Equipment and field

Weekly Pool Service Checklist for Route Techs

A stop-by-stop weekly pool service checklist in the order that saves steps, with a dosing example and the mistakes that cause callbacks.

A checklist only saves time when the order matches how pools behave. Look before you touch, circulate before you sample, and record before you leave. The sequence below keeps you from walking back to the truck and from dosing water that has not mixed yet.

Treat it as a base. Add each pool's quirks to that customer's notes, such as a sticky skimmer lid or a heater that should stay off.

Before you touch the water

1. Latch the gate behind you. Check for swimmers, pets, and a cover left on.
2. Look at the water from the deck. Color, clarity, level, and floating debris tell you what the test is likely to show.
3. Walk to the equipment pad. Confirm the pump is running, the pump basket is full of water with no air, and nothing is dripping.
4. Write down the filter pressure before you do anything else. A recorded reading is the only way to spot a slow climb later.
5. Note the salt cell light, heater state, and timer settings if the pool has them.

This takes two or three minutes and tells you whether the stop will be routine or long.

Physical work first, chemistry second

Skim, brush, and empty baskets before you test. Skimming and brushing move the water, so your sample reflects the whole pool and not the corner near the return.

1. Skim the surface and empty the skimmer baskets. Check that the lids seat flat.
2. Brush walls, steps, benches, and the waterline. On pools with a main drain, brush toward it.
3. Vacuum or run the cleaner as the pool requires, then pick up anything the cleaner left behind.
4. Empty the pump basket. Check the O-ring and lid for cracks and seat the lid snug. A loose lid is one of the quickest ways to start an air leak, covered in pump not priming.
5. Empty the cleaner bag or canister if the pool has one.

Test and dose

Test free chlorine, pH, and total alkalinity every visit. Test cyanuric acid, calcium hardness, and salt on a schedule you set, such as monthly, and adjust for your climate and customers. Target ranges are in the pool chemistry cheat sheet. Local code may differ, so check yours.

Worked example. A 15,000 gallon pool tests at 1.5 ppm free chlorine with CYA at 40 ppm. With CYA at 40, free chlorine should be about 7.5% of CYA or more, which is 3 ppm. You need to add 1.5 ppm.

• 12.5% liquid chlorine adds 1 ppm per 10,000 gallons for about 10.2 fl oz.
• For 15,000 gallons that is about 15.3 fl oz per ppm.
• For 1.5 ppm that is about 23 fl oz.

Pour it slowly into the water in front of a return with the pump running. Always follow the product label and SDS. Add chemical to water, never the other way around, and never mix products or share a measuring cup between acid and chlorine.

Dose one product at a time and give the pump time to mix before you add the next. Those numbers are approximate, so retest on the next visit rather than assuming the dose landed.

Check the equipment before you leave

Close every lid and gate you opened, put tools back on the truck, and put the cover back on if the customer uses one.

What goes in the report

Keep it short. Readings, what you added and how much, anything you noticed, and a photo if it matters. The customer who sees a clean record is less likely to call about a green tinge on Thursday. If you are building a template for this, see service report: what to include.

Mistakes that cause callbacks

• Testing right after dosing. Chlorine or acid has not mixed yet, so the reading is high and misleading. Test before you dose, or wait.
• Dosing without brushing. Algae you left alone uses up chlorine overnight, and the next visit looks like the chemistry failed.
• Skipping the pressure note. Without a baseline, a slowly clogging filter looks like a mystery water problem.
• Leaving a lid loose. Pump baskets and skimmer lids that do not seat cause air leaks, lost prime, and a pump running dry.
• Adding two chemicals back to back at the same return. Pour products in different spots, with the pump running, and never combine them in a bucket or measuring cup.
• Forgetting the gate. A gate left unlatched is a safety problem and a liability. Make the latch the first and last thing you check.

Adapting the order

Some stops need a different order. A pool with heavy leaf load might need the skim and basket work done twice, once on arrival and once before you test. A green pool needs a different plan altogether and a longer visit. A pool with an automatic cleaner may need the cleaner out of the water before you brush.

Whatever the variation, keep the checklist's bones. Look, physical work, test, dose, equipment check, report. Techs who work from a fixed order tend to finish stops with fewer forgotten steps, and a new hire can learn one sequence instead of absorbing it from ride-alongs.