Chemical balancing for Pakenham & Cardinia Shire pools.
Restore pH, free chlorine, total alkalinity, calcium hardness, stabiliser and salt to the safe band. Photometer-tested (not paper strips), dosed from the van, result emailed before we leave. Quick callout for post-rain, post-party, or pre-holiday balance.
The six numbers we test, and the safe band for each.
- pH (7.2–7.6, ideal 7.4): the single most important number. Wrong pH locks up chlorine, irritates skin and eyes, and scales the chlorinator cell. Dosed with hydrochloric acid (lower) or soda ash (raise).
- Free chlorine (1–3 ppm): the active sanitiser. Too low — algae and bacteria win. Too high (5+) — irritation. Dosed with cal-hypo, granular chlorine, or chlorinator output adjustment for salt pools.
- Total alkalinity (80–140 ppm, sweet 100–120): pH buffer. If alkalinity is wrong, pH bounces around regardless of how much acid you add. Dosed with sodium bicarbonate (raise) or acid (lower).
- Calcium hardness (200–400 ppm): protects plaster, grout and tile. Low calcium pulls calcium out of the surface; high calcium scales everything. Dosed with calcium chloride.
- Stabiliser / CYA (30–80 ppm): sunscreen for chlorine. Without it, the sun destroys your chlorine in hours. With too much, chlorine gets locked up. Dosed with cyanuric acid.
- Salt (3,500–5,500 ppm, chlorinator-dependent): salt pools only. Top up with bagged pool salt. Mains-water top-ups dilute salt, so it’s a regular check.
When chemical balancing is a callout, not a regular service.
- After heavy rain — 50mm+ in a day dilutes everything; biggest cause of post-storm green pools.
- After a big party / pool day — 6–8 swimmers for the afternoon dumps body oils, sunscreen and sweat, which chew through chlorine fast.
- Coming back from holiday — 2–3 weeks with no service in summer almost always needs a balance + shock.
- Before a big event — want it crystal-clear for the weekend? We balance Friday afternoon for Saturday parties.
- Switching service company — we do a thorough first-visit balance to baseline everything before going on a regular schedule.
Why we use a photometer, not strips.
Paper test strips drift wildly with age, sun exposure and humidity. A 6-month-old tube of strips kept in a hot poolside cupboard can read 30% off. Our photometer (Palintest or Lovibond) uses calibrated reagents and reads to 0.01 pH and 0.1 ppm chlorine. The difference matters: dosing acid based on a wrong pH reading can drop you below 7.0 and start eroding the heater exchanger inside a week.
Pricing.
- Balance-only callout (no vacuum / surface work): $40–$80
- Balance + retest 48h follow-up: $60–$120 (recommended after a major drift)
- Balance built into regular service: no extra — included in the visit fee
- Major rebalance (green-pool / post-shock): quoted separately, $120–$250
Where we work.
Need a quick balance?
Same-day or next-day callout across Pakenham, Officer, Beaconsfield. Photometer test, full report.