UTILS.
100% in-browser
🧪

Chlorine Dose Calculator

Find how much chlorine or bleach to add to raise your pool's free chlorine to a target ppm, for liquid, cal-hypo, dichlor, trichlor, or lithium.

Enter pool volume, current and target free chlorine, and the product to dose.

About this tool

The Chlorine Dose Calculator is a free, in-browser pool tool that tells you exactly how much of a chosen chlorine product to add to raise free chlorine (FC) from its current level to your target, in parts per million. Enter the pool volume in gallons, the current and target FC, and the product, and it returns the dose by weight (for dry products) or by volume (for liquids), plus the pure chlorine added. All math runs locally in your browser, so nothing you type is uploaded.

The method converts gallons to liters (L = gallons × 3.78541), since 1 ppm = 1 mg/L. Pure chlorine needed in grams is delta_ppm × L / 1000. For dry products the amount of product is pure_g ÷ (available-chlorine fraction) — cal-hypo at 65% or 73%, dichlor 56%, trichlor 90%, or lithium hypochlorite 35%. For liquid sodium hypochlorite the volume is pure_g ÷ (density × trade%): 12.5% liquid at density 1.10, or 10% household-strength at density 1.08. Weights convert to ounces and pounds, volumes to fluid ounces and cups.

As a worked example, raising a 10,000-gallon pool by 2 ppm needs about 75.7 g of pure chlorine. That is roughly 551 mL (about 18.6 fl oz) of 12.5% liquid chlorine, or about 116 g (4.1 oz) of 65% cal-hypo. Always add chlorine to a bucket of water (never the reverse), broadcast it with the pump running, and re-test before swimming; the tool assumes a well-mixed pool.

Frequently asked questions

How much chlorine do I add to raise FC by a set amount?
Convert gallons to liters (× 3.78541); pure chlorine grams = delta_ppm × liters / 1000. Divide by the product's available-chlorine fraction (dry) or by density × trade% (liquid) to get the dose. The tool does this for the product you pick.
What available-chlorine strengths does it use?
Cal-hypo 65% or 73%, dichlor 56%, trichlor 90%, and lithium hypochlorite 35% for dry products; sodium-hypochlorite liquid at 12.5% (density 1.10) or 10% (density 1.08). These are standard trade strengths.
How much liquid chlorine for +2 ppm in 10,000 gallons?
About 75.7 g of pure chlorine is needed, which is roughly 551 mL (18.6 fl oz) of 12.5% liquid, or about 116 g (4.1 oz) of 65% cal-hypo. Larger jumps or bigger pools scale the dose proportionally.
Can I lower chlorine with this tool?
No — it only calculates additions to raise free chlorine. If your target is below the current level the tool asks for a higher target; chlorine falls on its own over time or can be reduced with a neutralizer or dilution.

More tools