Pool Chemistry and Maintenance From a Backyard Pool Owner
Nadia Caldwell · July 13, 2026
The phone rings in July, and it’s always the same story: “My above-ground pool turned green overnight, and I swear I’m doing everything the manual says.” I ask a few questions about their routine, and the culprit emerges almost immediately — they’ve lifted their maintenance strategy straight from in-ground pool playbooks. That approach fails spectacularly … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 13, 2026
What’s actually stopping your pool from clearing up when algae blooms hit? Odds are strong it’s not your chlorine dose — it’s the brush you’re holding. Picture this instead: it’s dawn on a Tuesday at a big 75,000-gallon pool outside Phoenix, and the shallow end’s concrete steps have developed a yellowish-green film thick enough to … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 10, 2026
Dawn breaks at 7 a.m., and your pool’s surface has become a landing pad for an entire oak tree worth of branches and leaves. You reach for that threadbare skimmer net—the one that came vacuum-sealed to your telescoping pole back when you first set up—and you start dragging it across the water. It collects maybe … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 10, 2026
Suppose you’re dosing shock at 20 ppm and your CYA reads 110 ppm. That’s the moment people start screaming “chlorine lock” online. They’ve dumped chemicals, nothing visibly improves, and panic sets in. The chlorine won’t budge on the test kit. They’ve absorbed the cyanuric acid chlorine lock myth wholesale, treated it as settled fact, and … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 9, 2026
A pH reading of 7.8 right before you shut down for winter isn’t a problem—it’s a warning. That number tells you the water’s alkalinity buffering is working, but the moment freezing temps hit and you stop circulating, you’re about to trap chemistry inside a dormant system where it can’t respond. This is the post about … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 5, 2026
Saltwater generators do not eliminate chlorine—they manufacture it on-site, which is a crucial distinction most pool owners miss until their water goes cloudy. Understanding this fact before you commit to either system will save you months of frustration and hundreds of dollars in wasted chemicals. During the past year, I extracted detailed maintenance records from … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 3, 2026
Dose 20 ppm of calcium hypochlorite shock at a CYA level of 50 ppm, and your free chlorine will oxidize contaminants efficiently. Miss either variable, and you’re wasting money on a treatment that won’t work as intended. That’s the essence of what I want to cover in this guide — the specific numbers, the reasoning … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 3, 2026
A pool store clerk once told a customer standing in front of me: “Just crack open that cover and dump a bucket of shock in there—your chlorine will handle the rest.” That advice fails the moment you test for it. The water stays green, the customer comes back furious, and nobody bothers to explain why … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 1, 2026
Back in spring, I’d notice the identical scene unfolding at a neighbour’s place: a brilliantly clear pool surface completely blanketed under a thick coating of yellow pine pollen, with the homeowner gripping a skimmer net with the expression of someone who’d personally declared war on the local tree canopy. Across more than ten years of … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · June 29, 2026
No product manual spells this out, and the guy behind the counter at your pool supply won’t mention it either: the cleaner type you buy determines whether your pump stays healthy, your filter lasts a full season, and whether fine sediment actually leaves the water or just circulates through your system indefinitely. I discovered this … Read more