Help for new pool owner

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Dreynolds

Dreynolds

0
Bronze Supporter
May 4, 2015
190
Palm Beach Gardens, Fl
My pool builder is no longer maintaining my pool. We had some small issues with the spa leaking all fixed now but he did come by and check my levels for me today. Here is what he sent me.
My levels What he say they should be.
Chl 1.0 1.5 to 2.0
pH 8.5 7.2 to 7.4
Alk 70 90 to 110
calc. 420 250 to 450

I have swg. Can someone help me with what to add. I have a test kit coming. I'm not sure what to add and how much. Thanks everyone!
 
Unfortunately the most important number missing is CYA. That number is critical to the advice you will get.

Good job getting a test kit. Once you start testing your water you'll see how easy it is to manage on your own.

I wouldn't add anything until your kit arrives and you can give us accurate data. No offense, but PBs and pool stores are not often very good at testing and their numbers are almost always suspect.

Is your water clear?
 
Lets start with looking at this guide: Pool School - Recommended Levels

And next you need to learn to use Pool Math: http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

Input all your information: #gallons up at the top, then down to the bottom choose to use suggested levels from "Troublefreepools.com", Your primary source of chlorine will be the SWG (although you can always add plain liquid bleach to get it up to desired level faster, and then let the SWG take over from there). Pool Math will suggest a range of values for each chemistry test and you input your current value in the now column and then your desired value in the goal column. Follow along down and Pool Math will tell you how much to add.

Let us know if you want us to double check the numbers before you add anything :)
 
Yes pool water is clear. We did have some heavy rain over the weekend. And I looked at the pool school. And the pool math. Chemistry was not a good subject for me LOL. But I'll learn. I have a 5 foot splash pad. Should I add that to the length? It's very shallow. Thanks!
 
Good to see you back. I presume you were discussing volume calculation? If so, then yes, I would ignore that splash pad from the main volume calculation and just do a separate piece of math for that section. It is too easy to mess up the average depth if you include it.

Rain doesn't have much effect on pool chems unless you have a situation where water runs into your pool with baddies in it. In your case rain may help you to dilute your CH - see next comment.

If your CH is 420, that will be a battle you will fight going forward to some extent. It will be interesting to test your source water for CH. Calcium tends to increase over time. Water evaporates and you add more, so it becomes more concentrated. However, in FL, with significant rains, you can lower the water level some prior to a heavy rain and it will be filled with CH free water, thereby reducing the CH level. But that's a little down the road. You can easily manage your CH level (if it's accurate) by closely monitoring your pH to keep it from getting above 7.8 at all times.

The chemistry is a little overwhelming at first, but with repetition, quickly becomes second nature. But of course you always have the group here. The learning curve will be quicker proportionate to how many times you read Pool School articles on the topic.
 
I have Mia for a while. It's been a very busy time with putting in a pool, work, couple of family emergencies. And I've been dieting for that last 3 months. I've been so focused on my weight-loss. My pool is everything I hoped it would be. PB just worried be with the pool Chemical numbers. I upgraded to the quartzscapes finish and it's a lifetime finish as long as you maintain the pool correctly. He also services pools. I would have used him until I get a better handle on it until he told me 125.00 a month. And that the Quartzscapes finish requires more chemical upkeep. Well he didn't have that saltwater system installed due to having to Replaster the spa. So how would he know. I know that's to much considering I have a great white vacuum system so that would be minimal vacuuming for him. The going rate in my area is no more than 100 a month.
 
Ha, good luck with your goals! Great to hear about the pool meeting expectations too. For $125/mo. I would miss getting to know and understand my pool. It's quite easy once you have the ah-ha moment...which you will.
 
$125 per month is definitely in the high end considering he's likely not going to spend more than 15 mins at your pool.

However, you should read the "lifetime" warranty carefully as you might void it by not maintaining a professional pool service OR by not maintaining balanced water chemistry. Most surface manufacturers and applicators will blame the pool owner for chemical malfeasance and refuse to honor warranty claims. They often will demand a full record of test results and they will NOT accept test records that are personally made and kept by the pool owner. So just be warned that the "lifetime" warranty they promise you may not be worth the paper it's printed on.
 
Just to put a finer point in it - $125 per month for 10 years (assuming you need to maintain a pro service to keep within warranty) is

$125 X 12 X 10 = $15,000

That's the cost of a new plaster job. So by keeping the expensive service you're basically paying for your plaster again.
 
The $125 is a steal if you lived in Charleston! We bought our current house on a Friday and went to Maine for a month three days later. I had to contract a pool company and they charged $240 a month! I kept them for a few months while the house was being worked on and they didn't even reduce the price when we installed the SWG! That is $2880 annually. Just another testament to the TFP way!
 

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I can't justify that amount of money... sign my up to TFP n I'll do it myself! LOL
 
Ok, lets see....your CYA is really considered 50 (either 40 or if above that its 50. No middle ground) and considering you're in FL, you may need to raise that to our suggested CYA of 70 because of having a SWG and all that FL sunshine.
You can refer to these charts:

Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

Pool School - Recommended Levels


So at 70 CYA you want to target your FC at 5, no less than 4 at any time. If your pool loses 2ppm FC a day(for example), adjust your SWG so you test perhaps 6 or 7 then it will cover the loss and you shouldn't drop down to below 4. I'd add about 30 ounces of CYA and wait a week to test in case you need more. Its important not to over shoot this so creeping up on the desired level is better.

Your pH is too high, perhaps even higher than 8.2! It needs to be dropped to around 7.3 (to help avoid scale due to that high calcium). Pool Math tells me that about 61 ounces of Muriatic Acid will do that. This should be done pronto. This will also help lower your TA which is a skosh high.

Then add a gallon of 8.25% bleach to your water to spike up the FC to around 6. I based this on your pool being about 22K gallons?? Is that about right?

Now how did your calcium level get so high? That seems unusual particularly in FL with frequent rains and water draining from overfilled pools. This will cause you problems if you don't address it. Lowering your pH as I suggested will help, but the only way to get rid of calcium excess is thru water exchanges. Are you confident of your testing for this one? Can you test your fill water to see how hard it is?

Ignore the BR (bromine) as I doubt you have any...right?

Retest about an hour after adding the bleach and MA and let us know what you have, ok

Is your SWG producing chlorine? Is that salt level the amount your device wants? That would be too low for mine, but they all differ. Please also add the SWG info to your siggy line so we all see you use one.
 
I'll recheck the calcium later tonight. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all this. This is my first pool. And today was the first time testing it. To be honest my step son did most of the work. I was busy watching the babies 6 months and 2. I'll get it sonnet or later lol.
 
Yea, you will. Probably sooner the more often you do it!
 
Dreynolds said:
I have a gallon of chlorinating Liquid will that work? I add the muriatic acid already.
Click to expand...

Well, do you know the % of this gallon of liquid chlorine? It might be higher than standard 8.25% laundry bleach so it will bring your FC up higher than planned. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not needed.

Also using specific amounts and %'s (based on my guesstimate of your pool being 22k gallons ) help confirm the size of your pool based on the results.
 
I went to the store and got the bleach add it and the acid retested it a couple of mins ago and it's at 7.5 now. I also test our tap water for calcium it's 175 ppm. And retested the pool and it's still at 725 ppm. Not sure why the calcium is so high. I do have a 5 month old pool. It was finished oct 31st and the spa had to be Replaster as the jets were leaking around the plaster. Thank you so much for your help. It's all new to me this is the first pool for us. We started with the dig on Labor Day of last year. It was a long process to say the least. I want to learn as much as I can about maintaining our pool myself.
 
Dreynolds said:
I went to the store and got the bleach add it and the acid retested it a couple of mins ago and it's at 7.5 now. The FC or the pH is 7.5? Or, maybe both? Ha! Ha! That is almost exactly where we wanted it so it would be all good!

I also test our tap water for calcium it's 175 ppm. And retested the pool and it's still at 725 ppm. Not sure why the calcium is so high. The only thing I can imagine is that someone has been using "CalHypo" powder to chlorinate your pool. CalHypo has both chlorine *and* calcium, which you certainly don't need more of at this point, huh?

I do have a 5 month old pool. It was finished oct 31st and the spa had to be Replaster as the jets were leaking around the plaster. Thank you so much for your help. It's all new to me this is the first pool for us. We started with the dig on Labor Day of last year. It was a long process to say the least. I want to learn as much as I can about maintaining our pool myself.
Click to expand...

I know how it rains in Florida, and pool owners there are often draining water out of the pool when it gets too high. This is gonna work in your favor to help you lower that high calcium. Because your pool is plaster, you need some of that calcium. So until it comes down to about 400, just don't let your pH rise too much. When pH gets high around calcium it causes scale to develop on that beautiful new pool. And we don't want that....right?? :)

(oh yeah, don't store or pour that MA and bleach near each other cause bad things can happen....'k?)
 

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