New AG pool ... I think we've done it!

[hawkins3]

After the installation frustrations: installers had the wrong liner at first, had to wait for a new liner to ship, finished filling water 1:00 a.m. Monday morning to only discover 3 pump leaks which were fixed yesterday afternoon ... I think everything is right now!

First test yesterday at 3:44 p.m.
FC/CC - none registered
pH - 7.2
TA - 60
CH - 50

per pool calculator - put 75 oz of CYA in sock made of 2 old knee-high panty hose & is hanging on side near a return (is it okay for that to be hanging next to the liner?); added 2 quarts, 3 cups bleach

Tested again at 9:45 p.m.
FC - 1
CC - .5
pH - 7.2

added 2 more quarts, 3 cups bleach per pool calculator to raise FC to 4; was not able to test again before bedtime (2 young, very excited children still awake & rapidly turning into cranky monsters)

Tested again at 7:00 a.m. this morning
FC - 4
CC - .5

So what does everyone think? I have several bags of 65% Cal-Hypo that I plan on switching to instead of the bleach until they're gone. I can go home at lunch & check again or can test again tonight around 8:00 p.m. Today's weather forecast is partly cloudy possible showers/storms this afternoon, high upper 80s-90. I'm assuming I should test the pH, TA & CH again & will do that tonight.

The water looks great & I'm already looking forward to Saturday when we'll finally have time to play!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Yes, test again during the day if you can, you'll probably loose most of the FC from the sunlight.

Keep the filter running while the CYA is dissolving.

It's okay to use the cal-hypo.

Retest the PH/TA tonight, they are on the low end and the CYA may lower it a bit more, so you'll need to adjust those a little.

 

[hawkins3]

Yes, test again during the day if you can, you'll probably loose most of the FC from the sunlight.

Went home at lunch today & tested chlorine levels

FC: 2.5
CC: 0.5

Used the calculator & added 2 qts 6 oz 6% bleach to raise FC to 5. I realized while driving back to work that I didn't change the default CYA setting which was 40. Since I just put the CYA sock in yesterday afternoon around 4:00 (75 oz to bring CYA to 40), I wouldn't know exactly what to put in that field anyway. I couldn't wait at home to test again after 30 minutes because it's a 20 minute drive back to work.

I'm going to test again tonight around 8:30 & then add appropriate amounts of either the bleach or cal hypo. Then will retest again at 9:00 after the sun's down so I can do the overnight test. I'll post the results.

{by the way, 75 oz of CYA is one whopping, doubled knee high full of granules ... sure do hope that doesn't break & all of it float out ... should I do anything else to it?}

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

A tube sock would be better.

 

[hawkins3]

Everything is still looking & testing great! A big thank you to everyone who posts on this board for all of the advice (special thanks to FPM for her replies in this thread).

I think we've passed the 3-part test: water is sparkly & clear, CC is 0.5 (has not been over that), FC only dropped 0.5 from 10:10 pm last night to 6:40 am

I'm now trying to raise the pH to 7.5 & will then work on TA (or should I do that the other way around). Last night at 7:45 pm pH was 7.0 (best I can tell, still getting used to the colors) & TA was 60. I'm doing the borax additions incrementally; I added 24 oz (by volume) last night & another 24 oz this morning. Will test everything again tonight to see where it stands.

This forum is wonderful!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You can work on them at the same time, just going slow in increments is fine and always a good idea so you don't overshoot. Wait 30 minutes in between adding chems.

And your very welcome.

 

[hawkins3]

So this is how things are going now ... I guess I'm just looking for some confirmation that everything is okay.

I'm assuming my CYA is about 40. The CYA finished dissolving Fri 7/24 & I plan on testing it to confirm Wed 7/29.

Fri 7/24 - lost 4 ppm FC from 7:00 am to 8:45 pm, raised to 7 ppm
Sat 7/25 - lost 4.5 ppm FC from 8:45 p.m. Fri to 7:45 pm Sat (4-6 swimmers for most of the day, very hot & sunny), raised to 7 ppm
Sun 7/26 - lost 2.5 ppm FC from 7:45 pm Sat to 12:00 noon Sun, bumped up to 5 & then 4 swimmers for approx 2 hrs, FC down to 2.0 by 9:00 pm , another hot & sunny day, raised to 7 ppm
Mon 7/27 - only lost 0.5 FC to 6.5 @ 7:45 am, 3.0 @ 7:30 pm for loss of 3.5 ppm, hot & sunny then stormy with 0.4 inches of rain, raised to 7 ppm
Tues 7/28 - only lost 0.5 FC to 6.5 @ 6:55 am

CC was at 0.5 twice during the weekend (just barely pink, almost clear) ... rest of the time CC was 0

Raised pH from 7.2 on Friday to 7.4 & it's stayed there (best I can tell & husband also thinks color is just below 7.5 shade)

Last full test results were taken Sat 7/25 7:45 pm
TA = 80 & CH = 40 (will begin using Cal Hypo more & know this will gradually rise)

My numbers are good & the water is beautiful (clear & sparkly). I guess my only real question is about daily FC loss. It looks like I'm losing about 4 ppm each day & am just wondering if this is normal. We're in hot & humid NC - most of the last few days have been mostly sunny & hot.

My husband thinks the water looks great & is very happy that he's not the one dealing with it. His only comment is that he wonders if I'm going to have to continue adding "that much" (his words, not mine) bleach each night (about 112 - 140 oz daily each of the last 3 nights). Of course, when I start using the Cal Hypo he'll only see me walk out there with the bucket of water & won't really know how much I mixed up in my basement lab. :lol:

Thanks for taking the time to read my long post.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Its higher than the average daily loss of 2ppm. But when its hot and sunny and you have lots of swimmers, the use will be higher than if the pool were covered with a solar blanket and not used... A happy pool is a pool that's used (I think I quoted Anna correctly....)

It may just be the CYA needed more time to take effect. It's possible the CYA is lower than you think, so when you test that will confirm it.

The other thing is you are targeting kind of high (pool calc?). The CYA chart gives a target of 5. You might try targeting 5 tonight and see if this still keeps you above 3 by tomorrow night. If not, target 6 tomorrow night, if not, go back to 7. See if you can get by ok with a lower target and use less bleach that way.

If I understand correctly your overnight loss is .5 so nothing organic is consuming it.

Sounds like you have a good understanding of everything and are doing everything right.

 

[hawkins3]

You might try targeting 5 tonight and see if this still keeps you above 3 by tomorrow night. If not, target 6 tomorrow night, if not, go back to 7. See if you can get by ok with a lower target and use less bleach that way.

OK, FPM, I'll do exactly what you say :bowdown: I'll target 5 tonight & will test tomorrow evening to see if that was enough to hold it above 3. I guess I've just been afraid to let it go below 3 since it did that Saturday.

Thanks again!

 

[hawkins3]

I've lost 3 FC during the day the last 2 days (I think the afternoon storms/partly cloudiness have helped lower that from the previous avg daily FC loss of 4). Instead of targeting 7 FC each evening, I have targeted 6 (really intended to target 5 as FPM suggested the first night but used a little too much cal hypo the first night ... but it's all good because it would have gone below 3 FC by the evening test if I'd started at 6).

I tested CYA for the first time last night & it appears to be right at 40, so I must have done a good job with the sock method because that was what I had targeted.

My question is for any other North Carolinians out there (duraleigh? others?) ... should I keep my CYA at 40 or perhaps raise it to 50? We still have hot, hot August ahead of us & I'd really love to get the daily FC loss down to 2 if at all possible.

Thanks again for all of the help, everybody!

 

[Guest]

So this is how things are going now ... I guess I'm just looking for some confirmation that everything is okay.

I'm assuming my CYA is about 40. The CYA finished dissolving Fri 7/24 & I plan on testing it to confirm Wed 7/29.

Fri 7/24 - lost 4 ppm FC from 7:00 am to 8:45 pm, raised to 7 ppm
Sat 7/25 - lost 4.5 ppm FC from 8:45 p.m. Fri to 7:45 pm Sat (4-6 swimmers for most of the day, very hot & sunny), raised to 7 ppm
Sun 7/26 - lost 2.5 ppm FC from 7:45 pm Sat to 12:00 noon Sun, bumped up to 5 & then 4 swimmers for approx 2 hrs, FC down to 2.0 by 9:00 pm , another hot & sunny day, raised to 7 ppm
Mon 7/27 - only lost 0.5 FC to 6.5 @ 7:45 am, 3.0 @ 7:30 pm for loss of 3.5 ppm, hot & sunny then stormy with 0.4 inches of rain, raised to 7 ppm
Tues 7/28 - only lost 0.5 FC to 6.5 @ 6:55 am

CC was at 0.5 twice during the weekend (just barely pink, almost clear) ... rest of the time CC was 0

Raised pH from 7.2 on Friday to 7.4 & it's stayed there (best I can tell & husband also thinks color is just below 7.5 shade)

Last full test results were taken Sat 7/25 7:45 pm
TA = 80 & CH = 40 (will begin using Cal Hypo more & know this will gradually rise)

My numbers are good & the water is beautiful (clear & sparkly). I guess my only real question is about daily FC loss. It looks like I'm losing about 4 ppm each day & am just wondering if this is normal. We're in hot & humid NC - most of the last few days have been mostly sunny & hot.

My husband thinks the water looks great & is very happy that he's not the one dealing with it. His only comment is that he wonders if I'm going to have to continue adding "that much" (his words, not mine) bleach each night (about 112 - 140 oz daily each of the last 3 nights). Of course, when I start using the Cal Hypo he'll only see me walk out there with the bucket of water & won't really know how much I mixed up in my basement lab. :lol:

Thanks for taking the time to read my long post.

That really is NOT a lot of bleach. Right now in the Seattle area with the sun and scorching heat we are using a 182 ounce bottle of 6% bleach everyday.