Your Pool Chemistry is Probably Wrong (Here's How to Fix It)

Look, I get it. You've got test strips, maybe a fancy digital reader, and you're still staring at cloudy water wondering what went wrong. After 20 years in this business, I've seen it all – and most pool problems come down to chemistry that's just a little bit off.

Let me save you some headaches.

The Big Four (Everything Else is Noise)

Forget the 47-point checklists you see online. Focus on these four things and you'll solve 90% of your pool problems:

1. pH (Keep it at 7.4-7.6)
Too low? Your eyes burn and metal stuff corrodes.
Too high? Cloudy water and your chlorine stops working.
Simple as that.

2. Chlorine (1-3 ppm, no more, no less)
Under 1 ppm? Welcome to Algae City, population: your pool.
Over 3 ppm? Congrats, you're swimming in bleach.

3. Alkalinity (80-120 ppm)
Think of this as your pH's bodyguard. Too low and your pH goes crazy. Too high and adjusting anything becomes a nightmare.

4. Calcium (200-400 ppm)
Low calcium = your pool literally eats itself (seriously, it'll damage the surface).
High calcium = scale city on everything.

Testing: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing

Those cheap test strips from the grocery store? Toss 'em. I've seen them be off by 30% or more. Get yourself a decent liquid test kit (Taylor K-2006 is my go-to) or spring for a digital tester if you hate counting drops.

Test twice a week minimum. "But Pool Guy, that seems like a lot!" Yeah, well, so is draining your green pool in August because you "forgot" to test for three weeks.

The Right Order (This Matters!)

You can't just dump chemicals in willy-nilly. Here's the order that actually works:

First: Fix your alkalinity. Use baking soda to raise it, muriatic acid to lower it. Wait 4 hours.
Second: Adjust pH. Soda ash raises it, muriatic acid lowers it. Wait another 4 hours.
Third: Deal with calcium if needed (you probably won't need to monthly).
Last: Add your chlorine. Do this at night so the sun doesn't eat it all.

Houston Reality Check

Living here means dealing with:

- Rain that'll throw off your chemicals faster than you can say "flash flood"
- Heat that burns through chlorine like crazy
- Humidity that algae absolutely loves

My advice? Test after every rainstorm. Add stabilizer (cyanuric acid) to protect your chlorine from the sun. And for the love of all that's holy, brush your pool weekly even if it looks clean.

When You're In Over Your Head

Sometimes you need to call in the cavalry. If you're seeing:

- Algae that won't die no matter what
- Weird colors (pink, black, or yellow water ain't normal)
- Numbers that make zero sense
- That nasty chlorine smell (fun fact: that's actually chloramines, not chlorine)

Then yeah, give us a call. We've got the good stuff that you can't buy at the pool store, and more importantly, we know how to use it.

– The Pool Guy