How to Use Water Test Calculator: First-Run Setup and Daily Use

Water Test Calculator is designed to be usable in under 60 seconds for an experienced pool owner. For a first-time user, the first-run setup takes 3–5 minutes, after which the app remembers your pool’s specifics for every future test.

This page covers the first-run experience, the daily testing workflow, and the features most users discover only after a month of use.

First-run setup (the wizard)

When you open the app for the first time, the setup wizard runs through:

Step 1: Pool / spa selection

“What do you have?” Tap any that apply:

• Chlorine Pool
• Saltwater Pool
• Spa / Hot Tub

You can select multiple. The app creates separate profiles for each.

Step 2: Volume question

“Do you know your water volume?”

• Yes, proceed to volume entry per pool type.
• No, proceed to volume calculator.

Step 3: Volume entry or calculator

If “Yes”: enter your pool volume in litres or gallons (your choice via the unit selector). Tap Save.

If “No”: the volume calculator walks through the 4 pool shapes (rectangle, circular, oval, kidney) with dimension inputs, then calculates and saves the result.

Step 4: Sanitiser preference (chlorine spa only)

If you selected Spa, the app asks whether you use chlorine or bromine. This sets the right parameter targets for your sanitiser type.

Step 5: Setup complete

You’re done. The app remembers everything from this point forward.

Daily testing, Guided Mode

Guided Mode walks through your testing step by step. Use it for the first 5–10 tests until you’re comfortable with the workflow.

The sequence

1. Open the relevant test type (Chlorine Pool / Salt Water Pool / Spa).
2. Make sure Guided mode is selected in the mode toggle at the top.
3. Step 1: Pool conditions, Is it sunny / overcast / raining? Affects chlorine demand estimates.
4. Step 2: Water temperature, Enter or use device sensor estimate.
5. Step 3: Free chlorine, Enter your reading from a test strip or drop kit. Tap Calculate. Recommendations appear.
6. Step 4: pH, Enter, calculate, recommendations.
7. Step 5: Total alkalinity, Enter, calculate, recommendations.
8. Step 6: Cyanuric acid (CYA), Enter, calculate. This is where the magic happens, the app recalculates your FC target based on this CYA value.
9. Step 7: Calcium hardness, Enter, calculate.
10. Final step: Chemical History Summary, A complete list of all chemical adjustments you should make, in the right order, with exact doses for your pool’s volume.

What the Calculate button does

The Calculate button at each step is the key innovation. Until you press it, you can adjust the slider freely, change your reading, see the value update. Once you press Calculate, the app commits to that reading and shows the recommendation. If you change the slider after, the recommendation hides until you Calculate again.

This prevents the “I think it’s about 4 ppm” mental drift that causes dosing errors. You commit to a specific reading, then the app commits to a specific dose.

Daily testing, Basic Mode

Once you know the workflow, Basic Mode shows all inputs at once. Enter readings, hit Calculate, get a comprehensive dose recommendation.

• Faster for experienced users.
• Same chemistry, different UI.
• Useful for “I already know what to test, just give me the dose”.

Volume Calculator

Calculator → Volume:

1. Select your pool shape (Rectangle, Circular, Oval, or Kidney).
2. Enter dimensions (length, width, depths, etc.) using the sliders.
3. Hit Calculate. Volume shows.
4. Save to a pool profile (Chlorine Pool, Saltwater Pool, or Spa). The saved volume is used in all future test calculations automatically.

Re-running the volume calculator after re-measuring (e.g., after a major drain) updates the saved value.

Shock Calculator

Calculator → Shock:

1. Confirm pool volume (auto-loaded from your saved profile).
2. Enter current free chlorine reading.
3. Enter water temperature.
4. Enter current CYA level (this is the key parameter, sets the shock target).
5. The app calculates the target chlorine for shocking (40% of CYA or 10× CC, whichever is higher).
6. Calculate. Result shows: required FC, recommended product, dose in your preferred unit.

Features most users miss

Custom alert thresholds (premium)

By default, the app alerts when readings fall outside the standard ranges. You can customise, e.g., “alert me when FC drops below 6 ppm” instead of the default minimum.

Saved chemical preferences

The app can remember which products you prefer (e.g., liquid chlorine vs cal-hypo vs dichlor) and calculate doses for your preferred product first.

Notification scheduling

Premium can schedule reminders: “test the pool every Saturday morning”, “re-test FC 4 hours after shocking”, “30-day reminder to re-test CYA”.

Multi-pool quick switching

If you have a pool + a spa, the app switches between profiles with a tap. Each profile has independent volume, chemistry history, and target ranges.

Unit conversion mid-test

The unit toggle (Settings → Units → metric/imperial) applies retroactively. Switch to gallons and all your stored litres data converts on the fly.

Export your data (post-v1.1)

Export complete test history to CSV for your own records or for sharing with a pool service technician. Roadmap feature.