Whenever someone knows your pool gets Nitrates, suggestions and ideas start flowing towards you. Don’t get yourself panicked, and don’t let yourself rush yourself to start draining, scrubbing, refilling the pool. It’s better to start from the very basics like what these nitrates actually are, how they form, whether they are harmful to your pool or not, and if so, then to how much extent; finally, the most important one is how to get rid of the nitrates in your pool. You’ll get the answers to all these basic questions here in this guide. So, thank me later; better start scrolling to learn more.
What is nitrate in your pool?
Nitrate is a contaminant that occurs naturally in your pool. Nitrate is a molecule formed by combining Nitrogen with Oxygen or Ozone. It is a very useful plant nutrient and is widely used in different fertilizers. It’s very common to be around the places where plants grow. Suppose you have grasses, plants, or any other biological sources around your pool, then your pool is highly likely to have nitrates in its water.
Sources of Nitrates
Some very common places play important factors as the sources of Nitrates in your pool. Let’s learn more about them.
Septic System
If there is a faulty septic tank in your house or in case the tank locates too close to your swimming pool, then there’s a good chance that it will slowly leak into the ground and somehow make its way to your pool. Thus, septic tanks can make your pool water nitrates contaminated. Another great source of your pool water nitrate contamination is the wells. Sometimes they carry a high range of Nitrate contamination, and if your pool gets filled with this well water, Nitrates will be in the pool.
Washed-off fertilizers
Your pool can get nitrate contamination if the trees, grass, or plants at your yard have runoff that falls just into it. Fertilizers like urea, anhydrous ammonia are very well-known sources of carrying Nitrogen. If you use them on your lawn, plants, and trees, they will get washed off by rainwater and let your pool get its nitrates. Again, rain also works as a potential source of your pool’s nitrate deposit.
Animal dump and waste
In case the local wildlife or your pets dump themselves in your yard, it might end with pool water nitrate contamination. Even after cleaning up the waste, the nitrates contained by the residues are enough to contaminate your pool water.
Birds waste and waterfowl
Your pool is a favorite place for all birds and other waterfowls. You won’t keep themselves away from landing in your pool water. They adulterate the water with nitrates with their feces and waste.
From your pets
If you have pets like a dog or cat, and you love to have them with you while swimming in the pool, you’re at great risk of making your pool nitrate polluted. Pets can carry nitrates on their paws while running the yard, rolling around it, or having their feces residue on the body. When they happily swim with you, nitrates get washed off in the meantime.
Nitrate from the human body
Many human waste materials contain nitrates like body oil, sweat, urine, etc. Even the toiletry and cosmetic products may add a small number of nitrates into your pool water.
Pool damages caused by Nitrates
Nitrates have no direct effect on the human body, but they may damage the pool water in the long run. Nitrates work as a positive catalyst to algae growth in the pool. Algae bloom sticks themselves to the pool water and pool walls, eventually turning your entire pool into a green world. You won’t easily get rid of the algae as well due to the hindrances caused by nitrates. It’ll cost you more chlorine than you’d actually need.
Getting rid of pool Nitrates
Here comes the most surprising part. After all these talks, what to do with the Nitrates in your pool? Do you think it’s a must to get rid of Nitrates? Unfortunately, you can’t. Yes, that’s the truth about nitrates in your pool. It’s not possible to remove all nitrates from your pool. All you can do is to prevent nitrates from falling into the pool. How to do that? Scroll to the next section.
How to prevent it in the future?
You need to treat the problem of nitrates filling your pool at the very beginning. This process is very much equal to the regular pool maintenance tasks. Keep the pool water clean and sanitize it on a regular basis. Also, maintain proper sanitization level. Test your pool water regularly and check out if your pool water is susceptible to any potential nitrate sources. Keep the chlorine level in ideal proportion. At least once a week, shock your pool.
Conclusion
Don’t get yourself hassled up too much to try to remove nitrates from your pool. It’s practically impossible. Better, focus on keeping the pool water clean and follow some proper pool maintenance scheduled. Happy Swimming, guys.