Until recently, I underestimated how important calcium hardness is for water chemistry. Good calcium hardness levels make managing pool chemistry so much easier! As a service tech, my route is less stressful as a result of having LSI balanced water. I test for calcium once a month, and add calcium to my pools that need it. My job has been so much easier ever since. The water behaves in a more predictable way, and I know I’m doing what’s best for my customers.
I live in Orange County, California, and our weather is pretty awesome, most of the year. But that doesn’t mean it never gets colder in the winter. Water temperature getting colder seriously affects the balance and makes for more corrosive pool water. Calcium-deficient pool water gets aggressive and will steal calcium from anywhere it can find it. If a source isn’t readily available, the water will corrode through all sorts of equipment (like heaters and salt cells) looking for calcium. I always thought corrosion was something to do with chlorine, or that it was just part of managing a pool…but no! It’s unbalanced water chemistry.
