From readings to doses, in your own products
Pool Founder does tell technicians which chemicals to add and how much. Once the readings are in, the mobile app shows a Balance card: the water as it is now, suggested targets you can change, the LSI for both, and a numbered list of doses to get there, using the products in your company's chemicals list at their real strength. Balancing is a mobile-app feature; the web dashboard does not calculate doses.
The Balance card is rolling out company by company. If you don't see it above Chemicals Used yet, it isn't turned on for your company; contact support to get it early.
The numbers are pure chemistry math that runs on the phone, so it works without signal and there's no AI involved. It is calibrated against Orenda's calculator: on hundreds of recorded test cases the LSI lands within 0.01 of Orenda's, and alkalinity, calcium, chlorine and stabilizer doses match Orenda's to the ounce.
Where to find it
- While completing a visit: the Balance card sits in the water chemistry task's chemicals step, right above Chemicals Used. It reads the readings you just entered, before you save anything.
- Without completing a visit: on a stop's job detail, tap the Chemical Recommendation card ("Enter readings or scan a test strip for a dosing plan"). Enter or scan the readings and the Balance card appears under them. From here you can look up doses, but there is no visit to add them to.
No reading is required up front: each dose only needs its own reading, so enter what you tested. pH doses also need total alkalinity (the card asks for it otherwise). The LSI needs pH, total alkalinity and calcium hardness; without calcium the card still shows doses and says "Enter calcium hardness to see the LSI." Water temperature is optional: without it the LSI assumes 78°F water and says so under the LSI line. CYA, salt, TDS and free chlorine are used when you enter them.
What the Balance card shows
- LSI now and With targets, each colored and labeled the way Orenda does it: Balanced (0 to +0.30), Slightly corrosive / Slightly scaling, Corrosive, or Scaling. A line under them shows the move from the ring (now) to the dot (targets) against the balanced band.
- A Now / Target table for alkalinity, pH, calcium, CYA, salt (when measured) and free chlorine. Tap − or + to change any target; the LSI and every dose update as you tap. Reset targets puts the suggestions back.
- Numbered steps in the order to add them: alkalinity, pH, calcium, CYA, salt, then chlorine, for example Raise pH 7.2 → 7.6 with the amount (2.3 lbs) and the product under it.
- Side effects on each product, for example Adds about 3.3 ppm salt for liquid chlorine, Adds about 1.4 ppm calcium for cal hypo, or Also lowers alkalinity for acid. Like Orenda's calculator, these are shown as notes and are not subtracted from the other doses.
- For pH up, a note that aeration alone can raise pH up to the water's pH ceiling, and a warning if a target is above it (pH would drift back down).
Targets start as suggestions: readings outside their usual range are pulled back in, then alkalinity, pH, and calcium are nudged (in that order) until the LSI lands between 0 and +0.30. Lowering calcium, CYA or salt only happens by draining, so those steps say to drain and refill (with a drain percentage when the pool's fill-water chemistry is on file).
Your products, your units
- Each step lists the products you stock for it, dosed at the strength set on the product. A product whose strength isn't set shows Assumes 12.5% strength (or the standard strength for its type) so you know what the amount is based on. Users with the Manage chemicals permission can tap Set on that line (or the pencil next to any of your products) to pick what the product is used for and its strength (common strengths like 10% / 12.5% are one tap, or type another %). It saves to your chemicals list as confirmed, the doses update right away, and every tech's doses use it from then on.
- Amounts are converted into the product's own unit. If your liquid chlorine is stocked by the gallon and the dose shows as 37 fl oz, it adds Logs as 0.29 gallon. Containers use the size in the product name (Liquid Chlorine (4 Gallon Case) logs in cases, 50lb Bucket in buckets). Trichlor tablets log as tablets, figured at about 8 oz for a 3" tab (about ½ oz for 1"), and salt bags with no size as 40 lb; these show with a ≈. Units that still can't be converted (a scoop, a pack) leave the quantity blank for you to type.
- When you stock the same product more than one way (service stock, customer stock, a case, a bucket), the step leads with one of them (priced, not customer stock, logged in the smallest unit) and the rest are under Other products. Products at different strengths each show their own amount.
- Tap Add to visit to put the product and amount straight into Chemicals Used; the button turns into Added.
- Products you don't stock appear under Other products with the standard product and strength (for example Dichlor (56%)). Add to visit still logs it. Users with the Manage chemicals permission also see Add to inventory, which adds it to your chemicals list with its dosing type and strength already confirmed ($0 price until you edit it on the Chemicals page).
When pool data is missing
Pool volume is required for doses. Every amount scales with gallons, so without a volume on the body of water the card shows the LSI and targets but no doses, and says "Set this pool's volume to see doses." Set it on the web dashboard: the customer's service location → the body of water → Gallonage.
With no TDS or salt reading, TDS is assumed to be 1,000 ppm for the LSI (Orenda's default too). Salt pools should enter their salt reading: salt lowers the LSI.
Confirm your dosing chemicals (so amounts use the right strength)
Dosing math depends on how strong each product is: liquid chlorine at 10% and 12.5% dose differently, and so do full- and half-strength acids. Products are classified by name automatically. The fastest fix is right on the Balance card (Set / the pencil, above) the first time a product comes up; to review your whole list at once, an owner or manager can map each catalog chemical to a dosing type and a strength (active %) so the calculator uses the right chemistry. This is gated by the Manage chemicals permission (<code>chemicals:manage</code>).
On the mobile app: open the Account tab and tap Confirm Dosing Chemicals ("Map each product to a dosing type & strength"). On the web dashboard: open the Chemicals page (sidebar → Chemicals) and click Confirm dosing to open the "Confirm your dosing chemicals" panel.
- Each product is auto-classified first, so the list comes pre-filled. Rows the app is unsure about are grouped under Needs attention (mobile) / Needs review (web) — with an Auto or Auto · Low confidence / Auto-guess badge — and the rest sit under Looks good (mobile) / Confirmed & confident (web).
- For each product, pick the Dosing type from the canonical list — the chlorine you carry (liquid chlorine, cal-hypo, dichlor, or trichlor), your pH-down and pH-up products, a calcium or stabilizer product, salt, a phosphate remover, a chlorine neutralizer, or Not a dosing chemical for test kits and equipment — then enter its Strength / active % (labeled Strength % on web).
- Products set to Not a dosing chemical (test kits, equipment, and the like) hide the strength field and are left out of dosing.
- Tap Confirm to save (the button reads Update on web once a row is already confirmed). A confirmed row shows a green Confirmed badge.
Frequently asked questions
Does Pool Founder tell technicians how much of each chemical to add?
Yes. After entering the readings on the mobile app, the Balance card lists each dose in order, in your own products and units, scaled to the pool's volume and each product's strength. Tap Add to visit to log a dose in Chemicals Used.
Is it AI, and does it need internet?
Neither. The doses are chemistry formulas that run on the phone, so they work offline and give the same answer every time.
Is the Orenda calculator built in?
No. Pool Founder has no Orenda integration and doesn't connect to the Orenda app. It has its own Orenda-style balance calculator (current vs target readings, live LSI, doses) whose math is checked against Orenda's calculator: LSI within 0.01 on hundreds of test readings, and the same doses for alkalinity, calcium, chlorine and stabilizer. It doesn't recommend Orenda-branded products (enzymes, phosphate remover) unless you carry them in your chemical inventory.
Why would a dose differ from Orenda's?
pH up/down doses can differ by a few percent (typically under 1%). Dichlor is the one deliberate difference: Orenda's dichlor amount matches a much weaker product, so Pool Founder uses the chemistry and the label rate for 56% dichlor instead.
What if the pool's volume isn't on file?
You still get the LSI and targets, but no doses, just a prompt to set the pool's volume, because every amount depends on it.
Can I add a product the calculator suggests but I don't stock?
Yes. Under Other products, Add to visit logs it on the visit. With the Manage chemicals permission you also get Add to inventory, which adds it to your chemicals list with its dosing type and strength confirmed.
How do I make the amounts use my product's real strength?
Confirm your dosing chemicals: on mobile, Account tab → Confirm Dosing Chemicals; on web, the Chemicals page → Confirm dosing. Map each product to a dosing type and enter its strength (active %). It needs the Manage chemicals permission.