Having phosphate in your pool isn’t necessarily cause for alarm, but it can lead to problems if you don’t keep an eye on it. Phosphates are compounds that act like food for algae, which can quickly lead to algae blooms and cloudy water.
While testing for phosphates in pool water is common practice, standard test kits can be unreliable. There’s a visual method, often called the “red cap test” using a product called PR-10,000, that many pool professionals find gives a better indication of phosphate levels.
In this article, we’ll dive into what phosphates are, where they come from, how they affect your pool, and how to manage them, with a special look at the benefits of the “red cap test.”
Read more