Taylor Pool Heat Pump owner manual Why Perform Water Maintenance?, Water Chemistry

WATER MAINTENANCE

Why Perform Water Maintenance?

Contrary to traditional heat pumps that treat air only, pool heat pumps deal with water and are much more sensitive. This is mainly caused by water chemistry. Only you, the owner of the heat pump, can control the chemistry of your swimming pool water to avoid premature degradation of your pool heat pump.

Water Chemistry

Many chemicals are used to control the quality of swimming pool water. We use different types of chlorine or bromine to control microorganisms and algae. We also use various products to regulate pH and other aspects of the water chemistry. Every product added produces an effect on water chemistry that must often be balanced with other chemical products. For example, trichlor addition induces a diminution of pH and of total alkalinity (TA). We must balance those effects by adding sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).

Some organizations, like the NSPI (National Spa & Pool Institute), publish standards on pool water chemistry. Those standards are made to protect swimmers and swimming pool equipments, particularly their metal parts, copper, steel and even stainless steel, that will corrode under the effect of bad chemistry. Generally, if the equipment can be damaged by bad chemistry, this can also be a health hazard. (See the following table for the standards.)

Table 1: Chemical Products Concentration in Pool Water Standard

	Minimum	Ideal	Maximum
		pool 1.0-3.0	pool 3.0
Free chlorine*	1.0	spa 3.0-5.0	spa 10.0
Combined chlorine*	None	None	0.2
		pool 2.0-4.0	pool 4.0
Bromine*	2.0	spa 3.0-5.0	spa 10.0
pH	7.2	7.4 - 7.6	7.8
Total alkalinity*	80	80-120	150
Total dissolved solids*	300	1000-2000	3000
Calcium hardness*	150	200-400	500-1000
Cyanuric acid*	10	30-50	150
Salt* (salt chlorinator)	None	None	3000

*Ppm: parts per million

Your heat pump, just as any type of pool heater (gas, oil, electric, etc.), features some metal parts that can be damaged by bad chemistry. The condenser of your pool heat pump is made of a copper alloy that, as resistant as it is, is sensitive to pH. That is why we strongly recommend testing the quality of the pool water regularly. These controls must be made on a weekly basis and must at least feature the following: chlorine or bromine, pH and TA. Moreover,

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