How to Prepare Your Pool for Arizona Monsoon Season?

Monsoon season is here. If you have an Arizona pool, you already know what's coming. Next, haboobs dump pounds of dust into the water and rain throws your chemistry off.

Is your pool prepared for this year's monsoon season?

At Shasta Pool Supply, we've been helping Arizona pool owners get through monsoon season since 1966. We stock the right chemicals and answer questions when the water turns green. We understand how worrisome monsoon storms can be for pool owners.

This checklist covers what to do before a storm hits. Also, we share what to do during and after the monsoon hits. This monsoon season lets take the stress out of pool care.

Start before the season. Arizona's monsoon season usually runs from June 15 through September 30. The biggest mistake many homeowners make is waiting until the storm is approaching to do anything.

What to do now, before the first storm:

• Walk your yard and remove anything that can fly including toys, floats, umbrellas, and patio furniture.
• Trim dead branches and overhanging limbs around the pool area.
• Check your skimmer baskets, pump baskets, and leaf catchers. If they're cracked or brittle, replace them.Inspect your nets, brushes, and poles.
• Stock your chemicals including chlorine tabs, liquid chlorine or shock, phosphate remover, and algaecide.

What should my pool water level be for monsoon season?

Keep your pool between the bottom and middle of the skimmer opening. Arizona monsoons can drop 1–2 inches of rain in an hour. If your pool is already full, that overflow can damage your deck and the cold joint between the pool structure and decking.

What should my pool chemistry be before a monsoon storm?

• Chlorine: 4–5 ppm (slightly elevated)pH: 7.4–7.6
• Alkalinity: 80–120 ppm
• Phosphates: as low as possible and below 500 ppb is the target

Phosphates are a food source for algae. Controlling phosphate levels gives you insurance that your water won't turn green if your sanitizer levels dip for a couple of days.

Honestly, the answer is stay inside. An active monsoon especially one with lightning and 40–50 mph wind gust is not the time to be outside managing your pool. The debris cleanup and the chemistry work happens after.

Should You Run Your Pool Pump During a Monsoon?

It depends on what kind of storm is hitting. If it's a dust storm without lightning just wind and rain keep your pump running actually helps. Running your filtration system during peak monsoon activity hours helps reduce the buildup of dirt and sand in your pool water.

If it's a thunderstorm with active lightning, turn the equipment off and leave it off until the storm passes.

Waiting even a few days before cleaning can cause cloudy or green water and clog your filters. Many homeowners don't realize how fast your pool can turn green. Especially, monsoon season typically has temperatures over 100°F.

• Skim the surface and remove floating debrisEmpty skimmer baskets, pump baskets, and leaf canisters
• Brush the walls and vacuum the floorClean or backwash your filter
• Test your waterShock and treat chemistry
• Run the pump

A monsoon introduces bacteria, algae spores, organic debris, and phosphates. Rain dilutes existing chlorine level and water chemistry. Next, dust carries contaminants and the heat burns off free chlorine.
After a dust storm, hyper-chlorinate your pool water. That means pushing chlorine well above your normal maintenance level.

Boost with Liquid Chlorine or Shock

"Keep your chlorine levels a little higher than normal — four to five parts per million. Boost your chlorine up with liquid chlorine or some shock, whichever you're using, and make sure your tab floater and canisters are full." — Dan Panfili, Equipment and Chemical Expert, Shasta Pool Supply

Always test before you shock. If your chlorine is already reading at 3–4 ppm post-storm, you need les. Test first, then dose based on what you actually have. Add shock after dark when possible. UV from Arizona's summer sun burns off chlorine fast. Shocking at dusk or after sunset gives the treatment time to work before the sun hits it.

Most homeowners find out what they're missing after the storm. We want to prevent the green pool from happening altogether.

Chlorine Shock and Phosphate Remover

"Maintain adequate stock of chlorine shock and phosphate remover chemicals to avoid emergency store trips during service times." — Dan Panfili, Equipment and Chemical Expert, Shasta Pool Supply

Monsoon Pool Chemical Checklist:

• Chlorine tabs and liquid shock — Have enough on hand for at least two full post-storm treatments.
• Phosphate removers (Phos Free and Pool Perfect + Phos Free) — Keep levels below 500 ppb.90-Day 
• Algaecide — It disrupts algae cell membranes and makes chlorine more effective.
• First Aid Clarifier — A clarifier binds those particles into clumps large enough for your filter to capture.
• Scale Free — The mineral load from haboob dust over three months of storms and you get calcium scaling on your tile line and plaster.

What are the Right Tools for Post-Storm Cleanup?

Chemistry gets most of the attention during monsoon season. After a haboob drops a layer of dust and debris, the physical cleanup is what determines how fast your water recovers. Your filter gets overwhelmed trying to do a job your brush and rake should have done first.

Nets, Brushes, and Poles

"Make sure all of your nets, brushes, poles are in good shape and ready to be used. A lot more debris is going to get into your pool during monsoon season — try to get it out as quick as possible." — Dan Panfili, Equipment and Chemical Expert, Shasta Pool Supply

The Animal Pro line from Oreq is what Shasta's professional pool techs use. They are built for heavy debris loads and consistent pool maintenance.

No checklist prevents a haboob from dropping a pound of dust into your pool. Although, preparation does reduce the recovery window. Now a day of cleanup can prevent a green pool for a week.

Go into the monsoon season stocked and go into every storm with elevated water chemistry. Then act fast when it's over. Start testing your water probably two or three times a week versus one time a week.

Each monsoon storm resets your pool's chemistry and your phosphate levels. Homeowners who struggle are the ones who treated each storm as a one-time problem. The key is managing the season as a whole.
Stock the right chemicals. Keep your tools in shape. Test more than you think you need to.

If you're not sure where to start, the team at Shasta Pool Supply are here. Shop the full Monsoon Collection or talk to a pool expert before the season hits.

Orendatech.com - Phosphates in Pools

ASU.edu - Basics of Arizona Monsson

Weather.gov Monsoon Info

Arizona.edu Get to know Monsoon