Residential Pool Terms

Water chemistry is imperative in keeping the pool water sparkly clean. Even if you take your water to get tested at your local retail store, understanding these basic terms will put you ahead of the game.

Chlorine: A member of the halogen family of sanitizers, chlorine’s use in swimming pools is in the elemental form of a gas, liquid, granular or tablet compound. When added to water it acts as an oxidizer, sanitizer, disinfectant and all around biocidal agent.

pH: The scale of relative acidity or alkalinity, expressed in logarithmic numbers from 0 to 14, with 7.0 being neutral. What’s being measured is the hydrogen ion concentration.

Shock: As a noun it loosely describes the products used in shocking, such as hypochlorite, potassium permonysulfate or hydrogen peroxide. As a verb it describes the act of bringing the sanitizer level up so high that breakpoint chlorination is reached.

Terms defined on www.poolcenter.com.