Pool Care & Safety Disclaimer

Read this before you add anything to your pool

Pool HQ calculates suggested chemical amounts from numbers you enter. It cannot test your water, see your pool, or check what is in the container you are holding.

Two things carry most of the risk:

• If your pool volume is wrong, every amount is wrong, in direct proportion. Pool HQ has no way to detect a wrong volume, so check it in Settings if an amount ever looks surprising.
• Chemicals are sold at different strengths. The label on your product governs the amount, not Pool HQ.

01Never mix pool chemicals

Never mix chlorine products with acid. Combining them can produce toxic gas. Add them in different areas of the pool and let the water circulate in between.

Never combine any two pool chemicals in a container, a dispenser, or a skimmer, unless the product label specifically directs it.

02Handling chemicals safely

• Follow the product label and its safety data sheet. They govern.
• If a label directs you to dilute, add the chemical to water, never water to the chemical. Adding water to a concentrated chemical can cause a violent reaction.
• Wear the protective equipment the label calls for.
• Keep the pump running and the water circulating while you add, and afterwards.
• Keep chemicals off skin, clothing and decking, and away from children and pets.
• Store products as their labels direct, separated from one another.
• Let the water circulate and retest before adding more.

03What Pool HQ does not know

• Your product's strength. Pool chemicals of the same name are sold at meaningfully different concentrations. Check your label and follow it.
• Which product you actually bought. For example, if you use a dry acid rather than a liquid one, Pool HQ's amount and its units will not apply to your product. Follow your product's own directions.
• How your particular water will respond. How far a reading moves depends on your water's chemistry and conditions, which is why Pool HQ asks you to retest after circulation rather than adding twice in a row.
• Anything you have not entered. A leak, a heater fault, a failing chlorinator, what a service visit added, or what someone else put in the pool today.

04Checking an amount against the label

Pool HQ’s suggested amount should always be checked against and used consistently with the product label. The amount is calculated from your readings and your pool volume; the label is the only thing that knows the strength and directions of the product in your hand. Where the two differ, follow the label.

Pool HQ suggests one measured dose and asks you to retest before adding more. That is deliberate: it is easier to add a little more than to undo too much.

If you are unsure, add the smaller amount, let it circulate, retest, and then decide.

If Pool HQ ever shows an amount that looks wrong to you, stop. Re-check your pool volume in Settings and re-run your test before adding anything.

05Swimming

Pool HQ may show a swim-readiness status based on the readings you entered. It is a summary of your numbers, not a certification that the water is safe. It cannot see cloudiness you did not report, contamination, a fouling event, a drowning hazard, or anything else it was not told.

• You decide whether anyone enters your pool.
• Supervise swimmers at all times. Drowning is fast and silent, and no app can supervise a pool.
• Keep everyone out of the water while chemicals are being added, and until they have circulated and you have retested.
• If the water is cloudy enough that you cannot clearly see the bottom, nobody should be in it. A swimmer in difficulty cannot be seen.

06When to call a professional

Call a qualified pool professional if:

• the water will not clear after repeated treatment;
• you see a reaction, fumes, or heat you did not expect;
• equipment is leaking, will not hold pressure, or behaves abnormally;
• you are dealing with a contamination event;
• you are not confident about what to add, or how much.

There is no cost to asking. Pool HQ is a planning tool, not a substitute for someone who can stand at the side of your pool and look at it.

07In an emergency

Chemical exposure, inhalation, or swallowing: call your local emergency number. In the United States, the Poison Help line is 1-800-222-1222, available 24 hours a day.

Anyone in distress in the water: call your local emergency number immediately.

Do not stop to consult Pool HQ.

08No warranty

Pool HQ's suggestions are provided without warranty of accuracy, completeness, or suitability for your pool. See sections 12 to 14 of the Terms of Use for the full disclaimer and limitation of liability, and for what we do not limit.