For Australian backyard pools: salt, mineral and chlorine
Dip a strip.
Know exactly what to add.
The strip says pH is high and chlorine is low. But how much acid is that for your pool, and does it go in before or after the chlorine? Slide each pad to the colour on the bottle and Pool Chem Dip works out the exact dose for your pool’s litres and your products’ strength: millilitres of pool acid, grams of buffer, 20 kg bags of salt. Then it takes you through them in the right order, with how to add each one and how long to wait. No pool-shop upsell, and everything stays on your phone.
A$14.99 once. No subscription. Works offline.
- Slide to match: each pad snaps to the colours on a typical 6-in-1 strip bottle.
- The exact dose for your pool, in mL, grams, kilos and 20 kg bags.
- In the right order: alkalinity, pH, calcium, stabiliser, salt, and chlorine last.
- How to add each one, how long to wait, and the safety notes that matter.
- Salt, mineral and chlorine pools; concrete, fibreglass and vinyl.
- A water balance check for scale and corrosion.
- Test history with trends for pH, chlorine and salt.
- Guides for summer start-up, the filter, storms, green water, winter and the pool fence.
- Works with no signal. Every byte stays on your phone.
What it does
The squinting at the bottle, the maths on the back of the label, and the trip to the pool shop for a test that comes with a shopping list.
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Slide to match
Each pad on your strip gets a colour bar that snaps to the blocks printed on a typical bottle, with the ideal zone marked. Got an exact number from a liquid kit, a digital tester or a pool shop printout? Tap it and type it in.
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The exact dose
Worked out from your pool’s litres and the strength on your own products’ labels: 12.5% liquid chlorine, 32% pool acid, dry acid, soda ash, bicarb, calcium chloride, stabiliser and pool salt. Rounded to what you can measure, with cups for small amounts and 20 kg bags for salt.
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In the right order
Alkalinity first, then pH, calcium, stabiliser and salt, with chlorine last and never straight after acid. Each step says how to add it and how long to run the pump before the next one, and counts the wait down for you.
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Acid that allows for your water
How far a litre of acid moves pH depends on your alkalinity and stabiliser. Pool Chem Dip works that out instead of using one rule of thumb, and splits big changes in two with a retest in between.
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Chlorine that matches your stabiliser
Stabiliser shields chlorine from the sun but slows it down, so the right chlorine level rises with it. The target follows your stabiliser reading, with a shock dose for green or cloudy water and a superchlorinate when used-up chlorine builds.
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What chemicals can’t fix
Stabiliser, calcium or salt too high? No chemical takes them out. It tells you how much water to swap for fresh, in litres, and in centimetres off the top if you’ve measured the pool.
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Your chemical shed
Pop in what you’ve got and each recipe says whether it’s enough, then counts it down as you tick doses off. Share the recipe as a text with whoever’s at the pool.
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Guides for the jobs around it
Getting the pool ready for summer, cleaning a sand, glass or cartridge filter (with a kPa log), storm prep and clean-up, green pool rescue, winter care, a pool fence check, and storing chemicals safely.
A look inside
Real screens from Pool Chem Dip, for a made-up 45,000 L salt pool.
How it works
Set up your pool
Its litres (or work them out from the size), salt, mineral or chlorine, and the surface.
Dip and match
Dip the strip, then slide each bar to the colour on the bottle.
Follow the recipe
Add each dose in order, tick it off, and wait as long as it says.
Retest
It tells you when, and can put a reminder in your calendar.
Pricing
One price, paid once. No subscription, and it covers your household on up to three devices.
Pool Chem Dip
A$14.99 once
The whole price, paid once and never again — no GST on top, no renewals, nothing to cancel. Every update is included. Pay by card through Stripe; your licence key comes in the receipt email.
No free trial
See it first right here
The screens on this page are the real app, so you can see exactly what you’re getting before you buy.
Where your data lives
- Your pools, tests and chemical shed are stored in your browser on your phone
- There is no account, no database and no sign-in
- It doesn’t use your location or camera, and sends nothing about your pool anywhere
- A backup is one file, saved wherever you choose
- Unlocking sends only the key, to check it
What it isn’t
- A lab test. Strips are a guide, and every brand prints its own colours. For a big change, or if something looks wrong, get the water tested at a pool shop.
- Professional advice. Doses are worked out from your readings, your pool’s volume and your products’ strength. Always follow the product label and its safety directions.
- A shop. It doesn’t sell chemicals or take a cut from anyone.
Put it on your phone
Pool Chem Dip is a web app that installs like a normal app. No app store needed, and it works by the pool with no signal.
iPhone or iPad
- Open Pool Chem Dip in Safari.
- Tap the Share button.
- Choose Add to Home Screen, then Add.
Android
- Open Pool Chem Dip in Chrome.
- Tap the three-dot menu.
- Choose Add to Home screen or Install app.
Laptop or desktop
- Open Pool Chem Dip in Chrome or Edge.
- Click the install icon at the right of the address bar.
- It opens in its own window from then on.
Questions
How accurate are the doses?
Chlorine, buffer, calcium, stabiliser and salt are straight sums from your pool’s volume and the strength on the label, the same sums behind the table on the back of the bottle. pH is harder, because how much acid it takes depends on your alkalinity and stabiliser. Pool Chem Dip allows for both, and splits big changes in two so you retest before adding the rest. The weak links are usually the strip reading and the pool’s volume, so measure the pool properly once.
Which test strips does it work with?
Any. The sliders snap to the values printed on a typical 6-in-1 bottle: free and total chlorine, pH, alkalinity, calcium and stabiliser. Salt comes from a salt strip, a digital tester or your chlorinator’s readout. Turn off any pads your strip doesn’t have. Liquid kits and pool shop printouts work too: tap a number and type it in.
Why is its chlorine target higher than my pool shop’s?
A lot of pool shops quote 1–3 ppm for every pool, which suits water with little stabiliser in it. Stabiliser shields chlorine from the sun but makes it slower to work, so with stabiliser at 40 ppm you want about 3 ppm of chlorine to stay ahead of algae. If you’d rather use a fixed range, you can set one in Pool Setup.
Does it work for salt and mineral pools?
Yes. It checks salt against your chlorinator’s range (4,000–6,000 ppm for many Australian salt cells, or set your own), works salt out in 20 kg bags, and when chlorine is low it suggests turning the chlorinator up as well as a top-up by hand.
Can it do more than one pool, or a spa?
Yes. Add each pool or spa with its own volume, targets and history, and switch between them at the top of the screen.
Does it work with no signal?
Yes. Once it’s on your home screen it runs fully offline. Nothing it does needs the internet.
Is there a free trial?
No. It’s A$14.99 once, and the screens on this page are the real app. One purchase covers up to three devices in your household.
Pool Chem Dip is looking for testers.
It’s built, and being tried on real backyard pools before it opens. If you’ve got a pool and a bottle of test strips, email poolchemdip@idleideas.com.au and say what kind of pool you have.