New Owner-First Test

[Rob621]

I am new to the forum and a new pool owner. 16'x38' vinyl inground in Pennsylvania. Had it installed last fall and it is now open for the year. Being a new owner, I am new to the chemistry and maintenance. My water test results are as follows:
FC=8.5
CC=0
TA=100
CYA=40
CH=100
pH=7.0

How do these results look?

Initially for the first week my FC was hanging around 11 and did not seem to be lowering, but todays test indicates it is indeed dropping into normal range. I have an inline Hayward chlorine feeder that I use 3" pucks in. If my chlorine level gets higher should I turn this off or not add the chlorine disks? Currently I have been adding 4 per week. I did not put any in this week as the level was high, but now that it is lowering I will ad some more pucks. Was not adding them the correct thing to do?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/help and I look forward to more poking around the site!

Rob

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

Go ahead and turn your chlorine feeder off. The tablets are adding CYA to your water and you already have enough. Use straight bleach for chlorinating from this point.

Your pH is a little low. By stopping the use of chlorinating tablets, this should rise on it's own.

If you haven't already started, go ahead and begin reading Pool School. You will find the answers to many questions there.

What kind of test kit are you using? You should have a good, comprehensive, service-type test kit. Check out the Test Kit Comparison page for some comparisons of the various good kits out there. The TF-100 is excellent.

 

[Rob621]

Using a TF-100 test kit.

 

[257WbyMag]

Using a TF-100 test kit.

Perfect!

 

[Rob621]

Why no chlorine feeder? How does this add CYA? Again, I am new to all of this, but I don't know anyone without one. If anyone has any other opinions on this, I would like to hear them all. If these are so bad, why are they so popular? If I do opt to add bleach directly how much, where in the pool and how often? Sorry for all the questions, but again I am new to this and just trying to wrap my head around all of the info.

One other thing..if CYA gets too high then what? I am at 40 now which seems to be in the good range and this is using the feeder.

Thanks!

 

[EastKYGuy]

I'm still new around here & the BBB method but I will attempt to tell you what I've read in Pool School from this site. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will be along shortly.

Why no chlorine feeder? How does this add CYA? Again, I am new to all of this, but I don't know anyone without one. If anyone has any other opinions on this, I would like to hear them all. If these are so bad, why are they so popular?

That feeder uses pucks and pucks contain Chlorine + CYA or other things that you may want to control separately. They are popular in part because of convenience and in part because of marketing.

If I do opt to add bleach directly how much, where in the pool and how often? Sorry for all the questions, but again I am new to this and just trying to wrap my head around all of the info.

One other thing..if CYA gets too high then what? I am at 40 now which seems to be in the good range and this is using the feeder.

Thanks!

Use the Pool Calc to determine how much. Many of the posters on this forum have a link in their signature. Add the bleach slowly infront of a return, slow enough that it would take a minute or two to pour the whole jug.

If the CYA gets to high it makes your chlorine less effective & therefore needing more & more to get the same sanitation results. There is a Chart for CYA to Chlorine levels recommended in Pool School.

The only way to lower CYA if it gets to high is to partial drain and refill to dilute the water.

Hope that helps some until one of the experts chime in.

 

[257WbyMag]

Why no chlorine feeder? How does this add CYA? Again, I am new to all of this, but I don't know anyone without one. If anyone has any other opinions on this, I would like to hear them all. If these are so bad, why are they so popular? If I do opt to add bleach directly how much, where in the pool and how often? Sorry for all the questions, but again I am new to this and just trying to wrap my head around all of the info.

One other thing..if CYA gets too high then what? I am at 40 now which seems to be in the good range and this is using the feeder.

Thanks!

In Pool School, you will learn that CYA can build up in your pool water over time and cause overstabilization. Chlorine is used up as it is added. CYA is not. Too much CYA means that your FC must be higher and higher to compensate for the high CYA or it can't do its job. You end up with an overstabilized and undersanitized pool. Algae soon follows.

Trichlor tablets aren't bad, but you can over do it with them and end up with problems. Understanding the chemical makeup and the ramifications of each chemical component that you add to a pool is a core requisite of the BBB process.