1st Results on Brand New Pool! BLUF: High pH, High TA

Jump to latest Follow Reply
A

avc8130

0
Jul 20, 2015
91
Newton, NJ
We were told by our pool builder that our brand new pool is "swimmable" this weekend! I figured I better check the water chemical conditions first. Results with my new TF-100:

FC: 4.0
CC: 0.0
pH: 8.2 (possibly off the scale)
TA: 400 ?!?!?! I did this test twice. The fill water was from a public well.
CH: 400
CYA: 0 (yeah, 0!)
Salt: 3400

Obviously he never put the CYA in, so that's a problem there. I plan to contact him today about that. I know I'll be battling dropping FC as the pool is in direct sun. The SWG is currently set to 50%.

pH is pretty high. It might be 8.2, it might be off the chart. I ran to HD and Lowes and found 31.45% muriatic acid $8/gallon. I bought 4. Pool Math says I need 165 oz to get to 7.5.

I realize my TA is silly high so I need to battle that eventually. Right now I'm just concentrating on making the pool usable for the holiday weekend. I poured in 1 gallon (128 oz) of the acid and I plan to retest in a few hours to see what effect that had. I'm hoping it will bring me onto the color scale so I can fine tune from there?

ac
 
4 FC with zero CYA is pretty harsh. But as you say... it won't last long in full sun.

You're doing the right technique for the pH. Just plug in your readings and add the correct amount of acid. Keep repeating it until the color shifts into the range of the test block. As a related side topic, very often the R-009 TA reagent develops static electricity especially if it's new. That will make smaller drops and therefore falsely high TA readings. The cure is to wipe the tip with a damp paper towel between drops.

Lowes sells Cyanuric Acid in the pool section. I'd add it myself and tell the builder to beat it.
 
Definitely get 30 ppm of CYA going in the pool. In a sock, more here, Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals, squeeze the sock a lot to get it dissolved quickly.

Put 8.2 in Now and 7.6 in Target for PH, along with your other numbers, and add that amount of muriatic acid with pump running, brush and retest in 15 minutes, repeat until PH is 7.6. Then keep it at 7.8 or lower.

It is safe to swim when
chlorine is above minimum and below shock level for your CYA, Chlorine CYA Chart
PH is 7.2 to 7.8
water is clear
 
You';ve got some tuning to do but you are swimmable right now. I would encourage you to do CYA as described above, that provide a nice buffer so you chlorine will be not harsh at all.

Good work, so far......keep it up :goodjob::goodjob:
 
duraleigh said:
You';ve got some tuning to do but you are swimmable right now. I would encourage you to do CYA as described above, that provide a nice buffer so you chlorine will be not harsh at all.

Good work, so far......keep it up :goodjob::goodjob:
Click to expand...

Well, we don't have a patio yet so right now my "patio" is a few scraps of carpet we had lying around in the basement. By Tuesday the pool will be completely un-swimmable as they work to install coping and pavers and pretty much make a huge mess. I'm not worried about "long term" yet, just what it takes to get going for today-Monday.

I'm hesitant to add CYA as I don't want the PB to overshoot when he "opens" the pool officially. I've learned around here to NOT trust anyone! LOL

After 1 gallon of muriatic my pH is now 7.5.

I think I'm going to call it "good" for now and check pH and FC again this evening and twice daily through Monday.

ac
 
We swam today and the kids and pooch had a great time!

Did a quick pH and Cl test:

FC: 0.5
pH: 7.5

I think the pH will work for this weekend so I don't plan to do anything with that. FC was low, but that was expected with the lack of CYA. I turned the SWG up from 50% to 60% for tomorrow and will check FC again tomorrow morning and evening.

I'm also starting to think I did the TA test improperly. I was adding the final reagent until I saw no further color change, but most of the videos I am finding on youtube show stopping immediately once the solution has a distinct color change. Which is proper?

ac
 
avc8130 said:
We swam today and the kids and pooch had a great time!

Did a quick pH and Cl test:

FC: 0.5
pH: 7.5

I think the pH will work for this weekend so I don't plan to do anything with that. FC was low, but that was expected with the lack of CYA. I turned the SWG up from 50% to 60% for tomorrow and will check FC again tomorrow morning and evening.

I'm also starting to think I did the TA test improperly. I was adding the final reagent until I saw no further color change, but most of the videos I am finding on youtube show stopping immediately once the solution has a distinct color change. Which is proper?

ac
Click to expand...
You are.
 
Test results from this morning:

FC: 0.5 (there is definitely SOME Cl as the indicator definitely goes yellow, but we are clearly struggling without the CYA)
pH: 7.8

Clearly the pH is rising quickly, I assume due to the really high TA? My understanding is that adding acid to bring the pH down will eventually lower the TA?

It's still swimmable so I plan to leave it until I test again this evening.

Pump is on with SWG set to 75%.

Water is crystal clear, I can see every spec of dirt being dragged in by my Yellow Lab since we have no patio. LOL

ac
 
avc8130 said:
Test results from this morning:

FC: 0.5 (there is definitely SOME Cl as the indicator definitely goes yellow, but we are clearly struggling without the CYA)
pH: 7.8

Clearly the pH is rising quickly, I assume due to the really high TA? My understanding is that adding acid to bring the pH down will eventually lower the TA?

It's still swimmable so I plan to leave it until I test again this evening.

Pump is on with SWG set to 75%.

Water is crystal clear, I can see every spec of dirt being dragged in by my Yellow Lab since we have no patio. LOL

ac
Click to expand...
You are correct about lowering pH also lowering TA. "Swimmable" is questionable. The FC level is too low now to kill any bacteria or viruses.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Had 4 adults and my 2 kids in the pool for a few hours this afternoon. Had the pump on all day with the SWG set to 75%.

FC: 1.5
pH: 8.0

I put another gallon of muriatic acid in this evening to bring that pH back in check for tomorrow.

ac
 
Might want to use some liquid chlorine as a supplement to get the FC up to normal levels. I think I have read that the SWG usually have issues with getting the startup numbers high enough. I know that my Intellichlor instructions said to have the FC already at optimal level before starting to use it.
 
mgmoore7 said:
Might want to use some liquid chlorine as a supplement to get the FC up to normal levels. I think I have read that the SWG usually have issues with getting the startup numbers high enough. I know that my Intellichlor instructions said to have the FC already at optimal level before starting to use it.
Click to expand...

Well I'm turning it back over to the PB for the week. The efforts this passed weekend were just to be swimming for Memorial Day. The pool will be a disaster zone for the next week + as they work coping and pavers. I'm curious to see how he "trains" me to run the pool. You know I'll be following advice here either way!

ac
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply