Swimming in your pool can be a very relaxing activity but there is a lot of responsibility and hard work that comes with it. In order to keep you and your family safe you need to make sure that the PH levels of your pool water are where they are supposed to be. It is not hard to test the PH level of your pool but you should make a habit of doing it once or twice a week so you can prevent things like algae and bacteria from becoming a problem in your pool water.
If you follow the simple steps that I have listed below you will have no problem testing your swimming pool water and making sure the PH is where it needs to be. You can buy a PH testing kit for you swimming pool at any of your local pool supply stores or even at bigger retail chains like Wal-mart or Lowes. Most kits are pretty cheap and will usually cost you about $15. Make sure to get a kit that will test both the PH balance and the chlorine levels of your water.
Open up the kit you just bought and take out all of the items and set them aside. Use a small, clean container and collect a sample of water from the pool. When you are collecting the sample you want to be sure that you are not taking water from the surface of the pool or water that is near the pool filter because your results will come out incorrect. Make sure the water sample is from a depth of 10 inches or greater to get the right results from the PH test.
Look at the glass containers in the test kit and fill each of them to the line noted in the directions of the kit with the pool water you collected. Follow the directions and add the correct number of drops or tablets of the included reagents into the pool water samples and then close the lids. At this point the water will change colors and will show you what the current PH and chlorine levels are. Look at the charts on the back of the PH kit box to understand what each color and individual reading means. The normal PH level for a swimming pool should be between 7.2 and 7.6. The normal chlorine level should be 80-150 parts per million (150-200ppm for a vinyl pool). If your readings are above or below the correct levels you will need to use pool chemicals to treat your pool water and raise or lower the levels. There should be a guide on how to fix the PH level in your pool on the back of most PH kits.
If your readings are normal than congratulations, you have successfully tested your swimming pool water! Always be sure to have a PH testing kit on hand so that you can keep track of the PH of your pool water on a regular basis. It is important for your pool to have a healthy PH balance to avoid bacterial and algae problems which can be both unsightly and harmful to your family and friends.
