Chemicals from large retailers may be cheap, though they will cause expensive problems later.
They chemicals you use affect other parts of the pool & water balance
Pool shops have specialised knowledge on what chemicals to use and what’s in them.
Use the right chemicals less often.
Don’t get sold the wrong pool chemicals for your pool!
Most large retailers don’t specialise in swimming pool & spa chemicals so will sell what has the best profit margins for them, and this usually means the quality is lower. Their staff also don’t have the high levels of knowledge and understanding about the chemicals they are selling, as well as the effects they have on your water & and your health!
Did you know?
The short-term saving on your chemical costs will cause issues later due to chemical imbalances & impurities from their pool quality. For example, did you know that not all pool Chlorine is the same? There are five types!
Sodium hypochlorite,
Calcium hypochlorite,
Lithium hypochlorite,
Trichlor, and
Dichlor.
Each Chlorine type has a different purpose based on what kind of pool you have and the application you’re using it for.
If you want to learn more about the different chlorines, keep reading below, otherwise, come in to and take advantage of the knowledge and extensive training from the team at Poolside Beaconsfield and we’ll make sure your pool is balanced.
Skip to Why is all this important?
Sodium hypochlorite is liquid chlorine, great for killing algae quickly, though is used up just as fast. Calcium hypochlorite is the powdered chlorine most used for pool shock & even day to day use.
The active constituent of chlorine changes from brand to brand and can range from 400gms/kgs for day-to-day use up to 600gms/kg for shock treatments.
These chlorines are also un-stabilised, meaning it does not contain any Cyanuric Acid which slows the chlorine from being broken down by the sun.
Trichlor and Dichlor are stabilized Chlorine, meaning they do contain Cyanuric acid for sun protection.
Trichlor has a high Chlorine saturation and affects a pool’s pH and Dichlor, on the other hand, has a neutral pH level, not affecting the pH of the pool. It also has a high Chlorine saturation, dissolves quickly, and is great for spas.
Trichlor & Dichlor may seem like the way to go… However, you can’t keep putting stabilised chlorine into the pool as this will increase your cyanuric acid (stabiliser) level, and lead to further issues.
Why is this important?
Children and adults with sensitive skin are vulnerable to the effects of over chlorination, changes in pH and other effects of improper pool chemicals.
If you put the same weight of chlorine into a pool or spa and it has a higher level of active chlorine, you’ll run the risk of sore eyes, itchy skin, difficulty breathing, discoloured clothing, reduced equipment life and the list goes on.
What other chemicals are different?
Other cheap chemicals that can cause more problems than just chlorine are algaecides, minerals and salt.
ALGAECIDES
It’s very common to find staining due to copper in algaecides. If you pick up an algaecide from a large retailer, they mostly likely won’t ask you what algae you’re treating, they won’t test your copper levels in your pool or check what equipment you must ensure there are no issues with putting that in your pool.
Using a copper algaecide regularly will eventually build up your copper levels and you’ll have staining occur. From there you’ll need to treat the stains and continually add a product to keep the stains from coming back.
OR
Go to Poolside Beaconsfield and let them take the risk out of copper staining.
SALT
The salt you can buy from the large retailers is what is not good enough for pool shops. This poor/low quality pool salt contains dirt, fillers and even metal shavings. This all goes into your pool and then stays there while you swim and can cause algae problems and staining.
OR
Go to Poolside Beaconsfield and let them take the risk out of salt staining.
MINERALS
Don’t overpay for minerals when your lager retails have a mostly salt content, mixed in with a little Magnesium and possibly some other minerals and passing off as ‘Minerals’. Poolside Beaconsfield have a guaranteed 70% Magnesium content in our bags of minerals, so when you buy Magnesium, you’re getting Magnesium, not a bit of everything else!
OR
Go to Poolside Beaconsfield and let them take the risk out of you minerals.
Overall, you can take a chance with cheaper chemicals from the large retailers, however, if you want you use less chemicals, use the right chemicals makes healthy water to swim in.