- [Narrator] It's time to get your pool ready
for swimming season and that means adding a dose
of pool opening chemicals
and adding the right chemicals now means preventing algae
and cloudy pool water later.
Luckily, all the chemicals you need to open your pool
in the spring are the same ones you'll need
for regular pool maintenance throughout the year.
So, here's what you need to know
about pool opening chemicals, and how to add them.
Check it out.
(upbeat music)
Before you add any chemicals to your pool,
make sure that you've completed these pool opening steps.
One, remove the cover, drain plugs,
winterization plugs, and ice compensators.
Two, inspect the pool filter system, pumps, return line,
and other areas for damage.
Three, refill your pool with water
so that the water level is midway up the skimmer.
Four, clean up leaves and debris with a skimmer net.
And five, turn on the filter
and let it run for 12 to 24 hours to circulate the water.
Now, if you need any help
with these steps before starting to add chemicals,
be sure to check out our step-by-step pool opening videos.
Now it's time to test your water.
You won't know what chemicals to add
if you don't know what your water chemistry looks like.
Test strips are a quick and easy way to test your levels,
but you may wanna run a water sample over
to your local pool supply store.
This will give you a more accurate baseline
and they can test
for other things like metals in your water.
By the way, if you're looking
for help taking care of your pool throughout the season,
check out our free pool care cheat sheet
at swimuniversity.com/cheatsheet.
It's a totally free, easy-to-use guide
to help you keep your pool clean and clear.
Now when you test your water,
you'll wanna test for the following levels:
pH, which should be between 7.4 to 7.6 with 7.5 being ideal;
total alkalinity, which should be
between 100 and 150 parts per million
with 125 parts per million being ideal;
free available chlorine, which should be
between one to three parts per million
with three parts per million being ideal;
cyanuric acid, or CYA, which should be
between 30 and 50 parts per million
with 50 parts per million being ideal;
and your calcium hardness, which should be
between 175 and 225 parts per million
for vinyl liners or fiberglass pools,
or 200 and 275 parts per million
for concrete or plaster pools.
Once you know what needs adjusting,
it's time to start balancing your water
with the right chemicals.
Now you may have seen pool opening
or pool start-up chemical kits.
Depending on your water test results,
you may not need everything that kit comes with,
such as algaecide or a metal sequestering.
So, regardless of whether or not you buy a startup kit,
you'll wanna have the following chemicals
for opening your pool and maintaining your pool
throughout the season: alkalinity increaser,
pH increaser, pH decreaser, cyanuric acid,
also known as CYA or chlorine stabilizer,
pool shock, chlorine pucks or the sanitizer of your choice,
and calcium hardness increaser.
And as always, when adding chemicals
be sure to have protective gear like gloves and goggles.
Remember, safety first.
Now it's time to start balancing your water.
Here's the order we recommend adjusting
your water chemistry.
First, you wanna adjust your alkalinity.
Alkalinity helps buffer and prevent fluctuations with pH.
So, we want to adjust these levels first.
If you need to raise your alkalinity,
you can use an alkalinity increaser or baking soda.
If you add an alkalinity increaser,
you may also raise your pH.
Next, you want to adjust your pH if necessary.
You can lower your pH with a pH decreaser,
or if you need to raise your pH
you can use a pH increaser or soda ash.
After you adjust your pH, adjust your cyanuric acid,
or CYA levels, if needed.
This helps to stabilize the sanitizer
you'll add later to your pool.
Wait an hour or so with the filter system running
and then retest and adjust these levels
before adding any more chemicals.
Next, we're gonna be shocking the pool.
Now, before you shock, give your pool a good brushing.
If your pool water is cloudy,
you'll wanna double shock your pool
and that means adding two pounds of chlorine shock
for every 10,000 gallons of water.
If you open up your pool to really green water,
you should check out other videos
on how to get rid of algae.
Let the shock work overnight
with your filter system running.
After your chlorine level has come down to the proper range,
add your chlorine or sanitizer.
We recommend adding chlorine pucks or tablets
to a chlorinator or directly to your skimmer.
Finally, adjust your calcium hardness levels.
Low levels of calcium hardness
can do damage in the long run,
like eroding parts in your pool.
So, you can actually wait until the water is sanitized
and balanced before adjusting your calcium hardness.
Now, if you have any more questions about pool maintenance,
go check out our free pool care cheat sheet
at swimuniversity.com/cheatsheet and that's it.
Those are the chemicals that you need
to open your swimming pool.
If you missed anything or have any questions,
please leave a comment to let us know,
hit the like button below if you found this video helpful,
and subscribe to our channel for more videos like this one.
That's it.
Thanks again and happy swimming.