Pool Chemistry Basics: The Ideal Levels Chart
Ideal pool chemistry levels in one chart: pH, free chlorine, alkalinity, calcium, stabilizer and salt, plus what to adjust first and a volume calculator.
The pool owner’s handbook
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Clear numbers, step-by-step fixes and honest safety advice for people who look after their own pool.
Latest guides
How to Fix a Green Pool: A Step-by-Step Guide
Turn a green pool clear again: test, brush, shock to the right level for your stabilizer, run the filter and vacuum. Doses, timelines and mistakes to avoid.
Pool Safety for Families: Layers of Protection That Save Lives
Drowning is fast and silent. The layers that protect children at home pools: four-sided fencing, alarms, water watchers, swim lessons, CPR and safe drains.
Pool Volume Calculator: How Many Gallons Is My Pool?
Work out how many gallons your pool holds in seconds. Free pool volume calculator for rectangle, round and oval pools, plus the formulas and measuring tips.
How to Lower pH in a Pool Without Overshooting
Why pool pH rises, how to lower it safely with muriatic acid or dry acid, how much to add, and how to stop it creeping back up. Step by step, with safety tips.
How to Raise Total Alkalinity in a Pool
Low alkalinity makes pH bounce around and water corrosive. How to raise total alkalinity with baking soda, how much to add and how it differs from raising pH.
Cloudy Pool Water: Causes and Fixes
Why pool water turns cloudy and how to clear it: low chlorine, high pH or alkalinity, poor filtration, high calcium, early algae and debris, with fixes.
How Much Shock Does My Pool Need?
How much pool shock to add, based on your pool volume, stabilizer level and what you are fixing, with dosing examples for liquid chlorine, cal-hypo and dichlor.
Saltwater vs Chlorine Pools: Costs, Pros and Cons
Saltwater or traditional chlorine? How salt chlorine generators work, upfront and running costs, maintenance, feel of the water, and which suits your pool.
How to Open a Pool for Summer: A Step-by-Step Checklist
A step-by-step checklist for opening your pool after winter: removing the cover, restarting equipment, balancing water, shocking and safety checks.
How to Winterize an Above-Ground Pool
How to close an above-ground pool for winter: balancing and shocking, lowering the water, protecting the plumbing, adding an air pillow and securing the cover.
Cyanuric Acid: How Much Pool Stabilizer Is Too Much?
What cyanuric acid does, the ideal stabilizer level for your pool, why too much makes chlorine weak, how to raise it and the only reliable way to lower it.
Sand vs Cartridge vs DE Pool Filters
Sand, cartridge and DE pool filters compared: how fine they filter, cleaning, water use, cost and lifespan, plus how to tell when your filter needs attention.
How to Get Rid of Mustard Algae in a Pool
Yellow, dusty patches that brush away and come back? How to identify and kill mustard algae, clean everything it touches and stop it returning.
Robotic Pool Cleaners: What Actually Matters When You Buy
What to look for in a robotic pool cleaner: wall and waterline cleaning, filtration, navigation, cable or cordless, maintenance and warranty.
Pool Chemical Dosage Calculator
Free pool chemical calculator: how much liquid chlorine, cal-hypo, muriatic acid, soda ash, baking soda, stabilizer or calcium chloride to add for your volume.
How to Raise pH in a Pool Safely
How to raise low pool pH with soda ash, aeration or borax, which to choose based on alkalinity, how much to add, and why pH keeps dropping in the first place.
How to Lower Alkalinity in a Pool
How to lower high total alkalinity in a pool with acid and aeration, how much acid it takes, how long it lasts, and how to stop alkalinity climbing back up.
Calcium Hardness: How to Raise or Lower It
What calcium hardness does in a pool, the right range for plaster, vinyl and fiberglass, how to raise it with calcium chloride and how to lower it safely.
How to Get Rid of Black Algae
How to identify and kill black algae: hard brushing, spot treatment, shocking to the right level, filter cleaning and how to stop the spots coming back.
Heat Pump vs Gas vs Solar Pool Heaters
Heat pump, gas or solar pool heater? How each works, running costs, heating speed, climate fit and sizing, plus why a pool cover is the cheapest upgrade of all.
Variable-Speed Pool Pumps: Are the Savings Real?
Why variable-speed pool pumps use far less electricity, how much you might save, how to program one, and what to check before you buy or replace a pump.
How to Vacuum a Pool Manually
How to vacuum a pool by hand: the equipment you need, priming the hose, filter or waste settings, the right technique, and what to do when suction is weak.
Is My Pool Leaking? The Bucket Test
How to tell a pool leak from evaporation with the bucket test, how to read the results, where leaks usually hide and when to call a leak detection pro.
Hot Tub Chemistry Basics
Hot tub water care: target chlorine or bromine and pH levels, a weekly routine, shocking, when to drain and refill, and how to fix cloudy or foamy water.
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Water Chemistry
Test, balance and understand your water: pH, chlorine, alkalinity, calcium and stabilizer.
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Step-by-step fixes for green, cloudy and problem pools.
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The layers of protection that keep families safe around home pools.
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Filters, pumps, cleaners and chlorinators: what to buy and how to run them.
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Opening, closing and winterizing your pool, season by season.
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Hot tub and spa water care: sanitizer, pH, shocking, draining and keeping the water safe.
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