new owner, first balancing of Intex SWG agp

[esr]

new owner, pool has been up & running for about three weeks now
water is clear & pretty, but of course that means less than I had thought is would.....
I've been reading here for days, and following is what I have found, and my plans to correct these findings.

Please clue me in on the mistakes!

testing with Aquachek salt strips, Taylor K-1004 and CYA kit

FC- 0 (clear)
TC- 0 (clear)
pH- 7.8
TA- 130 (13 drops x 10=130)
CH- xxx - unknown, I do not have this test, reading that not such a big deal for vinyl?
CYA- essentially 0, test sample remained clear, tested twice to be sure
Salt- 4.5


North Florida, 80% direct sunlight, late afternoon/evening shade, Florida rains (drought more than anything this year...)

Soooooooooooo, having plugged in my numbers on the pool calculator, and not wanting to actually buy chlorine, my intent is to do the following:

- add 43 oz of bleach (6%)
- - - target FC of 3
- add CYA stabilizer, preferably liquid, but solid will do
- - - target CYA of 70
- then retest next day (for liquid stabilizer) or few days (for solid stabilizer) and adjust as needed
- salt level I expect will come down on it's own as time passes

What do you think, am I even close?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I'd bring the pH down to about 7.2 and that'll help your TA a little too.

 

[Suziqzer]

Sounds like you're well on your way. Keep in mind that you will likely have to buy the occasional chlorine to add when you have a high swimmer count or debris come into the pool... so swg doesn't mean no chlorine, just lots less

 

[esr]

chems are in

Starting out with 1 gallon of CYA and five cups & change of bleach,
basic plain Clorox, 6% on the label.

CYA will probably be a little short, but it's easy to add more & all that.
made sure to clean the filter before adding chems, and have the pump set to run 24 hours

check it again tomorrow & we'll see what's what...

 

[esr]

chem tests done, & we have a winner
noob using the pool calculator FTW

So this is what I got today, please let me know if I'm wandering off in the right direction!!
I think I'm getting it, and am happy to learn where/what I'm screwing up

FC- 3
TC- 5
pH- 7.8
TA- 110
CH- xxx - unknown, I do not have this test, reading that not such a big deal for vinyl?
CYA- 30
Salt- 4.5

Not too bad for the first round.....
that pool calculator thingy is pretty darn cool


Alright then, what's next?

I'm thinking
a) watch the FC & be sure the SWG holds & learn it's behavior. Add cup of bleach as needed
b) CYA is at the bottom, but gonna let it drop below 30 before adding any more, is just over 30 now
c) wanna drop the TA & PH a bit more- looks like just a few ounces of muriatic acid & point the jets up for a few days?
d) holding out hope that salt will drop over the summer- swim till October/November here

& swim a lot...

 

[esr]

Progress update
Numbers held the same values across 24 hours, SWG running and about an inch of rain.

SO, I went for the chlorine money shot- the overnight test. Shut down the pump/swg combo last night after testing the chems, oh, about 8 PM or so. Went out this morning about 6:45 & tested again to the same values. That's a win, right?

Fired the pump/swg back up before I left for work, and on the timer it will run for 7 hours and the good possibility of more rain this afternoon, and we'll see how it tests tonight when I get home...

 

[Bama Rambler]

As long as you pass all three criteria you're golden!

 

[esr]

We had a good hard rain yesterday afternoon, added ~2 inches in the pool & the usual assortment of leaves & such. Power had gone out momentarily and tripped the CGI breaker for the pump so it ran only 6 of it's 7 hour cycle (swg & pump run together)

About 6:30 PM I did a basic FC/TC and PH getting 4/5 and 7.8, then cleaned the filter, and vacuumed the pool and used the displacement method to get some of the water out and stir things up a bit (we went swimming...) Pump/swg ran for about 90 minutes during this time.

one more overnight test & good (I hope), so I ran tests at dusk and this morning about 8 am. Numbers matched

FC- 4
TC- 5
pH- 7.8
TA- 110
CYA- 30 (slightly over really)
Salt- 4.5

Tested pH on my source water and found it's 7.8 as well.

This weekend,
- SWG/pump will get set to run a lower amount of time, 6 hours, and starting @11 AM so it runs during when sun is strongest on the pool.
- few ounces of muratic acid to get the pH and TA down a bit
- add some more CYA maybe. seems it should be in the 50-80 range for vinyl agp w/swg

I'm on the fence about more CYA- I'm rather pleased with the numbers holding so well, but then again it's been fairly overcast the last few days. Also I suspect it will likely take more than a coupla rainy afternoons to get a real balance established....