Part of proper pool care is understanding under what circumstances you should drain your pool. Generally speaking, there is no consistent need to drain a pool, though there are very specific circumstances under which draining is required in order to keep the water in your pool healthy for you, your family, and your guests.
Saltwater swimming pools have become fairly popular. Many individuals who own saltwater pools can add too much salt to the water. The normal content should be between 2,700 and 3,500 parts per million. If you add too much salt to the pool, you will need to drain the pool and start over in order to fix the issue. Once salt is added to a pool, it will not evaporate. The initially balanced salt water will remain balanced without the need for additional salt to be added.
Many owners make the mistake of adding salt to their swimming pool to correct an imbalanced chlorine reading. They believe that by adding more salt, they can correct the problem which is not the case. This common mistake leads to the need to drain and refill the pool in order to establish a proper salt balance again as the additional salt will throw the sodium parts per million balance out of whack. It will remain out of balance as the salt will never evaporate.
There are very few instances in which the salt content in the pool will become unbalanced. Usually, it results from human error, as is the case where owners add more salt when none is needed. In this case, the salt content becomes too high and the pool must be drained and refilled in order to correct the issue.
In other cases, the salt content can drop too low and require more salt to be added. This usually occurs when the pool has overflowed after heavy rain storms. The overflow will wash out some of the salt that was initially contained in the pool water, leaving the salt parts per million reading too low. The level can also drop too low if lots of water is splashed from the pool by playful swimmers.
More often than not, saltwater pool owners make the mistake of adding too much salt to the water because the chlorine reading is off. If the salt cell in the pool needs to be serviced or cleaned, this can affect the reading. You should have the salt cell examined before you add more salt to the pool. In doing so, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and expense in the long run.
Swimming pools can also require draining if the Total Dissolved Solvents (TDS) reading becomes too high. The TDS reading measures chemicals that dissolve in your pool. They can consist of any variety of foreign substances that contaminate your swimming pool water. The most common chemicals are those that accumulate in the water over time from normal human use. These include skin lotions, hair product residue, human sweat and sunscreen.
If you use your swimming pool a lot then the TDS level can increase quite rapidly. The total volume of the pool itself will also have an impact on how quickly the TDS level will become too high. Smaller pools that are frequently used will require draining more often than those that are large or rarely used. If you commonly throw pool parties during which your pool gets a pretty heavy workout, odds are you will need to drain your pool a little more often.
Many people mistakenly think that the TDS level will be kept to a minimum through natural evaporation of water from their pool. When water evaporates from your pool, you lose the cleanest and purest water only. That means that the chemicals and contaminants that collect in your pool water due to normal use are always left behind.
Over time, these contaminants build up to a level that is too high. The only way to eliminate the chemicals from your pool is to drain it and refill it with new, pure water. The normal, acceptable and healthy range for a TDS reading should be well under 3,000 parts per million. If the reading begins to approach 3,000, you should start planning to drain the pool and start fresh.
You should always think of employing the services of a swimming pool professional in draining and refilling your swimming pool. Whether you have a standard or saltwater pool, you want to ensure that the pool and equipment it requires remain in good working order. Pool professionals have lots of knowledge and experience that will help them keep your pool safe and prevent damage to the pool plaster, tiles and all of your swimming pool equipment.
By partnering with top leaders within the swimming pool industry, Reliable Pool Solutions, Inc. is designed to bring together the strongest team of swimming pool professionals who are leading the business today. We enable our customers access to the highest quality of swimming pool equipment at the best prices available, without sacrificing service. For more information about pool pumps, filters, heaters and cleaners, visit us online!
.