Why weekly testing matters in the desert
Vegas pools live a harder life than pools almost anywhere else in the country. UV intensity is brutal, water temperatures climb above 90°F for months, and our tap water is some of the hardest in the U.S. All of that pushes chemistry out of balance fast — sometimes within 48 hours.
Weekly testing isn't busywork. It's how you catch a small drift before it becomes a green pool, an etched plaster job, or a $1,200 heater repair.
The five numbers to track
At minimum, test these every week with a quality drop kit or test strips:
- Free chlorine: 1–3 ppm (3–5 ppm in peak summer heat)
- pH: 7.4–7.6
- Total alkalinity: 80–120 ppm
- Calcium hardness: 200–400 ppm
- Cyanuric acid (CYA / stabilizer): 30–50 ppm
Common Las Vegas pitfalls
pH almost always drifts up here because of high alkalinity in our fill water. If you're constantly adding acid, your alkalinity is probably too high — fix that root cause and pH stabilizes.
CYA is the silent killer. Trichlor tabs add stabilizer with every dose. By August many Vegas pools are at 100+ ppm CYA, which makes chlorine nearly useless. If yours is creeping up, switch to liquid chlorine or partially drain.
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