Your Ultimate Inground Pool Supplies Master List: Everything You Need From Opening Day to Closing Season

Owning an inground pool is one of the great backyard luxuries — but keeping it clean, safe, and swim-ready from the first warm weekend of spring all the way through fall closing takes more than a little luck. It takes the right supplies, used at the right time. Whether you’re a first-time pool owner or a seasoned swimmer who just wants a reliable reference, this master list breaks down exactly what you need for every phase of the pool season.

Opening Day Essentials: Start the Season Right

Pool opening checklists offer a means to methodically ensure all tasks are completed and every necessary item is repaired or replaced. Before you pull back that winter cover, make sure you have these supplies on hand:

• Pool Cover Pump: Take all the water, leaves, and debris off the pool cover first. You can use a pool cover pump to remove the water and a soft broom for the leaves and debris.
• Pool Opening/Start-Up Kit: One of the best things about a pool opening kit is that it turns a whole boxful of supplies into one item on the list. Start-up kits typically contain algaecide, clarifier, pool shock, stain and scale prevention, test strips, and a Sun Sorb to soak up oily substances in the water.
• Water Testing Kit: Whether you’re opening your pool or just doing weekly or monthly check-ins, you’ll definitely want to test your pool water for balance levels in pH, calcium, and alkalinity. You’ll also want to be watching out for and testing the chlorine levels.
• Pool Shock: After the alkalinity, pH, and calcium hardness are at the correct levels, shock your pool. When opening your pool for the season, you typically double shock your pool. Shocking helps kill algae spores and bacteria and cleans your water.
• O-Ring Lubricant: A well-lubed filter basket gasket helps create an airtight seal, which makes life for your pool pump much easier. Be sure to clean the o-ring with a rag first, to remove old grunge and dirt. Do the same with all other gaskets and o-rings on unions, filter valves, and filter tanks.
• Garden Hose with Pre-Filter: Ideally, water levels should be raised to about two-thirds of the skimmer. It’s fine to just use a regular garden hose, but depending on the water content it may be best to use a pre-filter to keep minerals and metals that can cause calcification and other buildups.

Mid-Season Maintenance Supplies: Keep It Clean All Summer Long

Once your pool is open and balanced, staying on top of weekly maintenance is the key to crystal-clear water all season. Pool maintenance requires consistency to maintain a safe pool environment. Here’s what to keep stocked throughout the swimming season:

• Chlorine Tablets or Sanitizer: Your pool’s primary defense against bacteria. Keep a steady supply of chlorine tablets or your preferred sanitizer system running throughout the season.
• Pool Shock: Add a high dose of chemicals to destroy any bacteria — known as shocking — at least once a month. Some pool owners prefer to do it weekly or every other week. It’s always a good idea to shock your pool after a pool party or a period of heavy use to remove body oils, sweat, and urine from the water.
• Algaecide: Depending on the size of your pool, the type of pool you have, and how much sunlight it gets, you may need to apply an algaecide on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. In addition, you should use an algaecide after shocking your pool. After shocking, wait until your pool’s chlorine levels have returned to the 1 to 3 ppm balance before applying any algaecide.
• pH Adjusters (pH Up & pH Down): The three most important parts of pool water chemistry include pH levels — the measure of how acidic or basic your pool water is. Low pH levels are acidic, while high levels are basic. The ideal range for your pool is 7.4 to 7.6.
• Skimmer Net & Telescoping Pole: Essential for removing leaves and surface debris before they sink and decompose.
• Pool Brush: Vacuum to remove debris from the pool floor, and brush the pool walls and floor to prevent algae buildup.
• Manual or Robotic Pool Vacuum: Vacuuming will help prevent algae growth or staining from things left on the floor of the pool. A weekly vacuum session tends to be enough, and you can do this chore any day of the week.
• Water Clarifier: If you notice cloudiness after shocking, add a water clarifier. Keeping one on hand saves you from a murky pool on a hot day.
• Filter Cleaner: Add the necessary chemicals to balance the water chemistry based on test results and recommended dosages, and clean or backwash the pool filter to remove debris, dirt, and other contaminants that can hinder filtration.

Equipment to Inspect and Replace Each Season

Give your equipment a thorough inspection to make sure all filtration system components are functional and in good repair. It might not be something you will notice right away, and something might pop up after your system has been running for a couple of days — or it could be an issue you first noticed during pool closing, such as a cracked o-ring. It’s best to nip any problems in the bud early, before they become bigger issues. Closely inspect your pump, filter, skimmers, valves, cleaner, heater, and any other pool equipment connected to the plumbing, and replace any broken or damaged parts immediately.

Closing Season Supplies: Protect Your Investment All Winter

Pool closing products and closing accessories help protect your pool over the winter season and set it up for an easy, quick opening in the spring or summer. Don’t skip this step — a thorough closing now means far less work next spring. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Winter Closing Chemical Kit: Adding winterizing chemicals to your water when closing helps keep your water clean throughout the winter and into the spring, when the warmer temperatures can usually lead to a fast uptick in algae growth.
• Pool Shock & Algaecide (for Closing): Adding an algaecide before covering your pool is a great way to prevent green water in the spring, especially if temperatures reach 60°F while you still have your pool cover on.
• Winter Pool Cover: The backbone of winter pool closing, winter covers help protect your pool from the harsher elements during the winter. The winter cover fits over the top of your pool to prevent debris from entering the pool.
• Safety Cover (Recommended for Inground Pools): Safety Winter Covers are built extra strong with the purpose of preventing children and animals from accidentally falling in the pool. They tend to cost more and are more labor-intensive to install but are worth the extra investment. They offer excellent safety protections and tend to last longer.
• Water Bags / Aqua Blocks: Water bags keep your winter cover secured in place during the season. Pool size and water bag length will be deciding factors in how many water bags you need. Remember to only fill the bags 1/2 to 2/3 capacity with water to allow for ice expansion.
• Pool Antifreeze: Antifreeze helps protect your pool plumbing from potential ice damage in the colder months.
• Winterizing Plugs: Winterizing plugs go into the skimmers, returns, and cleaner lines to keep water out and retain the antifreeze that you put in your pool plumbing when closing your pool.
• Pool Cover Pump: Ensure your pool cover is secure and free of debris throughout the off-season. Remove any fallen leaves or floating debris from the cover to prevent damage.

Where to Find Everything on This List

Tracking down quality supplies from a source you can trust makes a real difference. Backyard Supplies is a leading e-commerce destination specializing in pool, spa, and outdoor living products. With over 20 years of combined industry expertise, its founders built Backyard Supplies with a mission to bring top-tier products and expert knowledge to homeowners and businesses across the United States, driven by a commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction. They only carry products they’d install in their own backyards, and only make claims they can back up. Backyard Supplies ships throughout the United States with free shipping on orders over $100.

From opening kits and robotic cleaners to winter covers and closing chemicals, you can find all the pool supplies for inground pools you need in one place — backed by real product knowledge and expert support. You’ll get maintenance guides, chemistry help, and a number to call if something breaks two years in.

Final Thoughts

Owning an inground pool is a year-round commitment, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With the right supplies stocked for each phase — opening, mid-season maintenance, and closing — you’ll spend less time troubleshooting and more time enjoying the water. Use this master list as your go-to reference every season, and your pool will reward you with years of crystal-clear, worry-free swimming.