Chemicals are usually the second-biggest cost after labor, and the one that leaks away most easily. Here is where it goes.
"A jug of chlorine at every pool" overdoses some pools and underdoses others. Dose from the test and the pool's real volume. The chemical calculator gives exact amounts in pounds and quarts.
Every dose scales with gallons. A volume guessed 30% high wastes 30% of every chemical, every visit, for as long as the customer stays. Measure once and record it.
Chlorine demand rises with cyanuric acid: a common target is free chlorine at 7.5% of CYA. Pools fed trichlor tabs creep up in CYA all season and need ever more chlorine. Watch CYA and switch to liquid chlorine before it climbs out of range.
If a dose is not written down, nobody can tell whether a pool is using 2 gallons a week or 6. Logging every product and amount at every visit is the foundation for everything below.
Weigh each chemical when the truck leaves and when it returns. The difference is what was used. Compare it with what was logged on pools: a steady gap means chemicals given away, spilled, used but not logged, or walking off. RouteSplash compares truck weights with logged doses for every tech and every day, and flags days with more than 1 lb and 10% unaccounted.
A pool that suddenly needs much more chlorine and stabilizer while readings swing may be losing water to a leak or to backwashing, and the fresh fill water is diluting it. Flagging that early saves chemicals and finds you a leak repair job.
Bulk liquid chlorine and acid from a distributor costs far less than retail jugs. Track what you pay per gallon or pound so you notice price changes, and update your price book when supplier invoices change.
A few pools consume a large share of chemicals: algae-prone, high-bather-load, sun-blasted or leaking. Billing chemicals for those customers, or pricing them higher, stops the rest of the route paying for them. See how to bill customers for pool chemicals.
Chemicals that leave the truck but are never logged on a pool: given away, spilled or overdosed by habit. Weighing the truck out and back and comparing it with logged doses shows the size of the gap.
Yes. Chlorine effectiveness drops as cyanuric acid rises, so a common target is free chlorine of at least 7.5% of CYA. Pools that keep receiving trichlor tabs drift up in CYA and need more chlorine over the season.
Log every dose at every visit and total it per pool each month. RouteSplash does this automatically and shows chemical cost per pool in the Profit by Route report.
Pool service software built by a working pool company: day sheets, water chemistry with LSI and dosing, chemical billing, AutoPay, profit by route. $49 a month (Starter) up to 50 pools, then $59 + $30/login + $0.25/pool, then $0.75/pool past 150. Try it free for 30 days.
Start free trial