Phosphates And Your Pool

High Phosphates?

It’s been a pretty stormy start to the year! With all the rain, run off and dirt that has no doubt ended up in your pool, phosphate levels might be out of whack.

If your pool water is green and cloudy, it is possible that the phosphate levels in your pool are too high. Having too many phosphates in your pool can make algae growth more likely and makes it more difficult to maintain proper pool chemistry.

What are Phosphates in a Pool?

Phosphates are organic materials that naturally occur in your pool, coming from dead leaves, soil, rain water run off and many other sources. At high enough levels, phosphates feed algae to grow in your pool. This will turn your pool’s water green and cloudy.

It is unlikely that you will be able to remove all of the phosphates from your pool. However, your goal is to keep phosphate levels low enough that they won’t help algae grow.

Dangers of Too High Phosphate Levels

Most importantly, high phosphate levels will affect how you manage your pool. High phosphate levels feed algae and promote algae growth, which in turn makes it more difficult and expensive to kill the algae and keep your pool chemistry balanced. High phosphate levels also use up chlorine quickly, making it even more difficult to kill the algae and keep your pool clean.

How to Remove Phosphates in a Pool

In most cases, you won’t need to address phosphates for a very long time. However, doing the everyday things like keeping organic materials, such as leaves and run off water waste, out of your pool will help to prevent phosphate buildup.

If you need to remove phosphates, there are chemicals that you can use. Always talk to one of our experienced team members before considering phosphate removal chemicals.