Prudent Man’s Pool Maintenance

During COVID, we wanted to upgrade our pool experience here at the house to something a bit more permanent. I still wasn’t sure that we would use a pool enough to make it work the significant investment and hassle of an inground pool. But I wanted to graduate beyond the Walmart Intex pools that we had used in the past to help us make it through the hot South Carolina summers. So my wife has a client in nearby Spartanburg, SC that does pools, and we bought a 30 foot above ground pool from her.

I now own a pool, what do I do?

I began scouring the Internet to find prudent and wise ways to manage the time and money investment that this new pool was going to require (beyond the initial purcahse price). I found TFP:

One of the absolute best resources that I found online was “Pool School” by the “Trouble Free Pools” team. Their site keeps it simple and helps the average pool owner avoid many of the pitfalls that can come from blindly opening your wallet and asking a pool store repeatedly “What should I do/buy?” I really recommend just browsing their site which can quickly teach you the basics: https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/pool-school/

Tracking and Managing My Pool’s Health

The key piece of the puzzle for me was having an app on my phone that tells me exactly what needs to be added and how much needs to be added when I take my readings. The same team that provides the “Pool School” site, provides a great and simple app for taking your readings and telling you exactly how much to add called “Pool Math”:

If you have an Android phone: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.troublefreepool.poolmath&fbclid=IwAR1cWJu-JOJF3TF6Pr5MpeiakLo8yUh4hzHYDjrAOY2BUDcbM_Q34JiuTK8&pli=1

If you have an Apple phone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1228819359

The most important things that we need to manage:

  • FC – Free Chlorine – A sanitizer which keeps your pool water safe and free of germs. Chlorine must be constantly replenished. (level depends on CYA)
  • PH – Acidity/Basicity – Needs to be kept in balance to prevent irritation and protect the pool equipment. (7.2 to 8.0)
  • TA – Total Alkalinity – Appropriate levels help keep the pH in balance. High levels can cause pH to rise. (50 to 90ppm, sometimes higher)
  • CH – Calcium Hardness – Appropriate levels help prevent plaster damage. High levels can cause calcium scaling. (250 to 650ppm, vinyl lower)
  • CYA – Cyanuric Acid – Protects chlorine from sunlight and determines the required FC level. (outdoors 30 to 60ppm, SWG 60 to 90ppm, indoors 0 to 20ppm)
  • CC – Combined Chlorine – CC over 0.5ppm indicates a problem.

Testing Kits and Strips

Once you have the app, you just need an actual tester kit for detailed checks of your levels. Don’t trust strips when you’re working on getting your levels balanced. You need to use an actual chemical tester to get actual results while you’re getting all of the levels balanced. This is because 1) test strips just aren’t as accurate, and 2) one level being out of balance can throw the readings of another level off with a test strip (and leave you chasing your tail and wasting money). When getting everything balanced, ALWAYS use an actual chemical tester kit for detailed checks of your levels.

Don’t cheap out on the chemical testing kit, because accurate readings is what is going to insure you aren’t wasting chemicals. I recommend this kit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PWLYTBN?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_3487MR0499ZSCSRMNCJZ&fbclid=IwAR0PjCSiY70oQJl2l6qZNnyV12SWRk9k_ce6OTiKxUT0WaOkJSQW06Jnla8

Once the levels are in balance, I use test strips throughout the week(s) just to check and make sure that things are staying at the right level. Things like rainfall, evaporation, frequency and number of swimmers, level of insects/leaves/seeds/contaminants getting into the pool will all play a part in trying to ease your pool away from the balance that you’ve set. So I keep any eye on the balance with test strips.

If you follow my advice and only use test strips for monitoring the levels between chemical kit testing — and use them as an indicator that it is time to test with your checmical kit ( i.e. NEVER adding chemicals based only on a test strip reading) — your choice of test strips isn’t critical. Just get something with good reviews that don’t have folks complaining that the strips don’t match their chemical kit readings. I have been satisfied with these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IT79ZNO?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_5CFVKWR3XJBB39SYNCSG&fbclid=IwAR2Qr8Lv2LpRHne6nnOqUJlgzWAaqSeBI3uPyCRWs7AXOztfFo-1CYHCVic

MY MAINTENANCE ACTIVITY/SCHEDULE

Proper, consistent maintenance is the best way to avoid spending a fortune trying to get things back to a good place. If you are lazy and skimp on 15 minutes of maintenance, just know that it can come back to cost you hundreds of dollars in unnecessary/wasted chemicals later on.

When not in balance, DAILY:

  • Test with Chemical Test Kit Daily
  • Enter readings into Pool Math App
  • Based on recommendations of Pool Math App, add chemicals
  • Run your pool filter system for X number of hours (based on size of pump and

When in balance, OCCASSIONALLY (a few times a week depending on rain, swimming activity, or polutants/insects):

  • Test with strips to make sure it is still in balance
  • Add water to account for evaporation and keep top at the proper skimmer level
  • Check and empty skimmer basket
  • OPTIONAL: Run automated floor vacuum
  • OPTIONAL: Run automated surface skimmer
  • OPTIONAL: Backwash pool filter
  • If not using Salt Chlorinator or Chlorine pucks with CYA in a floater:
    • Test Chlorine Levels with Chemical Test Kit
    • Record Chlorine levels in Pool Math App
    • Based on recommendations of Pool Math App, add checmicals

WEEKLY (or BI-WEEKLY) whether in balance or not:

  • Backwash, Rinse, and check pressure on your pool filter
  • Test levels with Chemical Test Kit
  • Enter readings int Pool Math App
  • Based on recommendations of Pool Math App, add checmicals
  • OPTIONAL: Add Clorine pucks with CYA into a floater (based on pool size)
  • OPTIONAL: Vacuum floors and brush walls completely clean (manual or automated)
  • OPTIONAL: Skim the surface of the pool completely clean (manual or automated)

BI-WEEKLY (or MONTHLY)

  • Vacuum floors and brush walls completely clean (manual or automated)
  • Skim the surface of the pool completely clean (manual or automated)

PROBLEMS

If there is ever algae, mold, “accident” in the pool, etc., IMMEDIATELY:

  • Test with Chemical Test Kit Daily
  • Enter readings into Pool Math App
  • If your CYA level is too high, drain and refill at least 10% of your water level and replace with fresh water. Repeat this until CYA levels are in range. DO NOT SKIP THIS OR YOUR ATTEMPTS TO SHOCK WILL BE WASTED.
  • If your Total Alkalinity level is out of range, follow the instructions to get this in range. DO NOT SKIP THIS OR YOUR ATTEMPTS TO SHOCK WILL BE WASTED.
  • If your PH level is out of range, follow the instructions to get this in range. DO NOT SKIP THIS OR YOUR ATTEMPTS TO SHOCK WILL BE WASTED.
  • If you had to correct CYA, Alkalinity or PH levels, wait at least 2 hours, then test again with Chemical Test Kit, and enter readings into Pool Math App
  • Within the Free Chlorine Area of the Pool Math App use the SLAM option and calculate how much calcium hypo (or bleach in a pinch) needs to be added
  • Add the calculated SLAM amount of Calcium Hypo (or bleach in a pinch)
  • Wait 12-24 hours, and then:
    • Manually Brush walls
    • Manually Vacuum floors
    • Clean skimmer basket
    • Backwash pool filter

Chemicals

The key to keeping things prudent is to not buy the various small “pool packs” from the pool store, but to just buy the chemicals themselves in bulk. You can find my Amazon Shopping list of “Pool Stuff” that I personally use for reordering here: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fhz%2Fwishlist%2Fls%2F2SDMOPX6F5UFA%3Fref_%3Dwl_share%26fbclid%3DIwAR1Hhal1WKTqRY4bdugcyvxQYe59a5zlILB0kcQvt4ZVyZCzVIRksTO3EXE&h=AT3wkjEnxJF-Lg4bLayMsXOLdu2zj2TwSpZJxuz9iECtJJUt-Z2DmzE1JqDe0obz1TqoJ7ZGmMcEdxrDJGdhU9hzLOEuI5p9rYl4k8bxtMhncZum4x4W_wZXZjKpzj6SmSk

The Essentials

Most pool owners are going to need the following on hand in bulk to adjust levels:

  • Cal-Hypo Granular Sanitizer (Primary source for Chlorine)
  • Muriatic Acid (Primary source for lowering pH)
  • Borax (Primary source for raising pH)
  • Sodium BiCarbonate (Primary source for raising Alkalinity)
  • Cyanuric Acid Stabilizer (Primary source for raising CYA)

You may also need:

  • 3 inch stabilized Chlorine Tablets (used in a floater to maintain FC and CYA conveniently if you aren’t using a salt based sanitizer)
  • Calcium Chloride (Primary Source for increasing Calcium Hardness)
  • Salt (if you are using a salt based sanitizer)
  • Borate (maintaining borate levels helps prevent pH drift)