If you often have difficulties balancing your pool chemistry, it may be worth it to purchase a submersible sump pump. Your local pool store may also have submersible sump pumps that available for rental or purchase. Alternately, you could ask a friend with a pool if they have one you could borrow.

Calculate the percentage by which you want to reduce the cyanuric acid level and remove around the same percentage of water from your pool. It’s easier to add cyanuric acid to the pool than it is to remove it, so it’s better to overcompensate and dilute the water more than you think you need to.

Take advantage of your empty pool and give it a good clean. Use a calcium, lime, and rust remover to clean away calcium or scale rings. Check your local guidelines for more information on where the water you drain from your pool should go. In many cases, you can drain the water into a clean out. A clean out is a small pipe located near the bottom of your home, often near a bathroom or kitchen. Water sent into the clean out will drain into the sewer and be reused by the city.

Keep an eye on the pool while it fills up to prevent it from overflowing. The water level should be roughly halfway up the pool skimmer.

Your pool should have a chlorine level between 2. 0 and 3. 0 ppm and a cyanuric acid level between 30 and 50 ppm. If these levels are right, then you shouldn’t need to do anything more to alter them.

Water chemistry and cyanuric acid calculators can be found online and will do all the math needed to work out how much cyanuric acid you should add.

Test your cyanuric acid levels after the filter has had time to run to make sure it is at a safe level. If you have frequent problems with cyanuric acid levels, there may be something else wrong.

A chlorine level of around 2 to 3 ppm is usually best for a swimming pool. Most basic test kits and test strips should be able to accurately test for chlorine.

You will need roughly 8 ounces (230 g) of cyanuric acid reducer for every 10,000 gallons (38,000 L).

Some swimming pools will have more than 1 skimmer. If your pool has more than 1, pick a skimmer near the middle of the pool to pour your reducer into.

Test the pool water once the filter has been left to run to make sure the cyanuric acid reducer has worked. If it hasn’t, you may need to partially or completely drain your swimming pool and refill.

Water test strips that can check levels of cyanuric acid should be available online or at your local specialty pool store. Always follow the manufacturer’s guide for your own water test strips, as different strips may work differently. If the cyanuric acid levels in your pool are too high, you might not be able to read them with a standard test strip. Take a water sample to your local pool store and ask them to test it. This will give you a much more accurate and reliable reading.

Water quality test kits should be available online or from your local specialty pool store. Most will involve taking a water sample and adding chemicals that change color based on the presence of different colors. For the best results, follow the instructions on your test kit.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that your cyanuric levels stay below 100 ppm. If your level is above 100 ppm, you should dilute the water or refill your pool to lower it. Too much cyanuric acid can overwhelm the chlorine in your pool and stop it from working at all. If you add too much cyanuric acid and the levels get too high, you’ll need to replace the water and fill it with chlorine and cyanuric acid again to keep it clean. If your cyanuric levels are too high, you might not be able to read them with a consumer grade water test kit. Take a sample of your water to a specialty pool store to get it tested further before attempting to lower the cyanuric acid in your pool.

If your cyanuric levels fall too low, the chlorine in your pool will be destroyed by the sun’s UV rays and stop it from working. This will leave your pool water more vulnerable to contaminants and give you a dirty pool.