Balanced water chemistry is so important for so many reasons. It keeps the water safe. It makes the water feel more comfortable. It prevents damage to your swimming pool’s surface. It prevents damage to your plumbing and equipment. It prevents damage to your automatic pool cleaner. It can also lead to water issues like cloudy water and algae. It can even cause someone you love to get ill from a water borne illness.
Chlorine is Corrosive
Chlorine, even balanced, is corrosive. You may have noticed that swimming pool floats don’t last that long if they stay in the pool, or are not rinsed before storing. Your tablet floater probably needs to be replaced every year or two. Towels feel crusty after pool use and before they are washed. So, we certainly don’t want to leave anything in the swimming pool that we don’t absolutely have to. Even if you have a salt system, you still have a chlorine pool–you are just making your own.
pH
High pH and alkalinity can mean the water is scale forming. This causes our sanitizer to become less effective. It can also lead to calcium build up in our salt cells (if we have them), on our tile and in our plumbing. It is important to test both the pH and alkalinity before adjusting. The reason is if our alkalinity is too low, it means the oH is unstable and can bounce all around. You may see a “high” pH reading and going on that alone add acid to lower it. Unfortunately this may not have been an accurate pHreading. Your alkalinity may have been low and guess what? You just lowered it even further by adding acid. This can make our water corrosive. Low alkalinity for extended periods of time can literally eat away at a heater. What do you think it would do to a robotic cleaner left in the swimming pool?
Suction Side Cleaners
Believe it or not, it is actually not recommended to leave your suction, or pressure for that matter, automatic pool cleaner in the water. In my six years in the swimming pool industry, I have literally met only one customer who removes his automatic suction pool cleaner from the pool after its cleaning cycle. Most homeowners who have an APC (automatic pool cleaner) leave the cleaners in the pool most of the time, removing only when they have a party.
As the years go on, the harshness of the chlorine will start to eat away at the housing of your APC. I especially see this in cleaners like the Hayward Navigator. At some point, you can actually scratch the surface of you pool cleaner and have it come off under your finger nails. When this happens, it is time for a new cleaner.
Robotic Cleaners
Robotic cleaners eliminate this problem. They are completely independent from your pump and filter with a self contained canister. They do not utilize 20 or more feet of hose. This puts less strain on your swimming pool pump. Also, with a quick cleaning cycle of just a few hours, you can remove the cleaner from the pool with ease and store it out of sight. This will prolong the life of your cleaner.
Think robotic cleaners are only for the super rich swimming pool owner? Think again. I know you may have already gone to your local swimming pool supply store and looked at the price tags. You may be shaking your head even as you read this. I am here to tell you that you can own a top of the line, name brand robotic cleaner for up to ¼ of the price of your local retail store.
You will still get all the features and benefits like a self contained canister. Your robotic cleaner will climb all the way up your swimming pool walls, scrubbing as it does. It will even get the tile line! You can’t get that from any suction or pressure side cleaner. Check out the groovy robotic pool cleaners that www.poolpartstogo.com has to offer; Blue Torrent Stinger Automatic Pool Cleaner or Blue Torrent MyBot In Ground Robotic Pool Cleaner .
See you poolside!
Related articles:
Sand in Your Pool? Here’s Why—And How to Fix It
Chlorinate Your Pool in Three Easy Steps
The Safest Way to Store Your Above Ground Pool For Winter
*Hayward® and Hayward® Pool Products are registered trademarks of Hayward Industries, Inc. Asia Connection LLC has no affiliation with Hayward Industries, Inc.
