Overview
PoolBoss calculates the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) live on every visit from pH, temperature, calcium hardness, and alkalinity, corrected for cyanuric acid and salt, and labels the water balanced, corrosive, or scale-forming. For each out-of-range reading, it recommends a product and an amount sized to the pool's volume.
Water balance (LSI) & dosing
What you can do
How PoolBoss calculates LSI
LSI combines pH, a temperature factor, calcium hardness, and carbonate alkalinity, minus a dissolved-solids factor. PoolBoss reads the temperature factor from a table in degrees Fahrenheit, from 32 to 105, and works out carbonate alkalinity as total alkalinity minus a third of the cyanuric acid, because stabilizer inflates an alkalinity test. Salt pools at 1,000 ppm or more get the higher dissolved-solids factor. The result is rounded to two decimals.
If pH, temperature, calcium, or alkalinity is missing, PoolBoss doesn't guess. The LSI row names what it still needs. When the temperature was carried over from an earlier visit, a note says so. The balanced band starts at -0.3 to +0.3, and you can set your own, as long as it includes zero and stays within -1 to +1.
Pools › Water chemistry
Today's reading
9:14 AM · logged by Marcus BellExport →Free chlorine
2.4ppm
Combined chlorine
0.2ppm
pH
8.1
Total alkalinity
110ppm
Calcium hardness
280ppm
Cyanuric acid
48ppm
Salt
3200ppm
pH trend
8 weeksBalance
Where your techs and office see it, and its history
On the phone, the Water balance (LSI) row updates as the tech types each reading, so they see the verdict while they're still at the pool. In the office, the visit detail shows the same number and label.
PoolBoss saves the LSI with every reading, so each pool has an LSI history. The pool page shows a Water balance (LSI) trend, amber when the latest value is outside your band, and an LSI column in the reading history. A visit whose LSI falls outside the band is flagged on the visit, in the visits list, and on the dashboard's flagged visits. The readings themselves are part of chemical tracking.
- Live LSI on the phone as readings go in
- An LSI trend and history on every pool
- Out-of-band LSI flagged on the visit, the visits list, and the dashboard
The Alvarez Pool
88 Saguaro Way · 18,000 gal · Salt
Dose recommendations sized to the pool
For a low reading, or a high pH, PoolBoss picks one of seven products and works out an amount to bring the reading to the middle of your target range, scaled from a per-10,000-gallon rate to the pool's volume. It shows it as one line: the reading, the target, the product, and the amount. Liquids are in fluid ounces, switching to gallons past 128, and dry chemicals in pounds, or ounces under a pound.
High chlorine, alkalinity, hardness, stabilizer, or salt gets a plain instruction instead of a product amount, such as waiting for it to come down or partly draining. Salt pools are dosed as chlorine pools and target stabilizer at 60 to 80. Bromine pools don't get chlorine advice. If the pool has no volume set, the tech sees the product and direction and a prompt to add the volume.
Pools › Water chemistry
Today's reading
9:14 AM · logged by Marcus BellExport →Free chlorine
2.4ppm
Combined chlorine
0.2ppm
pH
8.1
Total alkalinity
110ppm
Calcium hardness
280ppm
Cyanuric acid
48ppm
Salt
3200ppm
pH trend
8 weeksBalance
Your ranges, your product names
Target ranges start at free chlorine 1 to 4, pH 7.2 to 7.8, alkalinity 80 to 120, calcium hardness 200 to 400, stabilizer 30 to 50, and salt 2,700 to 3,400, and you can change any of them for your company. Rename one of the seven products in your chemical catalog and the recommendation uses your name for it.
Dose recommendations are on by default, and the owner can turn them off. Out-of-range flags stay either way. Each recommendation is a starting number the tech confirms, and for acid it says to add about three-quarters and retest. The tech then logs what actually went in on a Chemicals added card, prefilled from the recommendation, and that log is what feeds chemical cost in reports.
Revenue · invoiced vs collected
Full report →Route profitability
billed − est. chemical costFull report →| Route | Billed | Chem cost | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Westside Monday | $7,200 | $612 | $6,588 |
| Commercial — East | $5,150 | $908 | $4,242 |
| North Loop | $4,890 | $531 | $4,359 |
Chemical cost per pool
Full report →Technician productivity
Full report →Why PoolBoss
Why pool pros choose PoolBoss
Built for pools, not bolted on
Water chemistry is the job, so it's the core of the product, not a notes field. Generic field-service tools don't track it.
Flat rate by pool count
You pay by how many pools you manage. No per-seat fees, no per-pool meter, and no surprise line on the bill as you grow.
Every feature on every plan
Nothing is locked to a higher tier. The Free plan has the same features as Fleet. Plans differ only by pool count.
Works in the field
The tech app runs on any phone and keeps working with no signal, so a visit completes at the pool and syncs when you're back on.
“Does what I need without overcomplicating it.”
Ryan Sinclair
Poolcraft
How it works
Water balance (LSI) & dosing at a glance
- What it does
- PoolBoss calculates LSI live on every visit, corrected for cyanuric acid and salt, keeps an LSI history for each pool, and recommends a product and amount for each out-of-range reading.
- What you enter
- pH, water temperature, calcium hardness, and total alkalinity for LSI, plus cyanuric acid and salt when you have them
- The pool's volume and sanitizer (chlorine, salt, or bromine)
- Your target ranges and chemical product names
- What the tech actually added, confirmed on the visit
- What PoolBoss does
- Calculates LSI as the tech types, using carbonate alkalinity (total alkalinity minus a third of the cyanuric acid) and a salt correction
- Labels LSI corrosive below your balanced band, scale-forming above it, and balanced inside it (-0.3 to +0.3 by default)
- Saves LSI with every reading and shows each pool's LSI trend and history
- Flags a visit whose LSI is outside your band, on the visit, the visits list, and the dashboard
- Names the missing reading when LSI can't be calculated yet
- Recommends one of seven products with an amount aimed at the middle of your range, scaled to the pool's volume
- Gives an instruction instead of an amount for readings that are too high, other than pH
- Skips the dose calculation for impossible readings, and flags unsafe chlorine or pH
- Prefills a Chemicals added card from the recommendation, logs what the tech confirms, and uses the log for chemical cost, usage, and truck load
- Who sees it
- Technicians: the live LSI row and the dose recommendation on each visit in the app
- Office: LSI, the dose recommendation, and the chemicals added on the visit detail, plus each pool's LSI trend and history
- Customers: the reading and whether it was high or low on their service report, without LSI or dose amounts
- What you can set
- Target ranges for each reading, set per company, with stabilizer at 60 to 80 for salt pools unless you set it
- Your balanced LSI band (-0.3 to +0.3 by default, within -1 to +1)
- Dose recommendations on or off (on by default). Out-of-range flags stay either way
- Your own names for the seven products
- Related features
FAQ
Common questions
Does PoolBoss calculate LSI?
Yes. PoolBoss calculates the Langelier Saturation Index live on every visit, on the tech's phone as they type and on the visit detail in the office. It uses pH, water temperature, calcium hardness, and total alkalinity, corrects alkalinity for cyanuric acid, and adjusts for salt pools. It labels the result against your balanced band, -0.3 to +0.3 unless you set your own: corrosive below it, scale-forming above it, balanced inside it. PoolBoss saves the LSI with every reading, so each pool shows an LSI trend and history, and a visit outside the band is flagged.
How does PoolBoss calculate LSI?
PoolBoss adds pH, a temperature factor, the log of calcium hardness minus 0.4, and the log of carbonate alkalinity, then subtracts a dissolved-solids factor of 12.1, or 12.2 for water with 1,000 ppm salt or more. The temperature factor comes from a table in degrees Fahrenheit, interpolated between points. Carbonate alkalinity is total alkalinity minus a third of the cyanuric acid, which stops stabilizer from making the water look better balanced than it is. The result is rounded to two decimals.
How does PoolBoss work out how much chemical to add?
For each low reading, or a high pH, PoolBoss picks one of seven products: liquid chlorine, muriatic acid, soda ash, sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride, cyanuric acid, or pool salt. It aims for the middle of your target range and scales a per-10,000-gallon rate to the pool's volume, then shows the reading, target, product, and amount in one line. Readings that are too high, other than pH, get an instruction rather than an amount. The number is a starting point the tech confirms.
Can I use my own chemical product names and target ranges?
Yes. Rename any of the seven products in your chemical catalog and the recommendation uses your name. Target ranges can be changed for your company, and salt pools target stabilizer at 60 to 80 unless you've set your own.
Can I turn dose recommendations off?
Yes. Dose recommendations are on by default and the owner can switch them off in settings. That hides the amounts on the phone, on the visit detail, and on the route's chemical list. Out-of-range flags stay on, so the tech still sees what needs attention.
Does PoolBoss record what chemicals the tech actually added?
Yes. After the readings, the tech's visit screen shows a Chemicals added card prefilled from the recommendation. One tap logs it as recommended, or the tech changes the amounts, removes a product, adds any product from your catalog, or marks that nothing was added. Nothing is logged until the tech confirms, and it works offline. Chemical cost, usage, truck load, and profitability then use the log, fall back to the recommended dose for visits with no log, and the cost report shows which is which.
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