What Are The Challenges With Phosphates In Your Pool?
Phosphates are a challenge and can be a nightmare in your swimming pool especially if you don’t what they are and how to deal with them. You can’t physically see them, but as their levels increase in the swimming pool the water could turn green! This is where the problem is because even though you have adequate to high amounts of chlorine in the swimming pool algae can and will grow. Phosphates (also denoted as PO4) are known nutrients to help increase plant growth rates such as in algae. However, there are several debates (and confusion) regarding phosphates in pool water. Simply put, phosphates are food for algae and when levels increase maintaining a blue and clear pool is tough. Now that we are well into summer and have had many storms with wind…. chances are phosphate levels have increased in your swimming pool.
Do you have a lot of trees in your backyard or struggle with lots of debris in your pool? If so, this is probably your best sign that phosphates might be an issue!
One of the biggest challenges with phosphates is in specific environments they are constantly being introduced into your swimming pool water. They can be found in vegetation, fill/tap water, lawn and garden fertilizers and potentially in other pool chemicals as well that you use. With that said, phosphates can enter into your swimming pool in the following ways:
- When water is added to the pool by either you or the automatic leveler
- A constant wind that blows dirt and other vegetation into the pool, which does happen in the Dallas area!
- Sprinkler fun off from your lawn or landscaping/dirt gets into your pool.
- Certain chemicals that contain phosphorous to help clean your pool
How Do You Remove Phosphates From The Pool?
First off, is your chlorine levels high? Is your pool turning green or are you developing algae blooms? This is your number one sign that phosphates might be present. Next, have you tested your levels? You can either do this at home with a phosphate test kit or take a water sample into a pool store. If your levels are high, you will need to remove them and this can be done a couple of different ways. Please keep in mind, you can also be pro-active in removing dirt, debris, and vegetation from the pool as soon as possible instead of allowing it to sit on the surface or bottom of the pool. That will definitely help in the future but to remove them you can purchase a phosphate remover. This can be extremely effective if used following the directions based on the size of your pool. Many people think more is better but this is definitely not the case with phosphate removers.
Finally, phosphates can also be removed using our Reverse Osmosis (RO) Mobile Filtration Trailer (Puripool). This type of filtration will lower Calcium Hardness, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), CYA, phosphates, waterborne diseases, salts, and so much more from your swimming pool without draining the swimming pool. It will conserve up to 85% of the water in your swimming pool which means this service can be performed 365 days a year. This service will not only remove the phosphates but give you the best water quality to swim in. In conclusion, we recommend testing regularly for phosphates especially if you’re in an area with heavy vegetation and being mindful to lower the levels as soon as possible to prevent algae growth. If you have any other questions about phosphates or how we can help you, contact us today!