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Water Treatment Troubleshooter

Symptom	Possible Cause	Possible Reason	Solution	Chemical
Cloudy Water	Build up of dirt & bather pollution.	Insufficient chlorine or poor filtration	Backwash filter then super chlorinate. Add clarifier to polish water.	Liquid Chlorine Sparkle
	Start of algae growth	Insufficient levels of chlorine.	Super chlorinate. After 24 hours Liquid Chlorine backwash filter. Maintain chlorine level above 3ppm. Prevent recurrence of algae growth.	Liquid Chlorine Chlorine Granule Chlorine Tablets Algaecide
	Chlorine ineffective	Over stabilization	Dilute pool water and super chlorinate.	Liquid Chlorine
	Ineffective filtration	Filter blocked or filter media needs renewing	Check sand, filter cartridge or D.E. Media	See below
	Suspended particles	Precipitation of salts due to high PH or high alkalinity.	Correct pH and/or alkalinity	Dry acid
Unpleasant Water	High combined chlorines.	Free chlorine levels too low	Dilute pool water
Sore eyes/throat. Itching Skin	Detergents from cleaning compounds getting into pool water.	Reaction between chlorine and detergent.	Use chlorine compatible cleaners.	Tile & liner cleaner
	Water too acidic or alkaline.	pH too low or too high.	Correct pH as in chart.	Dry Alkali or Dry Acid
Chlorine level difficult to maintain	Sunlight destroys chlorine.	Chlorine not stabilized.	Use stabilizer or stabilized chlorine.	Stabilizer. Chlorine granules or Chlorine tablets.
	Build up of pollutants	Insufficient chlorination.	Super chlorinate	Liquid Chlorine
	High water temperature	Organisms multiply more rapidly.	Increase dose rate of sanitiser.	Chlorine granules or chlorine tablets.
Apparent inability to get a chlorine reading on test kit in spite of chlorine addition.	Chlorine levels may be too high	High chlorine content bleaches reagent in test tablet	Dechlorinate. Allow chlorine to reduce naturally over a period of time. If very high reduce with chemicals.	Neutraliser
pH too low	Low pH of local mains water	Insufficient Dry Alkali being added.	Add Dry Alkali as per instructions. pH to be between 7.2 & 7.6.	Dry Alkali
	Use of acidic chlorine donors.
pH too high	High pH of local mains water	Insufficient Dry Acid being added, or applied incorrectly	Add acid as per instructions .Maintain pH to be between . 7.2 & 7.6.	Dry Acid
	Use of alkaline donors.	High alkalinity	Reduce alkalinity to 200ppm Check pH	Dry Acid
	Salts being leached from new concrete pools	Self correcting over a period of time	Add acid to maintain pH between 7.2 & 7.6.	Dry Acid
pH levels erratic	Insufficient bicarbonate to buffer pH.	Low total alkalinity.	Add bicarbonate. Min 100ppm required.	Alkalinity Increaser
pH locked	Too high a level of bicarbonates.	Topping up from the mains water can increase alkalinity in hard water areas.	Reduce alkalinity to 200ppm Check pH.	Dry Acid
Low Alkalinity	Bicarbonates reduced by dilution particularly in soft water areas.	Mains water has low level of bicarbonates.	Add bicarbonate. Min 100ppm required.	Alkalinity Increaser
Pool walls feel slimy	Algae growing	Insufficient chlorination and pool wall brushing.	Super chlorinate to kill algae. Sweep or vacuum debris. Prevent recurrence with algaecide.	Liquid Chlorine Algaecide
Dirt on pool wall at water line.	Build up of body fat, sun oil or cosmetics.	Irregular cleaning of surfaces.	Clean with environment friendly chemical.	Tile & Liner Cleaner
Rough scale formed on pool surfaces.	Water out of balance	Ratio of calcium hardness to total alkalinity incorrect	Check levels of pH, alkalinity and calcium. Seek advice from 1st Direct.	Go to 'Contact 1st Direct'
Sharp edges round tiles.	Grout being leached by water.	Mains water too soft.	Regrout the pool. Increase calcium levels to min. 250ppm & maintain. Consider changing sanitiser to HTH Calcium Hypochlorite which will ensure calcium levels are maintained.	HTH Calcium Hypochlorit
Ineffective Filtration	Sand filter Is the sand level correct?
	no:	No Not enough sand to filter out particles.	Renew or top up sand.	Go to 'Contact 1st Direct'
	yes:	Blocked filter or filtration needs assistance	Backwash filter and use filter aid.	Sparkle
	Cartridge filter: Is cartridge in good clean condition?
	no:	Filter allowing particles to pass through.	Renew cartridge	Go to 'Contact 1st Direct'
	yes:	Filter requires assistance	Backwash and use filter aid.	Sparkle
Pool left unattended for long period of time	Unable to treat daily.	Use Fi-Buoy. Remember to run filter daily on a timeclock.		Fi-Buoy

pH Scale on test kit