Common Water Care Terms
Total Chlorine: Total amount of chlorine in your water. Total amount of chlorine that contains both free chlorine and chloramines.
Free Chlorine: the amount of chlorine left after chlorine demand has been met.
Combined Chlorine: (chloramines) the amount of chlorine that has combined with ammonia, nitrogen and other organic compounds. Causes a strong chlorine odor and reduces the effectiveness chlorine has on bacteria.
pH: Potential hydrogen. A measure of acid/base in the water. For effect use of sanitizer, pH should be maintained between 7.3 and 7.7. High pH causes scale formation. Low pH causes corrosion.
Total Alkalinity: The ability of the pool to resist changes in pH. The buffering capacity of the water.
Calcium Hardness: The measure of the amount of dissolved calcium in the water. Keeping calcium in the correct range helps to defend against major corrosion of the pool.
Biguanide (buy GA-WHY-nide): a sanitizer using the polymer PHMB, that kills bacteria in water.
Oxidize: To burn away organic waste in pool water. Often referred to as “shocking” the pool.
Salt Chlorination: Sanitizing a pool by converting salt into free chlorine. Often referred to as: “salt pools”, “saline pools” or “salt filtration”. This type of sanitation requires installation of a salt cell and generator box.
