Do I Need Calcium Hardness In My Vinyl Pool

Calcium hardness is also very important to the chemical balancing of your vinyl liner swimming pool.

Do i need calcium hardness in my vinyl pool. It also produces itchy skin. If you have a heater with a copper heat exchange and your hardness is low it can destroy your heater. Calcium on the low and high end of the scales will eventually cause problems and when they do be ready for some serious problems. Low calcium levels in the pool.

Soft water low calcium levels can cause plaster or concrete pool walls to lose their calcium to the pool water and can cause vinyl pools to lose their elasticity. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions on the package in order to obtain the best results. The recommended range is 150 400 ppm parts per million with an often cited stricter range of 200 400 ppm. A low level can result in foaming which is unpleasant but shouldn t harm the liner.

This article will attempt to explain the urgent need to understand and manage proper levels of calcium hardness in our pools. In addition to ph and total alkalinity calcium hardness must be kept in balance so that your pool water does not become too corrosive or end up scaling the surface of your pool. These are symptoms of swimming pool water that is unbalanced. If a vinyl liner s calcium level is too low this soft water situation could lead to foaming and other water problems and can harm the vinyl.

Call it an admission of guilt. Having begun my career in the pool service industry in 1984 i have a confession to make. Neglected calcium levels in your pool often are low but can be skewed high as well if you re not doing some routine monitoring. Calcium in your pool is similar to the car analogy.

Pool stores will give you an amazing song and dance about why you need calcium in your vinyl pool. To add the proper amount of hardness increaser you ll need to know your pool s volume which you can easily determine with a pool calculator. Keeping your calcium hardness in the midpoint. For vinyl pools calcium should be between 150 250 ppm.

If calcium hardness goes above 400 ppm you will likely see a white flaky crust on the liner and pool equipment. Calcium for a liner pool can be a bit lower than a plaster pool in the range of 150 250 ppm.