The water
Water Chemistry
Chemical balance checked first, chemicals implemented last, salt cell and D.E. filter kept clean.
Chapter 01
What an unbalanced pool does
Water that is out of balance rarely announces itself all at once. It shows up as haze that will not clear, a green tint after a hot week, a rough chalky film along the tile line, or a sharp smell that people mistake for too much chlorine. Each has a different cause, which is why adding product by guesswork seldom fixes it.
On a pool with a salt system, scale is the quiet one. Mineral crust on the cell's plates limits what it can make, and the pool can slide toward flat sanitizer while the equipment still looks like it is running.
The filter pays for all of it. Cloudy, unbalanced water loads a D.E. filter faster, so it clogs sooner and the pump works against it. In La Jolla, sun and warm water use up chlorine quickly, which is how a pool that tested fine midweek can slip by the weekend.
A blue pool water test kit with reagent vials open on wet coping
Chemistry first, chemicals last
Zach is a certified swimming pool technician, License # T5450, and his visit opens with “Check chemical balance of pool.” and closes with “Implement chemicals.” The order is the same every time. The reading comes first, so the visit is built around what the water is actually doing. The chemicals go in last, once the surface is skimmed, the walls are brushed and the baskets are empty, so they are added to a circulating pool rather than one full of debris.
Two steps in the middle are chemistry work too. For a salt pool the visit says: “Clean salt system cell if applicable, and on an as-needed basis.” For a D.E. filter it says: “Recharge the D.E. filter with diatomaceous earth, if applicable.” Both are conditional, because not every pool has either one.
Chapter 03
When to call between visits
Chemistry does not keep to the calendar. A party, a long weekend of swimming, a heavy rain or a run of hot sunny days can change the water faster than a weekly visit comes round.
If the water turns cloudy or green, the walls feel slick, or you see a white crust at the waterline or on the cell, call (619) 678-2240 on a weekday between 7:00 am and 5:00 pm, or write to zach@zachspools.com. Tell him what changed and when. He can say whether the next visit will cover it or whether it needs a look sooner.
A Google reviewer wrote of the weekly visit: “the water is clear, and the filter is cleaned out well.” Call Zach at (619) 678-2240.
Chemistry is step one and step eleven of every weekly pool service. When the trouble is on the equipment side, a stuck valve or a filter that will not hold, that is pool and spa repairs, and the spa, where the water swings fastest, is covered under spa service. To ask about your water, write to Zach.