There are more pool supplies than just chemicals

Your pool chemicals are your pool chemicals. They are certainly needed, but they do not constitute all of the pool supplies you need to stock each year.

Here is a list of the necessary pool supplies for the season.

Safety Equipment

You should also own the following safety equipment and supplies:

  • A life hook, which is a one-piece telepole (at least 12′ long) that is attached to a safety hook; make sure the safety hook is adhered to the telepole with stainless steel hardware (bolt, 2 washers – one on each side – and a nut).
  • A first-aid kit.

The life hook is your primary safety equipment.

The life hook and first-aid kit should be kept in the same place so that everybody in the family as well as anybody who uses the pool knows their location.

The #1 priority for every pool owner is to promote safety in and around the pool.

Chemical Tester

You must test your pool chemicals.

If you use test strips, then make sure to have plenty of them in stock and store them where required. Remember, test strips do have an expiration date.

If you use a test kit – which is the recommended pool tester – then make sure to have the test compounds (either reagents or powder or tablets) in stock and store them where required. Remember, test compounds (primarily liquid reagents) do have an expiration date.

Chemicals

Once pool chemicals are tested, they will often need to be adjusted. You should keep the following chemicals in stock:

  • Your chosen sanitizer.
  • Plenty of shock. Even if you use chlorine-based shock for your regular shocking requirements, have some non-chlorine shock in stock too in case you need to use the pool soon, but still need to shock it to restore water clarity…you can swim within 15-minutes of adding non-chlorine shock.
  • An assortment of water balancers to raise or lower the pH, Alkalinity, and Hardness levels. Stock up on the balancer you use most often.
  • Phosphate Remover (to help prevent algae) if you have phosphates in the water.
  • Algistat (to help prevent algae).
  • Algaecide (in case of an algae bloom).
  • Sequesterant (help prevent discolored water, to help prevent the potential for staining and/or scale formation, to eliminated discolored water, or to help remove stains and/or scale formation).
  • Clarifier (to help prevent cloudy water or to restore water clarity).
  • Enzyme (to help prevent a waterline build-up or to remove a waterline build-up).

Have at least enough chemicals to keep on schedule for at least 2-4 weeks. Any other chemicals you can purchase on an as-needed basis.

At the end of the year, it might be a good time to stock-up during end-of-the-year chemical sales, as long as you have a safe place to store the them and as long as they have a suitable shelf-life so they are in working condition next year.

Maintenance Equipment

You should also keep at least the following maintenance equipment in stock:

  • A telepole (that extends from 8′ long to at least 16′ long).
  • A manual vacuum.
  • A vacuum hose.
  • A leaf vacuum (such as The Leaf Eater®).
  • A deep leaf net.
  • A skimmer net.
  • A brush.
  • A thermometer (even if you have a heater with a digital read-out of the temperature).

An automatic pool cleaner – primarily a pressure-side cleaner or a robotic cleaner – is also recommended if its in the budget.

Parts, Pieces, and Repair Products

In addition to safety equipment, maintenance equipment, a good chemical tester, and your supply of chemicals and other seasonal pool supplies, you also should keep the following parts, pieces, and repair products in stock:

  • Extra adapters, clips, or pins to attach maintenance equipment to a telepole.
  • An extra stainless steel set-up (bolt, 2 washers – one on each side – and a nut) for your safety life hook.
  • A skimmer lid.
  • A skimmer basket.
  • A directional eyeball for the returns (inlets).
  • A light bulb (if applicable). Or you could pay a service call to have the bulb replaced when needed. When a bulb is replaced, also have the light lens gasket replaced at the same time.
  • A light screw (if applicable).
  • A pump basket.
  • A pump drain plug with its o-ring.
  • A filter drain plug with its o-ring (or cap). Some filter bottoms are sealed with a plug (and o-ring) while other filter bottoms are sealed with a cap.
  • Extra anchors and springs for your safety cover (if applicable).
  • Various sizes of expansion plugs.
  • The correct number of winter plugs for all of your returns (inlets).
  • The correct number of gizmos for all of your skimmers.
  • A bottle of Phenol Red (for certain static leak detection). It is noted that Phenol Red is the liquid reagent that is used to test the pH level in test kits.
  • A roll of teflon tape.
  • A tube of 100% silicone (and therefore a caulk gun).
  • A Plast-Ai kit
  • A 2-part epoxy (resin + hardener) kit.
  • Whatever else you have needed in the past but did not have in stock.

Note – if your pool is a vinyl-liner pool, then also stock a vinyl patch kit.

Having these parts, pieces, and repair products will help ensure that your pool stays in service until you can get professional help, if needed.

We hope this helps.

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Pool Supplies

Being a contractor, we operate from a shop, not a store. While we do not sell the various pool supplies, please let us know if you have questions about them. We’re happy to help.

And if you need pool work, let us know how we can help. If we are working on your pool and you need some supplies, we’ll bring them to you at our wholesale cost. It’s just another benefit of doing business with us.

Call us at 402-341-8132 or send us an email to [email protected] or submit a short form to discuss your pool and schedule free onsite consultation.

Or for the quickest response, you can call or text 402-250-8100 (Mike Loftus, owner).