“Pool water can make your hair appear green. Using chlorine to clean the pool can leave a pungent stench.” You might have heard several such myths about swimming pools. Both for using the pools and maintaining them, you should know about these myths. These help you in understanding the right type of pool to choose for your house and use it effectively without unwanted fears.

1. Hair turns green in a pool with chlorine

This is one of the most common comments that people might hear when they talk about using chlorine to treat the water in their pool. Chlorine treatment is beneficial in many ways. Even to keep insects away from the pool, chlorine treatment might work. For any such reason if you plan to use chlorine in your pool water, remember that chlorine does not really turn your hair green.

The real problem is due to copper in water. It could also be released in pool water from a wide range of algae-killing compounds used in treating the pool. This copper might react with chlorine in treated water, leaving a greenish tinge. People with blonde hair might notice a subtle greenish hue due to this reason. However, washing your hair immediately after swimming in your pool would prevent this.

2. Chlorine smell means that you have added too much chlorine

Free chlorine that has not yet reacted with impurities might not leave that distinguishable pungent odor. In most cases, the odor is due to the presence of combined chlorine called chloramine, which is no more useful in the pool. The best way to nullify this smell would be to add enough chlorine to cleanse the pool and rid of the impurities that the combined chlorine can no more work on. Once you start getting the noticeable chlorine smell in your pool, you should understand that there is a large volume of combined chlorine in the pool. This type of chlorine would not be able to help in the degradation of urine, sweat and other impurities.

3. Swimming pools can be expensive to install and maintain

This could have been true in the past but people chose to install a pool anyway as it has always been known to add to the property value. Today, swimming pools are no more expensive to own. Even in the smallest backyard and in rugged and uneven terrain pools can be installed easily. Fiberglass pools have solved a range of challenges involved in the construction of swimming pools. These pools are less expensive and still offer almost all the benefits of a conventional pool. Another great benefit is that fiberglass pools are easy to maintain – so keeping them clean would be easy even for busy families that have a business to run.

4. Heated pools cost a great deal of money

Like the overall expenses involved in pool maintenance and installation, heating systems for pools have also become much less expensive. There are customized heating solutions for all types of pools both in-ground and above-the-ground pools and fiberglass pools. These can be energy-efficient ways to create a comfortable ambiance in the pool so that you can continue to use it all year long. Gas heaters, small heater pumps for smaller pools and solar heaters for pools are some of the most popular options and these are not extravagant. And the best part is that most of them take very little time to heat up the pool. So the energy consumption cost comes down as well.

5. Clarity denotes cleanliness when it comes to pool maintenance

Most people believe that if the water appears crystal clear without any floating debris or cloudy appearance, the pool is clean. This belief does not take into account the microscopic impurities that are as dangerous as the visible ones. This is why you should take pool water treatment seriously and continuously keep an eye on the composition of your pool water. There are many ways to test the pool water for cleanliness and these help in creating the most hygienic solution for your family. So, do not take pool cleaning lightly just because the pool water appears clear.

6. Chlorine in water can lead to a burning sensation in your eyes

Have you heard people say that your eyes might burn if you swim for a long time in a chlorinated pool? Going underwater should ideally not lead to burning sensation if it is effectively treated with chlorine. The pH level of the pool water would be the real reason behind this. Even in a pool without chlorine-treated water, if the pH level is above or beyond the ideal range you might notice a slight burning sensation. This could happen as the water gets into your eyes like when you take a dive and go underwater.

7. Rainwater does not affect pool water

The truth is that rain water changes your pool water composition in so many ways. If you had earlier tested the chemical composition of your pool water, check again after a rain and you would be surprised at how much the pH has changed. Chlorine levels in the water also change. This gives you more reasons to get a pool cover installed. So, if you thought that you do not need a pool cover unless there is a tree above the pool that can leave it dirty after the rain, think again. Pool covers shield the water from being disturbed by rainwater. This would also be essential in maintaining the cleanliness of the pool. There should be a proper way for rainwater to be drained without entering the pool.

Instead of blindly accepting everything you hear people talk about using the pool and maintaining it, you should spend enough time researching and identifying what is actually right. Some old practices in pool installation and maintenance do not exist anymore. As things have become much simpler, you can easily install a pool of your dreams and not worry about complicated maintenance or expensive pool cleaning jobs. Follow hygienic pool practices, and you are good to go!
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