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Maintenance

Before you begin your pool care program, you'll need to calculate your pool capacity. This will help determine the amount of chlorinator, sanitizer, shock treatment, and other chemicals your pool needs.

How-to Animations

Balanced Water

Opening Your Pool

Closing Your Pool

How-to Animations

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Easy steps to open your pool, from HTH®

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Easy steps to close your pool, from hth®

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Enjoy your pool while keeping it sanitized, with the HTH® Floater.

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Making pH Simple

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Making Pool Safety Simple

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Making Shock Simple

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Balanced Water

To ensure your water is balanced we have created the following chart with ideal levels and the recommended HTH^® Pool Care products necessary to adjust your levels.

PARAMETER	WHAT IS IT?	WHEN TO TEST	IDEAL RANGE	PRODUCT USED TO ADJUST LEVELS
pH	A measure of the water's acidity	Every day	7.2-7.8	HTH^® pH Up or HTH® Pre-measured Water Soluble Pods™ pH Up
Free Available Chlorine (FAC)	The amount of active chlorine in the water	Every day	1-4 ppm when using chlorine as the sanitizer	Any HTH^® granular or tablet chlorine sanitizer according to label directions
Total Alkalinity (TA)	The water's ability to keep pH at a proper level	Once a week	60-120 ppm	HTH^® Alkalinity Up or HTH® Pre-measured Water Soluble Pods™ Alkalinity Up
Total Hardness (TH)	The amount of dissolved calcium in the water	Monthly	Acceptable: 200-1000 ppm, Ideal: 200-500 ppm	HTH^® Calcium Hardness Up or HTH® Pre-measured Water Soluble Pods™ Calcium Hardness Up
Cyanuric Acid (CYA) / Stabilizer	The amount of stabilizer available to prevent the degradation of Free Available Chlorine (FAC) caused by the sun’s UV rays	Twice a season	Ideal: 20-50 ppm, DO NOT EXCEED 90 ppm	HTH^® Stabilizer or HTH® Pre-measured Water Soluble Pods™ Stabilizer

pH
What Is It?	A measure of the water's acidity
When To Test	Every day
Ideal Range	7.2-7.8
Product Used to Adjust	HTH^® pH Up or HTH® Pre-measured Water Soluble Pods™ pH Up

Free Available Chlorine (FAC)
What Is It?	The amount of active chlorine in the water
When To Test	Every day
Ideal Range	1-4 ppm when using chlorine as the sanitizer
Product Used to Adjust	Any HTH^® granular or tablet chlorine sanitizer according to label directions

Total Alkalinity (TA)
What Is It?	The water's ability to keep pH at a proper level
When To Test	Once a week
Ideal Range	60-120 ppm
Product Used to Adjust	HTH^® Alkalinity Up or HTH® Pre-measured Water Soluble Pods™ Alkalinity Up

Total Hardness (TH)
What Is It?	The amount of dissolved calcium in the water
When To Test	Monthly
Ideal Range	Acceptable: 200-1000 ppm, Ideal: 200-500 ppm
Product Used to Adjust	HTH^® Calcium Hardness Up or HTH® Pre-measured Water Soluble Pods™ Calcium Hardness Up

Cyanuric Acid (CYA) / Stabilizer
What Is It?	The amount of stabilizer available to prevent the degradation of Free Available Chlorine (FAC) caused by the sun’s UV rays
When To Test	Twice a season
Ideal Range	Ideal: 20-50 ppm, DO NOT EXCEED 90 ppm
Product Used to Adjust	HTH^® Stabilizer or HTH® Pre-measured Water Soluble Pods™ Stabilizer

Opening Your Pool

When it's time to open your pool for the swimming season, choose HTH^® Pool Care products to prepare your water. There are two essential elements to ready your pool for the season: ensuring the equipment is in proper working order and balancing the water. Use the HTH^® Pool Care Kit for Opening and Closing in addition to the steps below.

Preparing the Pool Water

Test the water using the HTH^® Multi-Purpose 6-Way Test Strips, or other HTH^® 6-Way Test Kits.
Adjust the TA, pH, FAC, and TH to the ideal levels recommended in the Balanced Pool Care Chart.
If needed, stabilize the water using HTH^® Stabilizer.
Shock treat pool water with an HTH^® shock product.
Continue routine maintenance for the entire season to keep your pool water clear and clean.

Preparing the Equipment

Remove any water and debris that have accumulated on your pool cover during the winter.
Take off the pool cover. Clean the cover to prevent mildew and premature deterioration.
Reconnect all plumbing and electrical connections for the pump, filter, and circulation system.
Make sure the skimmer(s), filter(s), pump(s), drain(s) and other equipment are clean and free of winter debris.
Use a leaf skimmer to scoop up all surface and submerged debris.
Clean the pool floor and walls with a curved wall brush.
If necessary raise water level to middle of skimmer.
Make sure all hoses and electrical hookups are in working order.
Turn on filter pump and check the circulation system for leaks.
Check the skimmer, drain and filter to make sure they are functioning properly.
Use a pool vacuum to remove any remaining debris.
Run the filter for 12 hours.

HTH Pool Care Kit product image

CAUTION

Please read the following important reminders before adding pool chemicals to water:

NEVER mix products together or dissolve before use.
ONLY enter pool when FAC levels are below 4ppm to prevent risk of bodily harm.

Closing Your Pool

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Test and adjust water balance using HTH^® Multi-Purpose 6-Way Test Strips or HTH^® 6-Way Test Kit.
Clean pool by thoroughly vacuuming and removing any floating debris.
Use the HTH^® Pool Care Kit for closing your pool. Carefully follow label directions for order of addition and proper dosage of each product.
Follow pool manufacturer's directions on draining the pool so that water level is below the skimmers, and flush and drain any hoses that will remain outdoors during cold winter months
Drain pump, filter, heater and all other equipment according to manufacturer’s directions. Properly store all equipment indoors to prevent damage from freezing temperatures. Follow manufacturer’s directions for lubrication and proper storage.
Clean the filter
Cover pool with a properly fitted pool cover. Cover should be resistant to water, weather and pool chemicals. Seal the edge of the cover to prevent wind from getting beneath the seal. This will save you cleanup time when you re-open your pool by keeping out unwanted debris.

HTH Pool Care Kit product image