PoolBalance
The Journal
How to Calculate Your Pool's Volume (and Why It Matters)
Every dosing calculation starts with an accurate gallon count. Here's how to measure a rectangular, round, or oval pool and why the number is worth getting right.
Free Chlorine vs. Combined Chlorine: What Your Test Kit Is Really Telling You
Your test strip shows more than one chlorine number. Here's the difference between free, combined, and total chlorine, and why that harsh chemical smell means too little chlorine, not too much.
How to Balance Your Pool's pH and Total Alkalinity
pH and total alkalinity are linked, and fixing them in the wrong order leads to a frustrating chase. Here's why alkalinity comes first, and how each chemical nudges the other reading.
How Long Should You Run Your Pool Pump Each Day?
The pump is the hardest-working, most expensive-to-run piece of pool equipment. Here's how to figure out a sensible daily run time instead of guessing or running it around the clock.
Salt Water Pools Explained: How a Chlorinator Actually Works
A salt water pool isn't chlorine-free — it's still sanitized by chlorine, just generated on site. Here's how the cell works, what salt level it needs, and how to maintain it.
Gas Heater vs. Heat Pump: Choosing (and Budgeting for) Pool Heat
Gas heaters heat fast and cost more to run; heat pumps are the reverse. Here's how the two technologies actually compare, and how to estimate what heating your pool will cost either way.
A Season-by-Season Pool Maintenance Checklist
Pool care isn't the same task all year round. Here's what actually changes between opening, peak summer, closing, and the off-season, and why each phase needs a different routine.
Why Pool Shape Changes Your Gallon Count More Than You'd Expect
Two pools with the identical length, width, and depth can differ by thousands of gallons once shape enters the formula. A worked side-by-side comparison of a rectangle, an oval, and a round pool sharing the same outer dimensions.
Chlorine Dosing: Why You Always Retest Before Adding More
Chlorine doesn't distribute the instant it hits the water. A worked example of what happens when a second dose gets added before the first one has circulated, and how long to actually wait before trusting a retest.
Total Alkalinity Before pH: Why the Order Actually Matters
Fix pH before alkalinity and the reading you just corrected can drift right back within a day. A full worked sequence — raise alkalinity first, then pH — with the actual doses for each step.
Cyanuric Acid: What a Stabilizer Does, and the Over-Stabilization Trap
Cyanuric acid protects chlorine from sunlight, but nothing removes it except dilution — and too much of it can leave a normal-looking free chlorine reading doing less actual sanitizing work than it appears to.
What That Chlorine Smell Actually Means (and the Shock Dose That Clears It)
A strong chlorine smell almost always means too little sanitizing power, not too much. A worked breakpoint shock calculation shows exactly how much bigger that dose is than a routine top-up, and why.