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Top Troubleshooting QUESTIONS
7. How do I protect bathers in my pool from harmful bacteria?
Bacteria are around us all the time – in the air, water and our own bodies. Most are harmless or even beneficial, but it’s critical to provide protection from harmful (pathogenic) bacteria for all pool and spa users. Bacteria in a pool can be killed easily by maintaining proper chlorine residual levels. The amount of chlorinating product needed to maintain sufficient chlorine residual (chlorine demand) can increase substantially with the following conditions:
- Heavy bather loads
- Algae growth
- Lapse in routine chlorination
- Bacterial contamination
- Heavy rainfall
When chlorine demand increases, it’s difficult to maintain the free available chlorine residual needed to kill new bacteria entering the pool. Maintaining a free available chlorine level of 1.0 – 3.0 ppm and keeping the pH in the proper range of 7.2 – 7.6 will maximize the bacteria-killing power of the chlorinating product. If bather loads are high or after a heavy rain, shock the pool. (Go to Shock Treatments.) If algae are a problem, add an algaecide for control and prevention. (Go to Algaecides.)
For information on chlorinating products, go to Sanitizers
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