Have you ever felt a burning sensation or some discomfort while or after using a swimming pool? This experience will make you wonder what is wrong with the pool.
If you asked that question, you are among the thousands of people who had a similar experience and want to know its cause. Apparently, this is a common pool problem, and many misconceptions exist about it. But in this article, we will explain the real reasons why swimming pool water may hurt your eyes.
This is not the cause
People who experience eye irritation and redness after using a swimming pool often attribute the problem to excessive chlorine in the water. But this is false, as chlorine is not the culprit.
The appropriate chlorine level for a swimming pool is 1-3 parts per million (ppm). But even when that concentration rises to 5ppm, the water will not irritate swimmers. The only time chlorine could cause this problem is when a pool is shocked. But pools are not open to swimming after the water has been shocked.
The reality is that the problem often results from too little chlorine in the water. It could be because some other chemical or substance is interfering with the chlorine or because the chlorine level for the pool is inappropriate.
Furthermore, rather than being the cause, chlorine is actually used to solve the problem. Super-chlorination of the pool is the most popular solution when swimming pool water causes eye and skin irritation or damage to the hair.
What causes the problem?
- Chloramine
Here is what happens when you apply chlorine to a swimming pool. The chlorine bonds to water molecules to form hypochlorous acid. This newly-formed chemical is what sanitizes the water by killing off the algae and bacteria in it. It keeps the water safe and enjoyable. However, when ammonia is present in the water, it binds with the hypochlorous acid in the water and interferes with the function of chlorine.
How does ammonia get in the pool? Although undesirable, it is almost inevitable that ammonia will find its way into the swimming pool water. This is because ammonia is a component of many organic materials. It is present in human sweat, spit, and urine. It is also found in dog waste and bird droppings. But even more importantly, it is part of the makeup of many personal care products; hairspray, colognes, and deodorants. It is also present in fertilizers and algaecides.
The point is there are many potential ways ammonia can get introduced into a swimming pool. But once inside the water, it proceeds to bond with hypochlorous acid and form chloramine, an unpleasant chemical.
Chloramine is an eye, skin, mouth, throat, and hair irritant. It is also the cause of the unpleasant “bleachy” smell in swimming pools. Additionally, because it interferes with chlorine, it allows algae and bacteria to grow freely in the pool water.
The only way to rid the pool water of chloramine is to burn out ammonia in the water. This is done by shocking or super chlorinating the water, raising chlorine levels to the point where the chloramine breaks down.
You can achieve this by increasing the chlorine level up to ten times the normal level to reach breakpoint chlorination. At this point, chloramine bonds break down, and the ammonia in the water burns out.
- Water pH
The presence of chloramine in swimming pool water is highly sensitive to the pH of the water. The lower the pH, the more pronounced the problem is going to be. On its own, low pH will make the swimming pool water irritable, but the presence of chloramine magnifies its potential to create discomfort for swimmers.
The human body has an ideal pH of 7.2, and the ideal pH for a swimming pool is between 7.2 – 7.6. If the ideal pH of the pool falls below 7.0, pool water will burn the eyes and cause skin irritation. If you do not test the swimming pool’s pH regularly, there is a chance that its pH level will slip out of balance, and the pool owner will not realize it. Routine testing of the pool can prevent this problem.
- Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
The third reason swimming pool water may cause eye and skin irritation is due to the high level of dissolved materials in the water. The acceptable TDS level for a swimming pool ranges from a few hundred ppm (part per million) to 2000-3000 ppm.
However, when TDS exceeds 3000 ppm, the water will become cloudy and hurt the eyes. It will also make it hard to maintain the water’s pH, which will, in turn, increase the likelihood of chloramines forming in the pool water.
In conclusion, this is a problem that is well within the control of pool owners, says Cavalier Estates LLC. It is even possible to say that inadequate maintenance is the real reason why swimming pool water would hurt swimmers. By paying close attention to the condition of the water, it is possible to avoid this problem.