Free tool
Pool chemical dosage calculator
Enter the pool volume and your current and target readings, and get dose amounts for chlorine (liquid, cal-hypo, or dichlor), total alkalinity, and stabilizer. Everything runs in your browser.
Pool volume
Rectangular pools: length × width × average depth × 7.5. A 16 × 32 ft pool averaging 5 ft deep holds about 19,200 gallons.
Free chlorine
Chlorine dose
30.7 fl oz
Total alkalinity
Raised with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Target range is typically 80 to 120 ppm.
Baking soda dose
6.8 lb
Stabilizer (CYA)
Cyanuric acid protects chlorine from sunlight. Outdoor chlorine pools typically target 30 to 50 ppm.
Stabilizer dose
39 oz by weight
Doses are estimates from standard industry rules of thumb, scaled per 10,000 gallons. Always follow the product label, add chemicals one at a time with the pump running, never mix chemicals with each other, and retest before adding more. pH adjustment with acid is intentionally not included: the right acid dose depends on total alkalinity, so follow your acid product's label and dose in small increments.
The rules of thumb behind it
- One gallon of 12.5% liquid chlorine raises free chlorine about 12.5 ppm per 10,000 gallons.
- About 2 oz by weight of 67% cal-hypo raises free chlorine 1 ppm per 10,000 gallons.
- About 2.4 oz by weight of 56% dichlor raises free chlorine 1 ppm per 10,000 gallons (and also adds CYA).
- 1.5 lb of baking soda raises total alkalinity about 10 ppm per 10,000 gallons.
- 13 oz of cyanuric acid raises stabilizer about 10 ppm per 10,000 gallons.
If you dose pools for a living, the harder question is usually not the amount, it is who pays for it. Our guide to billing for pool chemicals covers flat-rate vs cost-plus and the math behind each.
Log doses once, bill them automatically.
In PoolBase, techs log readings and doses at the pool, and chemical charges fold into the customer's invoice, flat or cost-plus. Free for 14 days.