Pool chemical dosing

Always follow your product’s label directions. Pool and spa chlorine, bromine, shock and algaecides are EPA-registered pesticides: use products labeled for pool or spa use, and don’t swim or soak until levels are within the limit on your product’s label. If this page and a label disagree, the label wins.

By product

Start with the product you have. Each calculator asks for your pool size and test result, then gives the amount in your product's own units.

By pool size (500–40,000 gallons)

If you already know your gallons, open the dose sheet for the nearest size in the list below. Each sheet puts every chemical for that one volume on one page: chlorine in five forms for +1 to +10 ppm, acid, baking soda, stabilizer, calcium, and salt (with bag counts). As a quick reference, here is the amount of chlorine that raises free chlorine by 1 ppm:

Amount for +1 ppm free chlorine, by pool size

Pool size	Pool liquid chlorine 12.5%	Pool liquid chlorine 10%	Household bleach 6%	Household bleach 8.25%
500 gal	0.5 fl oz15 mL	0.6 fl oz19 mL	1.0 fl oz30 mL	0.7 fl oz21 mL
1,000 gal	1.0 fl oz30 mL	1.3 fl oz38 mL	2.1 fl oz61 mL	1.4 fl oz43 mL
2,000 gal	2.0 fl oz61 mL	2.6 fl oz76 mL	4.1 fl oz122 mL	2.9 fl oz86 mL
3,000 gal	3.1 fl oz91 mL	3.8 fl oz114 mL	6.2 fl oz183 mL	4.3 fl oz129 mL
4,000 gal	4.1 fl oz121 mL	5.1 fl oz151 mL	8.2 fl oz244 mL	5.8 fl oz172 mL
5,000 gal	5.1 fl oz151 mL	6.4 fl oz189 mL	10 fl oz305 mL	7.2 fl oz214 mL
6,000 gal	6.1 fl oz182 mL	7.7 fl oz227 mL	12 fl oz366 mL	8.7 fl oz257 mL
7,000 gal	7.2 fl oz212 mL	9.0 fl oz265 mL	14 fl oz427 mL	10 fl oz300 mL
8,000 gal	8.2 fl oz242 mL	10 fl oz303 mL	16 fl oz488 mL	12 fl oz343 mL
10,000 gal	10 fl oz303 mL	13 fl oz379 mL	21 fl oz609 mL	14 fl oz429 mL
12,000 gal	12 fl oz363 mL	15 fl oz454 mL	25 fl oz731 mL	17 fl oz515 mL
15,000 gal	15 fl oz454 mL	19 fl oz568 mL	31 fl oz914 mL	22 fl oz643 mL
20,000 gal	20 fl oz606 mL	26 fl oz757 mL	41 fl oz1.22 L	29 fl oz858 mL
25,000 gal	26 fl oz757 mL	32 fl oz946 mL	52 fl oz1.52 L	36 fl oz1.07 L
30,000 gal	31 fl oz908 mL	38 fl oz1.14 L	62 fl oz1.83 L	43 fl oz1.29 L
40,000 gal	41 fl oz1.21 L	51 fl oz1.51 L	82 fl oz2.44 L	58 fl oz1.72 L

Multiply by how many ppm you need. Example: FC 1 → 4 is +3 ppm. Each size links to its full dose chart.

Download this data (CSV) · All doses for 16 pool sizes (CSV) · License: CC BY 4.0

How to read a dosing chart

1. Find your row (pool size) and your product's column.
2. Work out how many ppm you need: target minus your test result. FC 1 → 4 is +3 ppm, so multiply the +1 ppm amount by 3.
3. Check the side effects: dichlor and trichlor add stabilizer, cal-hypo adds calcium, and acid lowers alkalinity.
4. Round down for acid and pH products, and add big doses in steps with a retest.

Charts are for typical cases. pH doses depend on your alkalinity and stabilizer, so for pH always use a calculator. For a whole test at once (chlorine, pH, alkalinity, and more, in the right order), use the pool chemical calculator. For target levels, see the pool chemical chart. Always follow the product label.

Product strength and label basis

The same "10%" can mean different amounts of chlorine. Pool liquid chlorine is labeled in trade percent (grams of available chlorine per liter ÷ 10). Household bleach is labeled in percent sodium hypochlorite by weight. After conversion, 8.25% bleach carries about 88 g of available chlorine per liter, about the same as 8.8% pool chlorine. Bleach at 6% carries about 62 g/L. Liquid chlorine also weakens with age and heat. Our methodology page shows how each label is converted.