How to Maintain Your Pool During Orlando's Summer Rain

Orlando gets roughly 52 inches of rain a year, and most of it falls between June and September in violent, localized storms. If you've ever walked out after a 20-minute thunderstorm and thought 'my pool looks different,' you're right — chemistry shifted in real time.

What Orlando rain does to pool water

Heavy rain dumps organics (leaves, pollen, lawn runoff, bird droppings) into the pool while simultaneously diluting every chemical you've balanced. Specifically:

• **Chlorine burn-off** from organic load: rain doesn't just dilute — it introduces contamination that consumes free chlorine fast
• **pH shift downward** from acidic rainwater (Florida rain sits at ~5.5 pH)
• **Alkalinity dilution** — your pH buffer gets weaker
• **Cyanuric acid dilution** — your chlorine stabilizer drops, making UV burn chlorine even faster
• **Debris loading** from roof runoff and blown-in organics

Do this within 24 hours of any heavy rain

1. Skim and net the surface immediately. Organics sinking to the floor become algae food in Florida heat.

2. Run the pump 12+ hours straight. Circulation prevents dead spots where algae colonize.

3. Test chemistry AFTER 1 hour of pump runtime. Don't test immediately — let the rain mix in.

4. Shock the pool if free chlorine is under 2 ppm. Orlando summer means shock-tolerance.

5. Check and backwash the filter. Heavy storm debris kills filter efficiency fast.

Storm-season weekly chemistry targets

Bump your summer targets slightly to buffer against storm dilution:

• Free Chlorine: **2.5 – 4 ppm** (vs. normal 1–3)
• pH: **7.4 – 7.6** (same)
• Alkalinity: **100 – 120 ppm** (upper end)
• CYA / stabilizer: **40 – 60 ppm** (upper end — UV is brutal)

What to do before a named storm

When a tropical storm or hurricane is in the cone:

• **Do NOT drain the pool.** Lower water levels damage liners and risk pop-up.
• **Shock heavily the morning of the storm.**
• **Turn OFF gas heaters and close gas valves.**
• **Remove loose patio furniture and pool toys.**
• **Keep pump running until wind gusts exceed 50 mph**, then shut off at the breaker.
• **Turn salt generator OFF** to preserve cell life.

The real secret: weekly service

Everything above is standard on Ducky's weekly service — and during summer we automatically adjust targets for rain-season reality. Every visit includes a chemistry report so you know exactly where your pool stood the morning after that storm.

Every quote is custom to your pool — Algae-Free Guarantee included on every plan.