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Buying a home with a swimming pool is exciting—until you walk out to the equipment pad and realize you have no idea what half of it does.
Don’t worry. You don’t need to become a pool expert overnight. You just need to learn your pool one piece at a time.
Here are seven things every new pool owner should figure out first.
1. Know How Many Gallons Your Pool Holds
Your pool volume affects almost everything you do, especially water chemistry.
If you add chemicals based on a 20,000-gallon pool when you actually have 12,000 gallons, you can seriously overshoot your target.
Measure your pool and get a good estimate of its volume. Write that number down somewhere you can easily find it.
2. Identify Your Pool Equipment
Head over to the equipment pad and identify what you have.
At minimum, look for your:
• Pool pump
• Filter
• Heater, if you have one
• Salt system, if you have one
• Automation or control system
• Chlorinator or other chemical feeder
Take pictures of the manufacturer labels and model numbers. You’ll be glad you have them when you need replacement parts, manuals, or troubleshooting help.
3. Learn What Your Valves Control
Those handles and pipes at the equipment pad aren’t just decoration.
Your valves determine where water comes from and where it goes.
You may have valves controlling the skimmer, main drain or suction outlets, returns, spa, water features, cleaner line, or other equipment.
Once you know what each valve does, label it. Future you will appreciate it.
4. Find Your Skimmer, Returns and Main Drains
Learn where water enters and leaves your pool.
The skimmer pulls water from near the surface. Your return jets send filtered water back into the pool. Suction outlets—often called main drains—may also be part of the circulation system.
Understanding these basic components makes troubleshooting circulation problems much easier.
5. Learn Your Basic Pool Chemistry
You don't need a chemistry degree to own a pool.
Start by learning the important numbers:
• Free Chlorine
• pH
• Total Alkalinity
• Cyanuric Acid (CYA)
• Calcium Hardness
• Salt, if you have a saltwater pool
Test your water regularly and learn what is normal for your particular pool.
The goal isn't to dump chemicals into the water every time a number moves. The goal is to understand what your water is telling you.
6. Learn What “Normal” Looks and Sounds Like
This one is surprisingly important.
Spend a little time around your equipment while everything is working correctly.
Listen to your pump. Look at the pressure gauge on your filter. Watch the water returning to the pool. Notice the water level in the skimmer.
When you know what normal looks and sounds like, you'll recognize much faster when something changes.
7. Create a Pool Information Sheet
Keep the important information about your pool in one place.
Record things like:
• Pool gallons
• Pool dimensions
• Pump manufacturer and model
• Filter manufacturer and model
• Filter type and size
• Heater information
• Salt system information
• Normal filter pressure
• Valve positions
• Equipment serial numbers
Add pictures of your equipment pad and labeled valves.
This simple record can save you a tremendous amount of time later.
You Don't Have to Learn Everything at Once
Pool ownership gets much easier once you understand YOUR pool.
Learn the equipment. Learn the water. Learn what normal looks like.
Then when something goes wrong—and eventually something will—you won't be starting from zero.
That’s getting pool schooled.