For most residential salt water pools, the correct salt level is between 2,700 and 3,400 ppm. The precise target de...

No. A green pool is not safe to swim in. Green water means an active algae bloom is present, which means free chlor...

Yes, dirty pool water can make you sick. The risks range from minor skin and eye irritation to genuine gastrointest...

No, you should not put Epsom salt in a hot tub. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) raises total hardness and sulfate le...

A swimming pool is a system, not just a vessel. The shell holds the water. The plumbing moves it. The pump and filt...

Dip the strip for one second, hold it level, wait 15 to 30 seconds, then read each pad against the color chart in n...

A saltwater pool is still a chlorine pool. That one fact explains most of its maintenance issues, which come down ...

A salt water swimming pool makes its own chlorine from dissolved salt, so instead of hauling jugs of chlorine and ...

To lower total alkalinity in a hot tub, figure out your water volume, add dry acid (sodium bisulfate) in small mea...

A cartridge filter usually delivers clearer water and uses far less water, while a sand filter often makes more sen...

Maintaining an Intex pool is a steady weekly routine. Because Intex pools rely on smaller pumps and cartridge filte...

To fix a chlorine lock, you lower your cyanuric acid level and rebalance the water rather than adding more chlorine...

Calcium hardness is the amount of dissolved calcium in your pool water, and it decides whether that water sits poli...

Balance calcium hardness by testing your water regularly and keeping it between 200 and 400 ppm in pools and 150 t...

Most in ground pools should almost never be fully drained, and plenty go three to seven years between full water c...

A large wrinkle in your vinyl pool liner is annoying, but fully draining the pool is usually the wrong move. Once ...

Wrinkles in an inground vinyl liner pool are usually fixable if the vinyl is still flexible. Start by warming the ...

A pool liner is the inner surface that sits between your pool structure and the water. It seals the floor and wall...

Pool liner replacement costs $1,200 to $7,500 in 2026. Aboveground pools usually land near the lower end. Inground...

Backwash your pool filter when the pressure gauge reads 8 to 10 PSI above its clean baseline, when return-jet flow...

Pool filter sand lasts 3 to 7 years, with 5 years being the standard interval for residential pools. The range dep...

Summer pool days often start fast. One warm weekend, your family wants to swim, friends are coming over, and the po...

Pool valves are the control points that direct water through every part of your circulation system. They sit betwe...

Pool flocculant is a chemical treatment used to clear severely cloudy pool water by binding microscopic debris (de...

Plain, unscented Clorox bleach can be used to sanitize a swimming pool. It contains sodium hypochlorite, the same ...

A pool pump that refuses to prime almost always comes down to one of three things: the water level is too low, the...

Pool filter pressure is the single fastest indicator of whether your filtration system is working properly. Most r...

Common salt chlorine generator problems include low or no chlorine production, calcium scaling on the cell, low sa...

Rust stains in a pool are orange or brown discolorations on the floor, walls, or waterline caused by iron or other...

Pool shock is a concentrated dose of chlorine — or a chlorine-free oxidizer — added to your pool water to destroy ...

You can lower cyanuric acid (CYA) in a pool without draining it by using an aluminum sulfate (alum) flocculation tr...

Draining a pool the wrong way can crack a plaster surface, collapse a vinyl liner, or pop a fiberglass shell right...

Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the stabilizer that shields chlorine from UV degradation, and it comes in two forms: liquid...

A saltwater chlorine generator does not replace chlorine with salt. It uses salt to make chlorine, on demand, insi...

Replacing an above-ground pool liner is a full drain, remove, prep, and reinstall job that most homeowners can fin...

Most above ground pools in the US last between 7 and 15 years, with the exact number shaped by material, climate, w...

Maintaining an above ground pool takes five recurring tasks: running the pump 8 to 12 hours a day, testing and bala...

Building an inground pool in 2026 typically costs between $35,000 and $120,000, with most homeowners landing somew...

To lower pH in a swimming pool, test your water, then add either muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate in measured dose...

Pool algae has a habit of showing up at the worst possible time. It can happen right before friends come over, or ...

If you've ever stood in the pool aisle squinting at labels, you're not alone. With chlorine, saltwater, UV, and ozo...

Pool advice gets passed around like backyard folklore. A neighbor swears by a trick, an old rule gets repeated eve...

If the water feels warm, flat, and closer to a bath than a backyard escape, the fastest way to cool it down is with...

Calcium scaling appears as white, crusty, or gritty deposits on tile, plaster, and equipment when the water is over...

For most U.S. backyard pools, a water temperature between 78°F and 82°F offers the best balance of swimmer comfort ...

A small backyard does not rule out an inground pool. With roughly 1,200 square feet of usable yard, most homes can ...

A drop in your pool water level is almost always evaporation, not a leak. A typical uncovered residential pool in t...

Pool foam forms when organic compounds, surfactants, or chemical residues lower the surface tension of the water, ...

Rainy weather affects your pool in three connected ways: it dilutes sanitizer and chemistry, it delivers contamina...

Baking soda raises a pool's total alkalinity and nudges the pH upward, which stabilizes the water against sudden c...