How much do you save by managing your own pool chemistry?

[miles267]

Was curious how much everyone is saving by doing their own pool chemicals vs hiring someone? Am new to it, never hire anyone before...my wife was asking about it.


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[JoyfulNoise]

I spend less than $500 per year on my pool (and usually a lot closer to $300 per year). A pool service in my area would run anywhere from $75-$150 per month for a once per week chemical service only (they come, look at the equipment, test the water, add some stuff, brush and leave). Anything more than simple chemical service (like vacuuming or cleaning the filter, etc) costs more.

So using a service will cost me double what it costs to do it myself AND they will screw up my water. I live in a 12 home sub-division. 6 homes have pools. I am the only one that does it myself. All of my neighbors use services and they ALL complain about how expensive it is how they lose days of swimming with cloudy water and algae blooms. I've been to my neighbors houses and their pools all reek of chloramine smells...so they pay lots of money every year to get to swim in a lousy pool....no thanks.

 

[tshepball]

$165 month plus $85 every 3 months to clean the cartridges/salt cell......this was from my PB

 

[kimkats]

Here they charge about $135 a month. They come once a week to check chemicals and add tablets. They will lower the PH if needed. I asked how they test "Oh the best test kit out there." When pressed they said it was the drop tests. They guy I talked to had NO idea what the name of the test was. If you want them to vacuum it is an extra $10 per time.

I buy 4 2.5 gals of chlorine (11%) at a time. I pay $21.73 for it. In the summer this lasts me 12 days. So with 30 days in a month I spend about $53 a month. IF I need to lower PH then I add Muratic Acid. I keep some around all of the time. I forget how much it cost at the time but I still have most of the jug I bought at the beginning of last summer (2016).

I do have to add CYA at the beginning of each summer due to rain drain off through out the year here in FL. That costs me about $20 I am guessing as I have not bought any yet this year.

My pool is always ready to swim in. You can open your eyes under water and they will not sting or get red. There is no chlorine smell and it is clear as a bell.

Kim

 

[Jimrahbe]

miles,

For me it is not about saving money. It is about wanting to swim in clear and clean water and not wanting to smell chlorine every time I get near my pool. It is about not having to add shock on a weekly basis.

Staying out of the pool store and saving money is just a bonus.

10 Minutes a week, by someone who has 50 other pools to take care of, can't "manage" anything.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Frankhugus]

Agree with all of this and would add the satisfaction of taking control and DIY makes it more than worthwhile.

 

[duraleigh]

Managing your own pool gives you a sense of satisfaction and ownership that can not be obtained with a pool service.

The members in this forum are overwhelmingly hands-on folks and take care of their own pools. Certainly there are viable reasons to do it both ways but I think the sense of satisfaction, crystal clear water take precedence over the money you save......but the savings are VERY significant.......probably over a thousand annually.

 

[7snorkel]

for the 1st 9 months we owned, we paid a pool boy $60 a month for once-a-week chemical service. (not bad, really)
I learned of TFP and took over myself in April of '16.
It runs a little more than $60 a month in the summertime($72 or so).
A LOT less the rest of the year. I now do all the maintenance on the pool myself.
Keep filter/cartridges clean, check skimmers almost daily, brush sides once a week, and test chemicals weekly.
Haven't seen Algae once since I took the controls. The leaves are a different story, but the Polaris does it's job there.
I enjoy the 'therapy....'

$350-$450 is about right for this part of Texas.

 

[Burnthorne Pool Service]

for the 1st 9 months we owned, we paid a pool boy $60 a month for once-a-week chemical service. (not bad, really)
I learned of TFP and took over myself in April of '16.
It runs a little more than $60 a month in the summertime($72 or so).
A LOT less the rest of the year. I now do all the maintenance on the pool myself.
Keep filter/cartridges clean, check skimmers almost daily, brush sides once a week, and test chemicals weekly.
Haven't seen Algae once since I took the controls. The leaves are a different story, but the Polaris does it's job there.
I enjoy the 'therapy....'

$350-$450 is about right for this part of Texas.

I went ahead and did the math for maintaining my pool at home. Chlorine value is right around $400 depending on storms or whatever, acid value could be approximated around $80-100. The pool gets quite a few leaves as well as a bit of runoff from planters. Mine is also 20k gal. I would estimate that, for my pool, the yearly average with incidental chemicals (like CYA, Bicarb, etc) runs about $600. Some pools in our area I've seen run a bit more, but I've also seen some run a lot less. Interesting how that works.

The technical answer to the OP's question (excluding any of the various variables that come in to play here) is that the explicit cost difference is about $10-15. I suppose that I won't get into variables again, but the cost difference could easily be more if the pool is not maintained well.

-Eric

 

[kimkats]

Here is a link to the chemicals we advocate pool owners use:

Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

Most of them can be found at your local Target or Walmart.

I think the above poster ^^^ spends quite a bit more than most of us on TFP do. Muratic acid and the other stuff is what stands out for me. It will vary from area to area and pool to pool.

A pool service works on a pool once a week. This can cause wild swings in the chemicals. TFP's way is daily care. This helps keep the water balanced on a daily bases.

Kim

 

[Captain 776]

To keep your pool crystal clear, I am a firm believer of DIY.
For many years, everyone got by simply with the drop test for PH and Chlorine.
Get the Taylor test kits TF100 or K2006 recommended here, they are easy to use and you really get to know your pool and how it reacts to differing conditions.
the difference between clean water and crystal clear shimmering water, is balanced chemistry.
With the drop test you can only do PH and Chlorine and I think that is all the majority of pool services are going to do fir you but with Taylor kits you easily test Calcium Hardness, Total Alkalinity, and CYA and all 3 of these are important, especially CYA. If you don't have an SWG and are adding Chlorine, keeping your CYA balanced will be saving you money.