Hi everyone, my husband and I just bought a home with a 30,000 gallon in-ground, vinyl pool and we have not owned a pool previously. During the closing process, I researched the BBB process and found this website...which has been super helpful! We found that the previous owners used an automatic chlorinator with tabs, and also alternated baking soda and granulated chlorine every other week. Therefore, I knew we were most likely going to have a problem from the beginning. I got the TF-100 test kit and these are my first set of numbers:
pH: 7.5
FC: 28
TC: 28.5
CH: 325
TA: 330
CYA: 100
Just as everyone on this site could have suspected, the CYA is high but my FC is also high, even for the CYA level (safe to swim but still higher than I would like). To start, I have not added any further tabs and added additional water to the pool because the level was low. I imagine probably the most obvious course of action would be to drain and refill half of the water from the pool to decrease the CYA level to 50 and continue with the BBB method from there. The problem is that our home is supplied by a well, which poses more problems including but not limited to increased stress on the well and the introduction of a variety minerals to the pool. So, my main question is this...can I leave my pool cover off to hopefully get rid of some of the FC, leave the CYA at 100 and use the target FC of 7-12 and hope that CYA decreases over the winter, which I have read from this site usually does? Secondly, my TA is obviously high as well (although I have to admit, that was the hardest test for me to read since I added a lot of drops of solution so it could be not completely accurate). I've read that I shouldn't be adjusting this unless the pH is rising or I'm at significant risk for calcium scaling...which neither of those apply at this time. Should I leave my TA alone until I find my pH rising or do something about it now? Any other recommendations based on those numbers?
Thanks a ton!
pH: 7.5
FC: 28
TC: 28.5
CH: 325
TA: 330
CYA: 100
Just as everyone on this site could have suspected, the CYA is high but my FC is also high, even for the CYA level (safe to swim but still higher than I would like). To start, I have not added any further tabs and added additional water to the pool because the level was low. I imagine probably the most obvious course of action would be to drain and refill half of the water from the pool to decrease the CYA level to 50 and continue with the BBB method from there. The problem is that our home is supplied by a well, which poses more problems including but not limited to increased stress on the well and the introduction of a variety minerals to the pool. So, my main question is this...can I leave my pool cover off to hopefully get rid of some of the FC, leave the CYA at 100 and use the target FC of 7-12 and hope that CYA decreases over the winter, which I have read from this site usually does? Secondly, my TA is obviously high as well (although I have to admit, that was the hardest test for me to read since I added a lot of drops of solution so it could be not completely accurate). I've read that I shouldn't be adjusting this unless the pH is rising or I'm at significant risk for calcium scaling...which neither of those apply at this time. Should I leave my TA alone until I find my pH rising or do something about it now? Any other recommendations based on those numbers?
Thanks a ton!
