Sunday is your window. With drizzle forecast from Monday through Thursday, now is the time to protect your pool before the rain does the damage.

Right, listen up Raymond Terrace - if you've got a pool sitting in your backyard, this Sunday is the one day this week you absolutely cannot afford to waste. The forecast is pretty clear: light but persistent drizzle rolling in from Monday and hanging around right through to Thursday. That might not sound dramatic, but for a swimming pool, a few days of steady rainfall is enough to quietly undo weeks of good maintenance. This is not about panicking. It is about being smart and getting ahead of it while the sun is still on your side.

Here is the thing most pool owners do not realise until it is too late. Rainwater is not neutral. It carries dust, pollen, bird droppings, airborne organic matter, and depending on where you live, a fair bit of road pollution as well. All of that washes straight into your pool. On top of that, fresh rainwater is slightly acidic, which means it pushes your pH down and throws your chlorine efficiency sideways. When chlorine cannot work properly, algae and bacteria get their opportunity. A couple of grey days of drizzle can tip a well-balanced pool into a green, cloudy mess faster than most people expect.

So here is what Sunday looks like if you do this properly. Start with a full test of your water, either with a quality test kit or a strip set. You are looking at four key numbers: free chlorine, pH, total alkalinity, and stabiliser. Your free chlorine should sit between 2 and 3 parts per million. Your pH wants to be in the 7.2 to 7.6 range. Total alkalinity should be sitting somewhere between 80 and 120 parts per million. If any of those are out, sort them first before you do anything else, because adding shock to an unbalanced pool is like mopping the floor before you fix the leaking pipe.

Once your levels are balanced, it is time to shock the pool. Use a quality granular chlorine shock and dose according to your pool's volume in litres. A standard backyard pool of around 50,000 litres will typically need somewhere between 400 and 500 grams of shock for a maintenance dose, but if your chlorine was already running low, bump that up. Do this in the late afternoon or early evening so the sun does not burn off your chlorine before it has a chance to work through the water. Run your pump for at least eight hours after shocking.

After the shock goes in, add a quality algaecide. This is your insurance policy for the days ahead. Algaecide does not replace chlorine, but it works alongside it to prevent algae from getting a foothold when your sanitiser levels dip during the rain. Follow the label dosage for your pool volume and add it with the pump running so it circulates evenly. This combination of shock and algaecide going into a wet stretch is genuinely one of the most effective things you can do to protect your pool.

When Friday rolls around and the sky clears again, do not just jump straight back to normal. Test the water again before anything else. After several days of drizzle, your pH and alkalinity will almost certainly have shifted. Your free chlorine may have dropped lower than expected. Check the pool visually too. If the water looks even slightly hazy or has a faint green tinge near the walls or steps, treat it as a warning sign and act immediately rather than waiting to see if it clears on its own.

What To Do Next

If you are reading this on Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, you still have time to get this done properly. Here is a simple action plan to take you through the week.

On Sunday, head to your pool and run a full water test. Write your numbers down rather than trying to remember them. Adjust your pH first if it needs it, because pH affects how everything else performs. Then adjust your alkalinity if required. Once those are stable, calculate your pool volume in litres and add your shock dose accordingly. Late afternoon between 4pm and 6pm is the sweet spot for treating on a warm day. After the shock, add your algaecide with the pump running. Set your pump timer to run for a minimum of eight hours overnight and let the chemicals do their work.

During the rainy stretch from Monday through Thursday, keep your pump running a bit longer than usual. If you normally run it six hours a day, push it to eight or even ten. Circulation is your best friend during wet weather because it keeps the water moving, the filter working, and your chemicals distributing evenly. If you have a pool cover, use it during heavy downpours to limit how much water and debris gets in.

On Friday when the sun returns, retest before you swim. Grab your test kit and check all four numbers again. If your free chlorine has dropped below 1 part per million, add a maintenance dose of chlorine and give it a few hours before anyone gets in. If your pH has shifted below 7.2, which is common after rain, add a pH increaser and retest after an hour of circulation.

If you are not confident testing or treating your own pool, give Poolside Coastline a call before Sunday. We service Raymond Terrace and the surrounding area and can get your pool sorted and protected before the drizzle hits. A small investment now saves you a much bigger headache, and a much bigger bill, at the end of the week. Get onto it this Sunday and you will be thanking yourself by Friday.

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