Three years ago, we suddenly became “pool people”. When we purchased our current house, it came with a very large in-ground pool, and, of course, pool care duty fell to yours truly. I have now spent the last three years learning water chemistry, fine-tuning variable speed pumps, and fighting suction to take care of this pool, not to mention replacing—and paying to replace—various parts. They aren’t kidding when they call pools money pits.
To optimize my pool care routine, I’ve been compiling a list of principles and developing a system to remove a bulk of the burden of “figuring it out as I go.”
First, I have a Google Doc with core information and principles for pool care. These include things like the size of our pool (37,000 gallons), how many 3″ chlorine tabs to add at a time, and how many pounds of sodium bicarbonate to add to our pool to raise the alkalinity 10 ppm. I can use this document as a reference whenever I need to make adjustments to the water. It also has a schedule for pool care activities, such as how frequently to brush the sides or shock the pool.
Second, I have a spreadsheet that I use to track how much of what chemicals I’m adding to the pool and when, as well as my purchases of those chemicals. This allows me to calculate total and average usage and cost of each chemical over the course of the pool season. My goal here is to help refine my understanding of the water balancing needs of our pool, which will be reflected in the first document, and also to help prepare for next season by allowing me to buy more chemicals in bulk rather than running to the pool store on a regular basis throughout the season.
Finally, based on the schedule of various tasks outlined in the first document, I have actual calendar events on my calendar to help me stay on top of the pool care regimen. Currently, I just have a single recurring daily event for “Pool care,” and then reference the document to see which specific tasks I need to do, but my plan to refine this a bit further with more specific calendar events based on the schedule to avoid having to reference the document while I’m out at the pool.
This system is definitely still a work in progress and not complete, but it has certainly helped me stay more on top of pool care this season compared to previous seasons, and my hope is that, as I continue to refine it, it makes future seasons even easier (and hopefully cheaper, too).
I have to give credit to Swim University, run by Matt Giovanisci, whose articles, cheat sheets, and videos have really simplified pool care for me.
I also have to give credit to our local pool store, who take care of opening and closing our pool each season, installed our new liner, and supply our chemicals. They have been very helpful when I’ve run into issues with the pool or had questions about balancing the water.