically in our area, you can find calcium hardness measuring 400 parts per million (ppm) or higher. This level is at the higher end of the recommended values for your pool and as water evaporates the hardness minerals remain in solution and gradually increase over time. This is what causes the scaling and other issues to occur. That’s why we recommend the water change to occur every two years to prevent the above from occurring and to prolong the lifespan of your investment.

As water hardness increases most swimming pool professionals will recommend a drain and refill. Even though the water will be better after the drain and refill, it possesses the following risks:

• Exposes the interior finish which can cause cracking
• It wastes water
• It refills the pool with moderately hard water again

Whereas, at Pool Water Recycling we have a mobile filtration Reverse Osmosis (RO) trailer that can come to your home or commercial property and recycle the water instead. The end result of our filtration is drinking quality water in your swimming pool, conserving 85% of the existing water and never exposing the liner. You can swim in the pool while we filter which means no down time and we guarantee much better water than tap. Using our service will start your water at approximately 150-200 ppm which is much lower than a drain and refill and you never have to worry about cracking the liner because we don’t expose it. Based upon drought conditions this is by far your best decision and once you swim in pools with recycled water you will notice a difference in how they feel.  If you’re interested in learning more or scheduling an appointment, contact us today to learn more!