Hi, all! Great site!

Just started BBB method a few weeks ago. I have a 5000 gal above ground pool with vinyl liner. The water looks great so I guess I'm doing it right.

FC 4
PH 7.4
TC 1
CYA 40
TA 200


I'm having to add anywhere between 1 and 3 cups of bleach each day. I'm also wondering about the TA. Do I need to get that down, and how would I do it?

Thanks!

Welcome, Jennica

First, check that TC you posted. If FC is 4, TC must be AT LEAST 4 as well. TC is Total Chlorine, which is FC (Free Chlorine) + CC (Combined Chlorine)

Could your TC of 1 actually be CC perhaps? If so, please double check that number, and if confirmed, you likely should be shocking your pool. Any CC reading over .5 suggests the chlorine is busy killing something organic.

As for the TA...yes, you can lower it, pool school tells you how. It is, however, a fairly lengthy process, and probably nothing to worry about..splashing and the high TA will simply prompt pH to rise a bit for a while, and handling that (by adding dry or muratic acid) will bring the TA down over time.

Oops. Yes, I meant to say CC. Most days it's 0 but every once in a while, like today, it's 1. I'll keep an eye on it and will shock it if it stays up.

Thanks for the reply!

How often should I test for CYA?

Maybe once each week for about three weeks if you are fairly new at it. Then, as long as your pool is stable, it's sorta' what you are comfortable with. I do about every three weeks or so but that is after 7-8 years of getting to "know" my pool.

Sounds good. Thanks, duraleigh!

I decided to try and lower the TA with the aeration method. When I tested this morning the PH was 7.2. Do I still need to add the MA? Is it the MA that lowers the TA or the actual aeration?

My #s today.....

FC 5
CC .5
PH 7.2
TA 180


Also, while I was waiting for reagents to be delivered I had the pool store test for CYA. They said it was 40. Doing the test several times with the K-2006 I get anywhere from 85-100. I know the pool stores are notorious for being unreliable but would they be off by that much? I'm not sure if I should drain some water out or not.

I only started BBB a few weeks ago but always used the pucks before that (4 years).

The water looks better than ever. The first week or so I was losing 1 - 3 ppm of FC per day. The last 3 or 4 days it's only been a loss of 1ppm per day.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS trust your test results over anything else....period.

The TA cannot be PERMANENTLY lowered (except v-e-r-y s-l-o-owly) unless you add both muriatic acid and then perform aertion. So, the answer is it takes both.

Adding MA lowers both pH and TA.

Aeration raises pH without changing TA. The end result : Lower TA





It's your pool, your test, your process. You have a vested interest in accurate results, and proper maintenance of your pool...thus, a vested interest in correctly performing tests with quality components.

The pool store, on the other hand, has a vested interest in one thing only : making money. Your pool is no more or less important to them than anyone else's, and their interest in it stops when you stop buying chemicals for it. They have a vested interest in whatever test results lead to you spending more in their shop.

Trusting your own results is the foundation of BBB.

Everything seems so simple when you have the right help. Thank you both!

I'm currently draining. Luckily my husband is an HVAC guy so he had a Pony pump in his work truck. I should be down 6 inches in 20 minutes.

So, I'll refill, circulate for about an hour, then repeat?

That confuses me...why are you draining?

My CYA is 90 ish.

I'm really sorry...I misread that first post to believe that CYA 40ppm was your test result.

I should've read more carefully and, of course, you are doing the right thing to get that CYA down around 50ppm.

No apology needed. I am so grateful for all the input.

Not sure what to think. I drained and refilled 50%. Now I'm getting a CYA of 120. Is this possible? I did the test 5 times, using up reagent like crazy.

Did you dilute your sample with tap water to get that result?

You shouldn't use reagent but once during the CYA test, even if you redo the test multiple times. Just keep pouring the sample back into the bottle, shake again, and repeat the test.

Duraleigh sells individual replacement reagents.

Use the same sample, just take multiple readings. Read, pour it back, mix again, take another reading. Lighting makes a HUGE difference.

Yes, I did the dilution method. I added 7 ml of tap water to 7 ml of pool water. Mixed it, poured out half then added 7 ml of reagent, then doubled the reading.

All total I probably did it about 30 times. 120 is about the average reading.

I'm wondering if I did the test wrong when I got the reading of 90.
I followed the instructions on the "Water Testing Instructions on One Page" link:

a) Measure 4ml R-0013 into the mixing bottle.
b) Measure 4ml pool water into the mixing bottle.
c) Measure 8ml tap water into the mixing bottle.
d) Continue from step 3 above.

I used 7, 7, and 14 ml because those are what are on my bottle.

The instructions didn't say to double the result, just to continue from Step 3 which is shaking the mixture, then reading the result.

Maybe my CYA was really 180?