Chemical Balancing
LSI-based testing and precise dosing on every single visit.
Learn MoreThe Langelier Saturation Index is the number behind truly healthy pool water. Here's what it measures, why Gulf Coast weather fights it, and why we balance every visit against it.
The Langelier Saturation Index is a calculated score of your water's calcium carbonate saturation — in plain terms, whether the water wants to dissolve material or deposit it. It combines six measurements: pH, water temperature, calcium hardness, total alkalinity, cyanuric acid (stabilizer), and total dissolved solids.
Plenty of pools test "fine" for sanitizer and still damage themselves quietly. A sanitized pool with low calcium and low alkalinity is still corrosive every hour of every day. That's why we treat sanitizer and LSI as two separate jobs: one keeps water safe, the other keeps water harmless.
Our climate makes LSI a moving target. Heavy summer rains dilute calcium hardness and alkalinity, yanking the index toward corrosive. Sustained 95°F+ heat pushes the index upward and drives pH climb. A pool balanced on July 1 is mathematically a different pool after a week of storms — which is exactly why weekly testing and small corrective doses beat monthly big swings.
Small doses, weekly. Correcting LSI with gentle weekly adjustments keeps water stable and predictable. Chasing it once a month means lurching between corrosive and scale-forming — and your plaster and heater pay the toll either way.
Swimmers notice LSI even if they've never heard the term. Balanced water is the difference between "the pool stings my eyes" and not thinking about the water at all. It's sparkle without cloud, no white crust at the tile line, no rough plaster, and a heater that lasts years longer.
Every Hood's service visit includes a full test panel — pH, alkalinity, calcium, stabilizer, sanitizer, and temperature — and we calculate the LSI before we dose anything. The adjustments we make that day are aimed at the index, not at a single number in isolation, and your service report shows the readings so you can see your water's trend over the season.
Free water test, upfront pricing, and a veteran-owned team that treats your pool like our own.
Get a Free QuoteWhat turns a pool green in this climate, what professional algae recovery really involves, and what it should cost — explained by the techs who clean them every week.
Learn MoreLiving on the Gulf Coast means planning for storms. Here's what to do with your pool before one hits, and the safe way to bring it back after — from a team that cleans up after them.
Learn MoreWe don't get Chicago winters — we get one brutal freeze every few years that cracks unprepared plumbing. Here's how to protect a Gulf Coast pool through winter without overdoing it.
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