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Chemical Dosing Calculator

Enter pool volume and current readings. Get exact chemical amounts to add.

Free spreadsheet to calculate exact chemical amounts based on pool volume and current readings. Includes quick reference chart.

Chemical Dosing Calculator preview

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Dosing Calculator

Enter pool volume and current readings to get exact chemical amounts for chlorine, pH, alkalinity, CYA, and calcium.

Dosing Calculator

Quick Reference

Ideal water chemistry ranges for every parameter. Print it and keep it in your truck.

Quick Reference

Pool Chemical Dosing: Calculating Exact Amounts

Accurate chemical dosing requires knowing pool volume, current water chemistry readings, and the concentration of the chemical being added. Over-dosing wastes chemicals and can create unsafe swimming conditions. Under-dosing fails to correct the issue and requires repeat visits. This spreadsheet calculates precise amounts for the five most commonly adjusted parameters.

Parameters and Chemicals

The calculator covers free chlorine (liquid chlorine 12.5%), pH (muriatic acid 31.45%), total alkalinity (sodium bicarbonate), cyanuric acid (stabilizer), and calcium hardness (calcium chloride). For each parameter, enter the current reading, target value, and pool volume. The spreadsheet calculates the exact amount to add.

Ideal Water Chemistry Ranges

The Quick Reference sheet provides ideal and acceptable ranges for all major parameters: free chlorine 2-4 ppm (acceptable 1-5), pH 7.4-7.6 (acceptable 7.2-7.8), total alkalinity 80-120 ppm (acceptable 60-180), cyanuric acid 30-50 ppm (acceptable 30-80), calcium hardness 200-400 ppm (acceptable 150-500), TDS under 1,500 ppm, salt 2,700-3,400 ppm, and phosphates under 100 ppb.

Dosing Best Practices

Always test water before adding chemicals. Add chemicals one at a time, waiting 30 minutes between additions for circulation. Never add more than 2 pounds of any dry chemical per 10,000 gallons at once. Run the pump for at least one hour after adding chemicals. For pH and alkalinity adjustments, adjust alkalinity first since pH correction is easier once alkalinity is in range.

Sound Familiar?

This spreadsheet was built to solve these exact problems.

Mental Math

You're standing at the pool trying to calculate how many ounces of acid to add to a 15,000 gallon pool. In the heat.

Over-Dosing

You added too much shock and now the chlorine is at 10 ppm. Customer can't swim for three days.

Inconsistent Results

Some pools stay balanced, some don't. You're not dosing consistently because you're guessing every time.

No Reference

You can't remember the ideal CYA range. Is it 30-50 or 50-80? A quick reference card would save you.

This spreadsheet fixes all of it. Free.

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