A maintenance guy wasn't interested in maintaining my pool, so I've turned to this website and need some advice. I purchased the Taylor kit and ran the tests. Results are as follows: CYA = 100 (or more), FC=2, CC=.5, PH=7.5, TA=120. The pool was completed in August of 2014 and I have been maintaining it since. I thought the salt was the only thing I needed to be concerned with, but then had my water tested and the ph was high. I've had to add muratic acid quite a bit over the last year to get the ph within range. The water looks pretty clear, but there is a definite chemical smell that has led me to believe something isn't right. Any advice would be appreciated.
Pool guy turned me down, need advice
- Thread starter bcrandall
- Start date
Welcome!
To get a better handle on the CYA level, you can do a 50% dilution and then test again. What you do is collect some water from your pool, add in an equal amount of tap water. Use that as the pool water for the CYA test. Then just double the number. So if after you test with the diluted water, you get 70, then your actual number is 140.
To get a better handle on the CYA level, you can do a 50% dilution and then test again. What you do is collect some water from your pool, add in an equal amount of tap water. Use that as the pool water for the CYA test. Then just double the number. So if after you test with the diluted water, you get 70, then your actual number is 140.
Well for sure I would do a partial drain to get the CYA level down.
I would do a 50/50 dilution and retest the CYA as the test vial only goes to 100, it could be higher.
PH creeping up is normal with an SWG. As you add acid, the TA drops too, and eventually the creeping up should slow down once the TA is closer to 70-80. But this assumes no water replacement.
Figure out the CYA issue before you do any other chemistry adjusting.
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Jynx
I would do a 50/50 dilution and retest the CYA as the test vial only goes to 100, it could be higher.
PH creeping up is normal with an SWG. As you add acid, the TA drops too, and eventually the creeping up should slow down once the TA is closer to 70-80. But this assumes no water replacement.
Figure out the CYA issue before you do any other chemistry adjusting.
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Jynx
It's normal with a SWG to have a rising pH, but you could try lowering the TA a little, that has been shown to help slow the pH rise.
Welcome to the forum!
You'll do better on your own anyway. I'm curious why he turned you down, but no matter. If you have high TA and fill water you'll always have to fight both with acid additions. How much depends on how high, but if they aren't too bad, you may do much less adding once you get the pool TA down in the 60 range. Your SWG will do better there as well. What is your pool and incoming Calcium level?
If I may, please let me suggest doing a lot f reading in Pool School. Check out the ABCs first, and dig into the rest as you can digest it. Ask questions if you need too, we are always here to help. It's a guess but if the chemical smell you mention could be Combined Chlorine, but please describe what it smells like.
You'll do better on your own anyway. I'm curious why he turned you down, but no matter. If you have high TA and fill water you'll always have to fight both with acid additions. How much depends on how high, but if they aren't too bad, you may do much less adding once you get the pool TA down in the 60 range. Your SWG will do better there as well. What is your pool and incoming Calcium level?
If I may, please let me suggest doing a lot f reading in Pool School. Check out the ABCs first, and dig into the rest as you can digest it. Ask questions if you need too, we are always here to help. It's a guess but if the chemical smell you mention could be Combined Chlorine, but please describe what it smells like.
so I retested the CYA diluting half with tap water and it still looks like it's about 100. The pool guy didn't want to maintain our pool because I have 2 young boys and a big pecan tree that is close to it. I'm thinking the smell is chlorine related. Last summer our bathing suits were also degrading/ getting discolored.
Will the CYA come down over time? Should I just try to lower the TA at this point? I have the SWG at 60% ouput as well.
Will the CYA come down over time? Should I just try to lower the TA at this point? I have the SWG at 60% ouput as well.
I have to wonder how the CYA got so high with an SWG pool, have you been manually adding stabilized chlorine products (dichlor or trichlor) or was too much stabilizer added to the pool at initial start up?
The bad news is, you are going to have to drain at least half your pool water. Refill, then test CYA again. Considering your current level, it may take more than one drain and refill.
Ditto.
I've seen the degradation in pools with high CYA. There seems to be a connection....
Two young boys and a tree? Lol, he should see mine. A black lab that swims non stop, a torn up yard with grass and dirt, palm trees everywhere. And yet I still keep a clean pool with only one or two checks a week. Sounds like your guy didn't want to put in any effort at all.
No worries, just take care of it yourself. Start with a 50% drain and refill and see how your CYA level pans out. After that, it will be a piece of cake.
No worries, just take care of it yourself. Start with a 50% drain and refill and see how your CYA level pans out. After that, it will be a piece of cake.
ok, so I drained half the pool and re-filled. I added salt to get the ppm up to 3,400 which is what is recommended for my SWG. I added 3- 1lb bags of dichlor "shock", and some muratic acid to get the ph down to 7.5. I waited a few days and re-tested the water and have the following results:
CYA= 40
FC = 5.5
CC = .5
PH=8.0
TA=90
CH=130
Should I add more dichlor 1lb bags of shock aka stabilizer to raise the CYA to 70? Should I lower the percentage of my SWG to reduce the FC, or reduce the pump time? Just trying to figure out where to go from here.
CYA= 40
FC = 5.5
CC = .5
PH=8.0
TA=90
CH=130
Should I add more dichlor 1lb bags of shock aka stabilizer to raise the CYA to 70? Should I lower the percentage of my SWG to reduce the FC, or reduce the pump time? Just trying to figure out where to go from here.
Did you put your numbers into Pool Math? It's a great tool to use. http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html
(I'm not sure why the link doesn't say Pool Math)
(I'm not sure why the link doesn't say Pool Math)
- Mar 24, 2014
- 2,455
- Pool Size
- 32000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-55
I see you have a SWG and are raising CYA on purpose.
The powdered shocks may take a few days to register in the CYA test. Make sure to test your CYA again in a few days.
Yup, take it slow on the CYA raise. Make sure everything is registering on the test before you move to raise it again.
- May 4, 2015
- 34
- Pool Size
- 17000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-30 Plus
My pool is not SWG, but my hot tub is. Creeping PH has been the one thing that has plagued me since I got it. I discovered that keeping my TA around 60 keeps my PH pretty stable. That took a lot of testing and adjusting to figure out the magic number for me.
