Understanding Nitrates

Nitrates are very similar to phosphates in the sense that they encourage the growth of algae.

Nitrates spread over crops, yards and anything else that grows is a life-giving compound. It is the primary component in most fertilizers and is essential to the development of all vegetation. Every time you see lush green, you are looking at nitrites effects.

In a swimming pool, however, things that grow and turn green are unwelcomed – and nitrites are the “kiss of death”.

Nothing will do more to upset your pool water than nitrates.

Most significant is that there, as yet, are no products on the market that are designed to remove nitrates from water.

Because nitrates in a sense are immune to oxidation, the only known way to remove it is through draining or dilution.

Nitrates are found in the air, on the ground and in groundwater. It occurs in nature as animal waste and through the ionization of oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere during thunderstorms.

How can you lower the levels? Well there isn’t a really easy way to do this, but a combination of certain swimming pool maintenance tricks could help.

First of all, you need to find the source of the nitrate problem. Those could come from oils coming off swimmers, wind blowing things into the pool, or birds and ducks landing in the pool.

Keeping the swimming pool cover on the pool unless you are swimming in it is a start. This will eliminate most contaminates from entering.

If the swimmers are the issue, then make sure they don’t enter with heavy amounts of oils, make-up or other products.

Animals are hard to keep out of the water, especially if they are wild, so a spray that could help keep them away might do the trick.