Pool Care Tips
Let HASA be your year-round Pool Partner. Take advantage of our library of Resources for information of ways you can ensure Safe, Clear and Clear water in every season.What’s Your Pool Care Routine
“I Use a Pool Service Pro”
Using an outside pool professional is a great choice! Relax, enjoy your pool, and rely on the support of a qualified technician. Most pool pros prefer the quality, freshness and high performance of our Sani-Clor® liquid sanitizer. They know that liquid product doesn’t add CYA or calcium—allowing the chlorine in your pool to work most efficiently to cleanse and disinfect your water. Plus, only liquid pool chlorine from HASA (at 12% concentration) can generate the most beautiful, sparking blue pools!
Ask your Pool Pro about HASA Sani-Clor®
“I Handle My Own Pool Care”
You know how to get the job done yourself—and HASA is here to help every step of the way! Using HASA premium liquid pool chlorine (Sani-Clor® or Hasachlor®) will ensure that you pool looks its best 365 days a year. We’ve got you covered for regular shock and daily sanitizing and offer a better performance and cost value in treating your pool water. With no added CYA or calcium, rest assured you are receiving the highest available chlorine for your pool on the market. Visit our Dealer Locator for a retail store that carries HASA product in your area.Check out these tips for ways to keep your water in top shape!
Tips for Achieving Proper Water Balance
There are many factors to consider when managing your own pool care—and achieving balanced pool water is at the top of the list. Why? Because maintaining a balanced pool is the key to ensuring a safe and enjoyable swimming experience. But with so many factors to consider, it can be challenging to get it just right.
Helpful pool care tips
There are several balance values that need to be considered when undertaking your own pool care, including calcium hardness, total alkalinity, pH, sanitizer and cyanuric acid (CYA). These values work together to keep the water properly sanitized—and if any of these values are out of balance, it can lead to a host of problems, such as cloudy water and damage to the pool surface and equipment.
The best way to determine your pool's chemistry—and to balance it accordingly—is to use a quality test kit, test strips or a smart device such as the Sutro. The Sutro device is especially handy as it drops right into the pool and communicates via your smartphone to provide daily updates regarding water balance and chlorine levels.
To achieve the ideal water balance, there are recommended targets for each of these values:
- For calcium hardness, the target should be 350 ppm in plaster pools or 250 ppm for vinyl or fiberglass pools
- Total alkalinity should be around 90 ppm, while pH should be at 7.5
- Sanitizer free available chlorine 2-4ppm
- Finally, CYA should be 30- 50 ppm
While it might not always be possible to hit these targets exactly, the goal is to get as close as possible and remember it’s a long pool season—so look to develop pool care routines early on that work for you to ensure you are checking your levels regularly.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
Also, don’t forget that your local pool store can become your effective, “go to” partner to help with water testing questions, or hire a pool professional to regularly service your pool, test your water and advise you on what’s best for your ongoing pool care. Reliable pool service technicians are readily available in your area. Check out local resources here.
Works in All Types of Pools
Master the
Pool Care Basics
Visit PHTA.org for online courses to help you understand the fundamentals of caring for your pool, and selecting the right pool service professional for your needs.
Seasonal Tips
Tip 1: Manage the Summer Heat
Evaporation from extreme summer heat can tinker with your water levels. Take care to monitor pool water consistently for greater chlorine performance—and safer swimming for guests and all members of the family—during the peak periods of hot summer weather!
Tip 2: Make Sanitizing Easy
Want to streamline the daily dispensing of liquid chlorine 365 days a year? The HASA Liquid Feeder™ automatically feeds liquid sanitizer into your pool year-round, regardless of the season, for greater hassle-free ease of use and better cost savings.
Tip 3: Year-round Pool Care
At the end of pool season, make sure to check and balance pH and alkalinity levels—along with overall chlorine count—to make pool care and maintenance easier in the “off-months.” This helps to ensure a gorgeous blue pool once warm weather kicks back in.
Have Questions about Your
Pool Maintenance Routine?
Email AskTerry@HasaPool.com
Common Pool Owner Issues
Caring for Your Pool
This Summer
Summertime pool use can take its toll on any backyard pool with more frequent family, friends, child and pet swim time. Read More
Understanding Chlorine Choices
Pool season is here and it’s time to ensure that you have a trusted water treatment solution for your backyard pool.
Exploring the types of pool sanitizer
Keeping your pool looking amazing and safe can be easy, but it requires the regular addition of safe, reliable chlorine products—and there are several options to consider when selecting a chlorine choice for your pool. These options include dry granular products or “tablets,” granular “shock,” or liquid pool chlorine for both shock and daily sanitization. And there’s a big difference between these solutions.
Getting the 411 on pool chlorine
Dry chlorine contains by-products that can build-up and cause real challenges in pool maintenance, which is why liquid chlorine is hands-down the purest, safest, and easiest form of pool chlorine.
Plus, liquid chlorine is faster acting and doesn't leave behind any unwanted by-products that can affect water quality. Plus, only liquid chlorine, such as HASA Sani-Clor®, can deliver that sparkling blue, beautiful water that every pool owner wants for their own backyard pool.
Other benefits of Sani-Clor® liquid
Using liquid chlorine, like Sani-Clor®, helps ensure crystal clear and safe water for swimming. Sani-Clor® keeps cyanuric acid (or CYA) levels under control and doesn’t add calcium to your water. It also delivers the highest available chlorine to your pool—keeping it safer for your family and friends to enjoy.
It’s also simple to use and administer. You can easily introduce this powerful form of chlorine into your pool every day by using a simple liquid chlorine feeder from HASA known as the HASA Liquid Feeder™ or HLF™. The affordable HLF™ is a state-of-the-art daily sanitizer feeder designed to automatically introduce our high-performance liquid chlorine into your pool when your equipment is running with no need for additional electricity. Just take a trip to your local pool store to ask about HASA liquid sanitizer and the HLF™.
To learn more about reliable liquid sanitizer water treatment solutions, please visit our Products page. Also, don’t forget that partnering with a pool service professional can offer a trusted resource who will guide you in your ongoing pool care routine and direct you to the best products for your backyard pool type and local climate.
Got
Algae?
No one wants to jump into green pool water. It’s imperative to prevent unhealthy and dangerous algae build-up. Read More
Eliminate. Algae. Period.
Algae! It’s not something you want to see in your pool...
Algae can make its way into your pool in several ways, including through deposits of soil, grass, leaves, and dust that can accumulate in the water. It’s a common risk to swimming pools in all regions and climates, but hotter, more humid areas can be especially at risk. But it doesn’t have to be difficult to prevent the onset of algae: Just one gallon of 12.5% liquid pool chlorine in a 10,000-gallon pool will remove algae and prevent any additional growth.
Understanding the different types of algae
Green algae is the most common form of algae—and, unfortunately, it can turn your pool from clear blue to murky green in just a few days. Another common type of algae to watch out for is yellow algae. It looks like a mustard powder or dust and likes to stick around steps, lights, and rails. Maintaining proper water chemistry, regularly brushing your pool and adding HASA liquid chlorine weekly can help you prevent yellow algae from ever starting, but if it appears, using liquid chlorine and having the equipment running is a fast and easy way to remove it.
Black algae, on the other hand, can be much more stubborn to treat. Black algae is most commonly found in concrete and gunite pools and appears in rough spots of the pool surface or in cracks or pitted areas. It can also form upon light rings, in the corners of steps, or along the water tile line where cracks are present. Brushing it off with a wire brush (in concrete or gunite pools) only and then treating it with liquid chlorine or specialized products, like Algi-Ban, is the way to go.
Algae can be costly to deal with if left untreated, so it's best to be proactive. Regularly brushing your pool, maintaining proper water circulation with the pool pump and filter, ensuring a constant level of 2-4 ppm of free chlorine, and shocking weekly with liquid chlorine can prevent algae growth.
If you notice any of these types of algae in your backyard pool, don’t wait to act! Visit your local pool store or consult with a trusted outside pool technician to quickly get the proper treatment to restore your pool water’s health and beauty.
Understanding
Shock Value
Shocking your pool on a regular basis can enhance water quality and health. Plus, liquid chlorine shock helps ensure a crystal-clear appearance. Read More
Shock... and Roll!
If you’re reading this, it’s likely because you’re looking to keep your pool as clean as possible and ready for fun all season long. But pool care requires proper and reliable water treatment solutions. And when it comes to pool water, pesky contaminants can come from a variety of sources so it’s important that you’re getting ample and correct sanitization to keep your water safe for your friends and family to enjoy.
Whether it's a windy day blowing debris into the water or lots of swimmers and kids splashing in your pool enjoying a backyard party, it's important to always keep the water clean and safe for swimming. One of the most important things you can do for your pool to keep it consistently clean and clear is to regularly “shock” the water.
What does it mean to “shock” a pool?
Essentially, it's a process where higher amounts of chlorine are added to the water to chemically break down and remove contaminants through oxidation. And while most types of chlorine can do the job, liquid chlorine is the best choice for a variety of reasons.
First, liquid chlorine is safe to use and reacts immediately in the water, making it a powerful and effective choice for shocking the pool. Plus, unlike other forms of chlorine, liquid chlorine doesn't add any unwanted by-products or fillers like additional cyanuric acid (also known as “CYA”) stabilizer or calcium to your water. This makes it the strongest and purest type of chlorine available—and a preferred choice for homeowners, resort managers, and pool service professionals.
For the most beautiful, crystal-clear pools
With its fast-acting formula, liquid pool chlorine will quickly and efficiently take your pool water from dull to crystal clear blue, making it safe and inviting for swimmers of all ages. And if you want to keep your pool water translucent all season long, it's recommended to shock your pool every week—and for this purpose, using HASA Sani-Clor® liquid chlorine is the BEST choice on the market.
To learn more about the best ways to regularly shock your backyard swimming pool, pay a visit to your local swimming pool supply store and consider hiring a pool service professional for access to a trusted, ongoing resource to assist with your pool care.
Importance of
Proper Circulation
Unexpected and new climate conditions require different pool care solutions. Stay informed on ways to be “season savvy.” Read More
Keep Your Pool Water Moving
When it comes to pool maintenance, it’s important to keep the water moving and circulating. In fact, it’s best to run your pool circulation system regularly so you have ALL your pool water in the pool pass through the filter at least once a day.
Why it’s important to keep pool water circulating
First, let’s examine the roll of a good pool pump. It's a good idea to install an energy-efficient pump that can run at a lower speed throughout the day to keep the water moving and save on energy use. But the bottom-line is that the more the water moves, the better the quality of the pool water will be. Regular pool water movement, along with proper water balancing, is especially important in preventing algae growth in the pool. And no one wants algae to start growing in their backyard pool. Algae can thrive in still water, just like a stagnant pond—so proper water circulation is essential to preventing a dreaded “green pool.”
Achieving proper water movement
When you operate your pump and filter system, the pool water is drawn into the pump system through the skimmer opening and is redistributed through the returns in the pool. To ensure proper ongoing circulation:
- Make sure that the filter is clean and is running at the correct pressure according to the Manufacturer’s instructions.
- Check and clean the pump basket as needed.
- Clean leaves and debris from the skimmer basket and be sure and check the basket weekly!
Following these basic steps will help to ensure that water is flowing through your pool pump properly to create constant movement of water and to help keep that gorgeous, blue and translucent pool that all pool owners desire. Go down to your local pool store for more assistance—or check in with a trusted pool professional to make sure your pool water is moving properly.
HASA Is Your Trusted Pool Supply Source
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Testing Your Water
Simple problem-solving tools for
Pool Owner Do-It-Yourselfer (DIY)
Pool Water Testing 101
How well do you really “know” your pool water. Owning and maintaining a beautiful backyard pool does require a certain knowledge of all-things pool water related—such as understanding how vital proper water balance is for the overall for the health of your pool. Depending on where you live, your water can have too many minerals, like calcium, which is known as “hard water”—or, conversely, too few minerals, which is called “soft water”—so it's important to understand how to treat each scenario properly.
For example, too many minerals in your pool's water can make it cloudy and cause unsightly and hard-to-remove scaly deposits on the sides of your pool and on its features. Too few minerals can damage your pool's surface and metal equipment. To increase the calcium level in your pool water, you can use a calcium increaser. To remove or control calcium levels, there are products for this too. Ideally, you want to avoid adding chemicals that leave behind additional by-products like calcium or overusing cyanuric acid (also known as “CYA”).
All water, whether it’s from your pool or tap, has dissolved solids, or TDS, which include things like rainwater, chemicals, and debris. To keep your pool water looking its best, it's important to manage and understand these dissolved solids and what affect they can have on your pool water’s overall health and appearance.
To test your pool or tap water for minerals and TDS, use an approved test kit or take a sample down to your local pool care store or ask your pool care company to test for TDS. Taking the time to really understand your pool water—and the chemicals you use to maintain it—is essential for having a beautiful Safe, Clean and Clear swimming pool. Because, after all, “what goes into your pool matters!”
Learn more about our Recreational Pool Care Products and the right water treatment solutions for your situation here — or retain a qualified pool service technician to visit you once a week and help with your backyard pool care.