Balancing your pool or spa water is crucial to your swimming comfort because...

1. If the pH, Alkalinity, or Calcium hardness of your water are too high, you can experience itchy skin or unpleasant odor.
2. If these levels are too low you may experience burning eyes or skin.

Like-wise if these levels are too high, it puts the water in a SCALE FORMING state. This means that going un-checked or corrected, you may actually see a sand-papery substance on the surface of your pool or spa. It is even worse in the heater areas of your equipment as the heat intensifies the ability of the scale to build up, causing heater elements to "Insulate" themselves causing heaters to work harder to do the job they have to, therefore being less efficient.

Low Levels

If these levels are too low, the opposite is true. Water is then in a "CORROSIVE" state, meaning that plastics get brittle, metal parts deteriorate, such as expensive heat exchangers, pump impellers get brittle & break causing pumps to become in-efficient. This also can effect the warranty on some of your expensive pools or equipment as if it is evident that the water was not properly balanced, they may not cover repairs under their warranty.

Sanitation

Sanitation is also crucial to prevent bacteria build-up and therefore preventing sickness and disease. Proper shocking of your water is also very important to kill contaminants and let the sanitizer work more effectively and efficiently.

Filter Cleaning

Filter cleaning is also very important to do on a regular basis to clean the impurities from the water and not overload the sanitizer needs. To make your filters last longer, The Pool Doctor suggests having two filters and switching them every other cleaning. Example: While one filter is soaking or being cleaned, replace the dirty filter with the clean one.