Water care

Saltwater pools still need chlorine and balance tests, plus a real salt reading. Use Taylor drops when the generator disagrees with a strip.

A pool phosphate test kit tells you whether you actually have a phosphate problem or just cloudy water with a different cause.

Salt test strips are useful for checking a saltwater pool between service visits. Follow the timing on the bottle and compare the result with your generator reading.

Buy pool chlorine tablets by size, not by bucket hype. 3-inch tabs feed a standard floater, 1-inch tabs belong in spas, and every tab quietly adds stabilizer you have to track.

A pool chlorine floater only works when the basket matches the tablet and holds enough of them for your gallon count. Use a 3-inch dispenser for standard tabs, a mini for 1-inch spa tabs, and a large basket for a big pool.

Liquid chlorine is the fast, no-stabilizer way to raise free chlorine. Read the date code before you buy and dose for the strength you actually have, not the strength printed on the jug.

Pool shock is the reset after heat, rain, or a crowd. Use cal-hypo when water is dull or green, a fast weekly bag when you want to swim soon, or MPS when sanitizer is already holding.

Non chlorine pool shock is for routine oxidation when you want clarity without another big chlorine spike. It is not a substitute for a real sanitizer.

Pool bromine tablets keep spa and hot tub water sanitized with a softer smell than chlorine. Match 1-inch tabs to a floater, then pick a household jar or a bulk bucket by how often you soak.

An automatic chlorine feeder mounts on the equipment pad and dissolves tablets into return water. Pick Hayward CL200 for in-line PVC, CL220 for offline tubing, or CL100 for smaller flow systems.

Size a salt water chlorinator to your gallons, plan plumbing and power, then buy clean pool salt. The CircuPool SJ55 plus Morton bags is a solid starter kit.

A pool ionizer floats a solar copper anode that helps suppress algae so you can run less chlorine. Match the gallon rating, scrub the anode, and keep a small sanitizer residual.

Add pool pH increaser only when a test shows pH below about 7.2. Use the label dose for your gallons, run the pump, and retest before adding more.

Pool pH decreaser brings high pH back into range. The real choice is whether you want the convenience of dry acid or the lower-cost power of muriatic acid.

Add pool alkalinity increaser when total alkalinity tests low. Use sodium bicarbonate, circulate, then recheck pH. Clorox 5 lb and In The Swim 5 lb both cover a typical backyard correction.

Only add calcium increaser after a calcium-hardness test shows the pool is low. Dose from the label and your pool volume, then circulate and retest.

Pool stabilizer, also called cyanuric acid or CYA, helps chlorine survive sunlight. Add it only after testing because it does not leave the pool easily.

Pool salt is screened, additive-free salt for salt chlorinators. Do the ppm math before checkout, dissolve the bags with the pump running, and confirm salinity before you chase chlorine output.

Pool clarifier helps a working filter grab the fine particles that make water look dull. Pick the regular liquid for haze, the phosphate remover when tests show high phosphates, or a natural enzyme drop for oily residue.

Pool flocculant is for the cloudy mess that a normal filter is taking too long to catch. It drops the debris to the floor so you can vacuum it out.

Pool enzymes chew through suntan oil, body oils, and pollen so filters stay cleaner and the waterline ring shows up less. Use Pool Perfect weekly, First Aid for a mess, or Perfect Max when phosphates creep up too.

Pool algaecide backs up chlorine. Use Clorox weekly for normal summers, and SeaKlear copper when mustard or black algae keeps returning after a real shock.

Pool defoamer knocks down foam from lotions, soaps, and organics in spas and hot tubs. Dose a little with jets running, then fix the source so foam does not return every soak.

A pool metal sequestrant keeps metals suspended so they are less likely to stain plaster, vinyl, or equipment. It is prevention chemistry, not a scrub.

Pool stain removal fails when you scrub the wrong finish or treat a water metal problem like a single tile mark. Match the remover to the stain first.

Pool scale remover targets calcium crust on tile, plaster, and equipment. Use a descaler when deposits are already visible, and a weekly preventer when hard water keeps coming back.

A pool phosphate remover is for a high phosphate reading, not cloudy water in general. Test first, dose from the label, then clean the filter as the product works.

The best pool filter for most above-ground pools is a sand filter pump sized to the pool's gallons, not the largest unit you can afford. Intex's SX2800 is the useful middle choice, and the same sizing logic applies to cartridge and DE.

The best pool filter sand is clean, consistently graded, and matched to the weight in your filter manual. Palmetto is the first bag we would buy for most backyard sand filters.

Buy a pool filter cartridge by the filter model and the printed dimensions, not by square footage alone. Intex Type A/C, Unicel C-9407, and Hayward CX580XRE packs cover the three common backyard tanks.

Pool filter balls swap heavy sand for light fiber media that still traps fine debris. Match the pack weight to your filter's sand rating, then rinse on a schedule instead of wrestling wet bags every season.

Diatomaceous earth pool filter powder coats the grids so the filter can catch fine haze. Charge by square feet, backwash when pressure climbs, then reload fresh DE. Do not dump garden-grade powder into a DE tank.

A hose blast only moves the easy dirt. Soak the cartridge in a real pool filter cleaner, then rinse the pleats so the filter can actually flow again.

A pool filter O-ring is a model-specific seal. Check the filter label and part number before replacing a flattened or leaking ring.

A salt cell cleaner is the acid-wash step that clears chalky scale from generator plates so the cell can make chlorine again.

A pool pump timer saves you from forgetting a circulation schedule, but the voltage and wiring have to match your pump exactly, and a mechanical dial forgets the time after an outage. Do not guess at electrical work.

A pool multiport valve only works when the handle seats cleanly and the ports match your sand filter. Replace a leaking Vari-Flo before sand ends up in the pool.

A pool filter pressure gauge is worth replacing when the needle sticks, the lens is cracked, or it never returns to zero with the system off.