Chlorine Stabiliser: The Summer Product for Pool Maintenance
As the weather warms up and your pool gets more use, keeping your chlorine working effectively becomes even more important. One key factor that often gets overlooked when preparing for the season is chlorine stabiliser which is also known as cyanuric acid (CYA).
Why is it Important?
Chlorine stabiliser acts like sunscreen for your chlorine. In summer, strong UV rays destroy unprotected chlorine very quickly, within just a few hours. Cyanuric acid protects chlorine from this UV burn-off, helping it to remain active in your pool water for longer. Without chlorine stabiliser, you’ll often notice your chlorine levels disappearing faster than usual, even if no one’s been swimming.
What Should Your Chlorine Stabiliser Levels Be?
According to the Australian Standards for private swimming pools, the ideal chlorine stabiliser level is between 30 and 50 ppm (parts per million). This gives enough UV protection without reducing the chlorine’s effectiveness.
✅ Ideal level: 30–50 ppm
⚠️ Too little: Chlorine disappears quickly allowing bacteria to grow
⚠️ Too much: Chlorine can become less effective as there is less available to sanitise your water
If your stabiliser levels are too high, the only solution is partial water replacement which can be time-consuming and costly. That’s why it’s so important to monitor stabiliser levels regularly, especially if you use stabilised pool chlorine products. Keeping an eye on your stabiliser levels now can save you both effort and money later down the track.
Does Your Pool Have Probes?
If your pool equipment has probes you might want to consider a lower stabiliser level. Astral Pools recommends keeping your stabiliser levels below 20 ppm in pools with probes. This is because higher levels interfere with their accuracy, specifically with ORP readings and causing the probe to misread the available sanitiser level.
Adding Stabiliser to Your Pool
If you use pool chlorine products like trichlor tablets or dichlor granules, your stabiliser levels will naturally rise over time as they contain cyanuric acid. If you use liquid chlorine or a salt chlorinator to sanitise your pool, you will need to add chlorine stabiliser manually.
In this instance you can add our fast dissolving ‘Rapid Stabiliser’, add it directly to the skimmer box if you have a media filter while your filter pump is running, making sure to break up any lumps that may form during the process. If you have a cartridge filter it’s best to mix up a slurry in a bucket of water and distribute around the pool. It is recommended that you keep your pool filter running for at least two hours after adding this product.
Testing Your Stabiliser Levels
Don’t let low chlorine levels spoil your fun this Summer! We know pool chemistry can feel overwhelming, so drop by our store for a quick and accurate stabiliser check from our friendly team to give you peace of mind. Our testing equipment will tell you where your levels are and whether any adjustments are needed.
We recommend checking your stabiliser level every 2-4 weeks during summer, particularly after heavy rain or water replacement.
