Hello! I'm a newbie, first house with a pool. Some previous experience helping to manage our local pool (6 or so families as members). Current pool is a SWG. Started out the week with FC 0, CC .02, Ph 7.2, Alk 60, CYA 17, Salt 3350. Set SWG to 80% and added around 6 gal liquid bleach 6% plus 4 trichlor tablets. FC has been creeping up and is now around 2, CC 0.28, Ph 7.3, Alk 70, CYA 33, Salt 3350. Borates are, and have been, zero. Pump is set to run from 0100-0600 with Polaris running from 0400-0600.
With the CC just above "allowable" levels, do I need to SLAM? Also, what's the best way to increase my Ph to 7.5 without also increasing alkalinity? CYA is still on the low side, but I'm hoping the tablets will gradually correct that? Or should I order some granules/quick dissolve? Also, in some places I read borates are optional, others recommend them? My goal here is to get the water nice and balanced so that I can more or less "maintain" over the winter (planning to leave the pool "open", rarely gets cold enough here to warrant pulling drain plugs on the filter, etc., and our system has a temp sensor that is supposed to kick the pump on automatically if the temp drops below 38% (which I do plan to verify when the temps drop). When we bought the house, we inherited a mess: the previous owners had divorced and the wife had no clue about pool maintenance. It was cloudy, phosphates off the chart, zero chlorine, CYA non-existent, etc., etc., etc... It's now crystal clear and the levels are moving to the right direction, just need tweaked and this is where I could use your help!
The values above were from the pool store and verified with my K2005 test kit (it's what I was used to from previous experience. I've also ordered the DPD kit, should arrive this evening.). The only reason I even bother with the pool store testing is 1) it's free and 2) with my kit, I can get a general idea of where the CYA is but theirs gives a more precise number (that has, so far, been in line with what I've been reading). Thanks to you guys, I can decline their "suggestions" and have largely learned what to do via these forums, so Thank you!!!
Thanks in advance!
With the CC just above "allowable" levels, do I need to SLAM? Also, what's the best way to increase my Ph to 7.5 without also increasing alkalinity? CYA is still on the low side, but I'm hoping the tablets will gradually correct that? Or should I order some granules/quick dissolve? Also, in some places I read borates are optional, others recommend them? My goal here is to get the water nice and balanced so that I can more or less "maintain" over the winter (planning to leave the pool "open", rarely gets cold enough here to warrant pulling drain plugs on the filter, etc., and our system has a temp sensor that is supposed to kick the pump on automatically if the temp drops below 38% (which I do plan to verify when the temps drop). When we bought the house, we inherited a mess: the previous owners had divorced and the wife had no clue about pool maintenance. It was cloudy, phosphates off the chart, zero chlorine, CYA non-existent, etc., etc., etc... It's now crystal clear and the levels are moving to the right direction, just need tweaked and this is where I could use your help!
The values above were from the pool store and verified with my K2005 test kit (it's what I was used to from previous experience. I've also ordered the DPD kit, should arrive this evening.). The only reason I even bother with the pool store testing is 1) it's free and 2) with my kit, I can get a general idea of where the CYA is but theirs gives a more precise number (that has, so far, been in line with what I've been reading). Thanks to you guys, I can decline their "suggestions" and have largely learned what to do via these forums, so Thank you!!!
Thanks in advance!
