Pool Water Chemistry Target Chart

Free, no-signup pool water chemistry target chart: ideal-range bands, a per-10,000-gallon dose table, and the adjustment order on one print-first sheet you can laminate.

Edition

Printed edition

Residential Saltwater / SWG Commercial

Switch the printed edition — residential targets, a saltwater/SWG variant, or a commercial banner edition.

Dose-table units

Dose amount

oz / lb g / kg

Volume basis

per 10,000 gal per 40,000 L

The dose table is authored per 10,000 US gallons. Metric shows a parallel authored edition — nothing is converted live.

How to use this chart

This is a printed lookup, not a calculator — there are no inputs and nothing is computed. Read the band you need, then read the dose row; the chart never does the multiplication for you.

Adjustment order matters. Balance in the order printed across the top — Alkalinity → pH → Calcium Hardness → Sanitizer (chlorine) → Stabilizer (CYA) — because each step shifts the next reading.

Scale the dose to your pool. Every dose is per 10,000 gallons. Multiply by (your pool gallons ÷ 10,000) in your head — a 20,000-gal pool needs roughly double, a 5,000-gal pool roughly half. Add one chemical at a time with the filter running, wait ~20 minutes, then re-test before the next addition.

To compute the exact dose for your pool from a current and target reading, hand the numbers to a calculator: the pool chemical dosing calculator covers the balance chemicals in one pass, the chlorine dose calculator handles the sanitizer column on its own, and salt for a generator pool is worked out on the pool salt calculator. That math lives there, on purpose.

Two bands on this chart are easy to misread. The sanitizer column is free chlorine, not total, and the gap between the two is combined chlorine, which is what a chart cannot tell you and a test kit can. Spas run tighter bands on a fraction of the volume, so dose those on the spa and hot tub dosing calculator rather than scaling these rows down. To record what the water actually read week to week, keep a pool water chemistry log beside the chart.

Typical residential targets and approximate per-10k-gallon doses — not a regulatory standard. Doses vary with product purity; the product label governs.

Pick an edition — the chart updates live. Download or print the landscape sheet to laminate and keep on the truck.

Pool Water Chemistry Target Chart — Residential

Typical residential targets and approximate per-10k-gallon doses — not a regulatory standard. Doses vary with product purity; the product label governs.

Shop / company:

Adjustment order

1. Alkalinity
2. pH
3. Calcium Hardness
4. Sanitizer (chlorine)
5. Stabilizer (CYA)

Target bands (typical residential targets)

Parameter	Ideal range	Test frequency	Correct it with	Note
Free chlorine (FC)	1–3 ppm	each visit	liquid chlorine / cal-hypo / dichlor / trichlor (raise); sunlight + time (lower)	Depends on CYA — higher CYA needs higher FC. (In The Swim states 2–4 ppm; both common.)
pH	7.4–7.6	each visit	soda ash (raise); dry / muriatic acid (lower)	Comfort + sanitizer efficiency.
Total alkalinity (TA)	80–120 ppm	weekly–monthly	baking soda (raise); acid (lower)	pH buffer; low TA → pH bounce.
Cyanuric acid (CYA)	30–50 ppm	weekly–monthly	stabilizer (raise); drain / dilute (lower)	Stabilizer; up to ~100 ppm in hot climates. Too high suppresses FC.
Calcium hardness (CH)	200–400 ppm	weekly–monthly	calcium chloride (raise); drain / dilute (lower)	Surface-dependent — plaster 250–350; vinyl / fiberglass 150–250.
Salt (SWG pools)	2,700–3,400 ppm	monthly	pool salt (raise); drain / dilute (lower)	Per your chlorine generator's manufacturer spec.
ORP (optional)	650–750 mV	continuous (where metered)	n/a	Supplementary; sanitizer-strength proxy.

Dose table (per 10,000 gal · typical, varies by product)

Scale to your pool: × (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)

Goal	Chemical	Amount per 10,000 gal	How to scale
Raise TA +10 ppm	Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)	~1.5 lb	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)
Raise TA +20 ppm	Alkalinity increaser	~3 lb	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)
Raise pH +~0.2	Soda ash	~6–8 oz	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)
Raise pH +~0.6	Soda ash	~1 lb	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)
Lower pH (from 7.6–7.9)	pH decreaser (dry acid)	~12 oz	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)
Raise CH +10 ppm	Calcium chloride	~1 lb	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)
Raise CH +50 ppm	Calcium increaser	~5 lb	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)
Raise CYA +10 ppm	Cyanuric acid / stabilizer	~3 oz	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)
Raise CYA 0→30 ppm	Stabilizer	~3 lb	× (pool gallons ÷ 10,000)

Chlorine dosing (per chlorine type) varies by product strength — use the pool chlorine dose calculator for free-chlorine doses.

Add one chemical at a time, with the filter running; wait ~20 minutes and re-test before the next addition.

Doses vary with product purity — read the product label; the label rate governs.

Print or save

Typical residential targets and doses — not a regulatory standard. Read the product label; the label rate governs. Commercial pools follow local health code and CDC/MAHC.

Sources

Pool Chemistry: How to Balance Your Water. Swim University. Retrieved Jun 20, 2026.

How we choose and check our formulas