Advice on how to proceed for new pool owner

[robertmee]

I'm with pabeader....I'm not sure everyone was clearly reading your posts, because adding CYA right now was a mistake. You needed to do a water exchange first to lower the salt which will end up removing the CYA you just added.

It's not the end of the world, you'll just have to end up re-adding your CYA after you drain some water. You'll need to do about a 25% to 30% water drain to get the salt down to 3000.

 

[RTL]

I'll try to do a better job today with testing in shorter intervals. I added the chemicals last night at around 7:00 and then had to run some errands with the family so that's what delayed me. The test that I reported last night we're done around 12 midnight.

I repeated the test this morning at around 730 and here's what I got.

FC = 1
CC = .5
pH = 7.2
TA =20

I'm not sure if that's long enough between tests to be considered an OCLT so I will repeat testing at sundown and again in the morning to verify. Besides that it looks like I'll be testing throughout the day anyway.

 

[RTL]

I'm going to try and do a better job with testing in shorter intervals today. I added the chemicals at around 700 last night and then had to run some errands with the family so that's what delayed me. The tests that I reported afterwards we're done at around 12 midnight.

I repeated testing this morning at around 730 and here's what I got.

FC = 1
CC = .5
pH = 7.2
TA = 20

I'm not sure if that's long enough between tests to be considered an OCLT so I will retest again at sundown and repeat in the morning to verify. However, the FC only decreased by 1ppm (from 2 to 1) and the CC only went up to .5ppm. I'm hoping that this means I may not have to SLAM the pool. I'm sure that this could possibly just be my wishful thinking so please correct me if I'm wrong about that.

I'm going to use the pool calculator to determine the amounts that I should add this morning to reach my targets. I'm going to start with the bleach and I will also take your advice of switching to baking soda for the pH. There seems to be some disagreement about when I should add the CYA so I'm going to hold off until I get a few more replies on that. If I'm going to have to drain and lose most of it then I would prefer to wait. I know this is going to directly affect the stability of my FC so I will expect that.

I'll report back as soon as possible. I appreciate your help.

 

[duraleigh]

I have not read through this thread. What does your water look like?

 

[RTL]

My water is clear. Not cloudy at all.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry for double post.

 

[MarianParoo]

Hey RTL. You need to do the OCLT at SLAM level and I'm not sure what yours would be with undetectable CYA. Thinking out loud here.

 

[singingpond]

Dropping from 2 to 1 is not reassuring, as it would indicate you lost half of your FC overnight. Of course, there might be some testing error involved. You won't really know until you do an overnight test from a higher FC starting point. I certainly would not assume everything is hunky dory from the 2 to 1 observation you report.

 

[RTL]

Dropping from 2 to 1 is not reassuring, as it would indicate you lost half of your FC overnight. Of course, there might be some testing error involved. You won't really know until you do an overnight test from a higher FC starting point. I certainly would not assume everything is hunky dory from the 2 to 1 observation you report.

Thanks for the reply singingpond. I figured I was speaking to soon. I'll see how things go overnight tonight.

Marian I read your comment about doing an OCLT at SLAM level. Would you recommend I add the CYA just to get it up from 0 so that I know at what shock level I should be?

 

[robertmee]

You don't need to add CYA right now to do an OCLT. But if your water is not cloudy I would first get those salt levels down. In the meantime keep your fc at about 5 with bleach to prevent any algae growth. Drain and refill for your salt, then add your cya, bring your fc up to shock level and THEN do an OCLT if you want.

 

[RTL]

After a few treatments today as well as a partial drain and refill (roughly 4-5 inches or so), here is where I am tonight. Samples were taken at 8:30 pm EST.

FC = 5
CC = .5
PH = 7.8
TA = 30-40; I called it 35
Salt = 3800

I'm assuming I'll have to drain and refill again tomorrow to at least get to 3500ppm for my salt which is the upper range of my SWG. I'll retest early in the morning to see where my FC is.

Still haven't added CYA but may start tomorrow after another drain and refill depending on any advice I receive.

I'm not sure how to increase my TA further without exceeding the upper limits of the recommended pH. I would appreciate some suggestions on how to proceed with that. Thanks again for the suggestion to switch to baking soda because I can only imagine where the pH would be had I continued with the washing soda.

 

[MarianParoo]

Well, that's great that the refill dropped your salt so much so fast! May as well finish getting that taken care of.

When that is done, get the stabilizer in there. You seem to be an economical guy so it's probably granular for you. (Me? I might consider liquid because I would want it done NOW!)

With a CYA reading of 0, that really means anything below 40; could be 0, could be 20. So aim for 20-30 addition and see where you are. With liquid stabilizer, you can test after an hour or ao. With granular, just assume you hit your target.

- - - Updated - - -

As for the pH/TA, if you're draining/refilling, let's see where you are. We can always play the raise TA, lower pH game. That's not a huge deal as long as we keep your pH above 7ish.

 

[RTL]

Well, that's great that the refill dropped your salt so much so fast! May as well finish getting that taken care of.

When that is done, get the stabilizer in there. You seem to be an economical guy so it's probably granular for you. (Me? I might consider liquid because I would want it done NOW!)

With a CYA reading of 0, that really means anything below 40; could be 0, could be 20. So aim for 20-30 addition and see where you are. With liquid stabilizer, you can test after an hour or ao. With granular, just assume you hit your target.

- - - Updated - - -

As for the pH/TA, if you're draining/refilling, let's see where you are. We can always play the raise TA, lower pH game. That's not a huge deal as long as we keep your pH above 7ish.

I'll be starting as early as possible this morning with a quick FC/CC/pH/TA test followed by a drain and refill. As for the CYA, I'm actually going liquid. I'd like to know as soon as possible and I've spent far less doing this on my own than what the pool store wanted me to spend after my initial water test with them. Plus I'm anxious to get some swimming in with the family before the fall months roll around. Thanks again Marian! I'll report back later.

 

[RTL]

Just thought I'd post my morning reading before draining and refilling. The reading before this one was taken at 8:30 p.m. last night and this one at about 8:00 a.m. this morning.

FC = 2.5 ( It was 5 last night so I lost half of it overnight again. I guess there's something in the pool that's consuming it)
CC = .5
pH = 7.4 (It was 7.8 last night)
TA = 35

The pool is almost done refilling. I'm fairly confident that my salt will be under 3500 after this time around since I was only 3800 last night. I'll probably go ahead and add the CYA and a little bleach as well. Still need to bring TA up some so I'd like to add more baking soda as well.

Please let me know if anyone sees any problems with my plan. One thing I'd like to know is whether it's ok to add the bleach and baking soda at the same time I add the CYA or if I should add it alone and wait before adding anything else.

 

[pooldv]

Yes, raise your TA to 50-60.

 

[kimkats]

The only things that really do not play well together is bleach and muratic acid. They cannot even be in the same room (storage).

Hang the CYA in a sock in front of a return. Give it a squeeze when you are out there to speed things along.

Kim

 

[MarianParoo]

Let us know how it goes!!!

 

[RTL]

The only things that really do not play well together is bleach and muratic acid. They cannot even be in the same room (storage).

Hang the CYA in a sock in front of a return. Give it a squeeze when you are out there to speed things along.

Kim

Thanks for the advice on bleach/muratic acid storage. Just FYI, I'm using liquid stabilizer so I should have a reading soon. I'm adding once I get back home. Out running errands with family.

 

[kimkats]

That goes with adding them into the pool also. Add MA, wait 30 mins. with pump running, THEN add bleach.

Kim

 

[RTL]

Final test of the day.

FC = 5.5
CC = 1(not good right?)
pH = 8.0 (went up due to adding baking soda for TA; adding muriatic acid to get back to 7.5)
TA = 65
CYA = 35
Salt = 3600

Good news is I've got my TA up to almost where I wanted it (70) and CYA is finally in the pool. Bad news is I realize I was too confident in thinking my drain and refill would bring my salt level under 3500 despite replacing more water than I did previously. Makes me wonder if I missed a drop last night when testing and I really had 4000ppm instead of 3800ppm. Lesson learned. No matter how confident, verify. Now I'm not sure whether to just leave it as is or drain and refill again and lose CYA. Any thoughts? Also, is there any possibility that any of the chemicals I'm adding would increase my salt level? We had a good rain last night but I'm not sure if that would make that much of a difference if any in the salt level.
Anyway, it took 2 gallons of liquid CYA to get me to 35. I've got 2 more gallons on hand but will wait for any suggestions on dealing with the salt level.
Thanks again to everyone.

 

[jblizzle]

That salt level should not be too high with any SWG.