6 POOL CHEMICALS to Stop Buying Right Now

Swim University makes pool and hot tub care easy for millions of homeowners. Each year, we continue to help more people with water chemistry, cleaning, and troubleshooting. We know taking care of a swimming pool or spa can be difficult. And it’s hard to find a trusted source of information. This is the reason we created Swim University.

Keeping your pool’s water chemistry balanced is important. But you actually don’t have to buy every chemical that’s recommended. In fact, you can find cheaper substitutions in the laundry aisle at the grocery store. And there are some pool chemicals you can avoid buying altogether. Even chlorine. So here are 6 pool chemicals you can stop buying right now and what you should buy instead.

⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 - Stop Buying These Pool Chemicals
00:37 - #1. Alkalinity Increaser
01:05 - #2. pH Increaser
01:51 - #3. pH Decreaser
02:27 - #4. Chlorine Stabilizer
02:48 - #5. Calcium Hardness
03:04 - #6. Phosphate Remover
03:21 - How to Stop Buying Chlorine

[vinceferraccioli]

Wow finally someone coming out and giving you honest tips about chemicals I've been using Myriadic acid and baking soda for years

[bradsnapp]

During the pool season I use Chlorine, Sodium Bicarbonate and Soda Ash. Normally don't have to use the Soda Ash much. I use Algicide once when I open the pool but it is probably not necessary. I use both Trichloro tablets and liquid chlorine(Sodium Hypochlorite) during the season. If you rely solely on Trichloro tables then by the latter part of the pool season your stabilizer levels will be extremely high. They do make non stabilized tablets but I don't see much info on those. I think they would be a better option to use once your stabilizer levels are where they should be.

[tonydziemitko]

Matt, can you recommend a mineral system or ozonator that one can buy and install?

[Sihkster]

I dunno man.. pool professional here.. and about the phosphate removers. I do believe that it does help a lot especially in Florida. Because even with chlorine, ph, alk, etc at the correct levels algae will still form.. been using natural chemistry phos free and there perfect pool line of products and haven't had an algae outbreak since... Love your content

Do you recommend to use hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine tabs in hot tub?

[blackhorse]

What great information and a money saver……… Thank you very much …

[ilenehernandez]

What about for smaller above ground pools? How much should I use for a 2, 217 gallon?

[dougmilano]

Can Muriatic acid be used to bring PH down in a salt water pool? Or should a dry acid be used?

[brandonj.]

Is a mineral system like "PoolRX" safe? As in, are the minerals dangerous for you to be exposed to in the water long term? I see PoolRx is made primarily of copper, but also articles that say you should avoid copper in your water for safety. What are your thoughts?
Thanks

[cwilks]

Do we need muriatic acid labeled for pools or does standard construction grade work?
Thanks

[scottiencali]

Great tips to save money especially with tablets being the price of gold. Thanks!! Are the alternatives on the cheat sheet too?

[trevorgwelch]

We do some swimming pools turn green ? I'm not referring to algae . Clean fresh water, indoor pool, turns foggy and green .

[philipbundy]

Does this work for hydrogen peroxide, with an oz3 pool?

[akaspick]

Muriatic acid also lowers alkalinity along with the pH no?

[PS]

Thanks for the heads up, just started with the process you recommended to get rid of algae. Just waiting for tomorrow to see if it helped. Once I get the water clean, then I will try this. Anyway...thanks again!!! / Update 06/30/23: This morning the water was cloudy blue!!! Now the 2nd application of chlorine. Hopefully it will be sparkling blue before the 4th! No more embarrassment!!! Thanks!!!

[tkkeating]

I knew about all these except the Phosphate and it never crossed my mind. Thanks for pointing that out.

[strongisland]

Awesome stuff, keep in mind though..chlorine levels are based on what your stabilizer levels are. The higher cynuric acid is, the higher your chlorine level will have to be. 3ppm may not sanitize correctly if stabilizer is too high.

[EmilyGarcia-mq]

Muriatic acid also lowers alkalinity along with the pH no?

[tylerrodriguez]

Do you happen to have any statistics on how many pool owners pay service companies compared to maintaining the pool themselves?

[Robert-bgbg]

I’m curious about the different types of dechlorinators. I’ve only dealt with sodium thiosulfate. Recently at my new pool job, chlorine levels spiked up to 15ppm in the spa. Someone added a whole bunch of what I thought was thio. I thought for sure the chlorine was gonna zero out, it didn’t. In fact it seems like it actually didn’t have any effect. The chlorine kept increasing up to nearly 20ppm within 30 mins of the chemical being added (note that noone turned off the chlorinator). When I looked at the bin the chemical was in, all it had written in sharpie was “dechlor”.

I looked into other dechlorinizers trying to figure out what it is (no one actually knows at this moment what chemical was put into the pool; they just know its supposed to lower chlorine). I’m wondering if it is sodium bisulfite. I read that it isn’t as stable as thio and can degrade over time. Maybe that’s why it didn’t lower the chlorine.

But what about the sudden spike up to 20ppm? Is it possible that when the chemical was put in the water, it zeroed out the chlorine levels where the chlorine sensor for the cat controller is, and as a result it started speed feeding more chlorine? The cat controller was reading like negative 400ppm in chlorine. Calibrating it to the right level wasn’t working. Just trying to figure out what happened that caused levels to spike. And why didn’t tbe dechlorinstor they use work.