Question about outdoor pool.

PoolGuyBobolina · Aug 8, 2011

Hey everyone, new to the forum, been reading and love this place.

OK here is my question and delima, I work for a company that has a few pools at its properties, well a pool outside that has 120,000 gallons of water and at its deepest end is four and a half feet. I just recently took over as the CPO and learning their ways, but they will not add Cyanuric Acid to help stabilize the deletion of chlorine. I was told by my immediate supervisor that it kills the probes and they are way to expensive to keep replacing. This pool has two feeders one for acid ( muriatic ) and one for chlorine, and the chlorine always times out after four hours and stops feeding. Now while I am there I have no problems reseting the feeder, but still have to add chlorine when no guest are present in pool. My question is what else can be done to help maintain the ideal chlorine level without adding cyanuric acid to help the absorption rate by the HOT Texas sun? And what is everyones opinion on the acid killing the probes?

thanks for any and all suggestions.

Pool is 120,000
ph is usually always 7.6-7.8
water is clear and has no algea
chlorine level is never over 2ppm

Bama Rambler · Aug 9, 2011

I assume it's an ORP system. About the only thing you can do other than add CYA to protect the FC from the consumption by sunlight is build a roof over it but that has it's own issues. The issue with CYA and ORP is that adding CYA makes the ORP reading unreliable. You could talk them into a direct reading (amperometric) chlorine sensor. It's not affected by CYA, etc.

loop_pea · Aug 9, 2011

There is some truth in the fact that CYA and ORP probes don't get along. The presence of CYA in the water can reduce the ORP to a point where it is affected by lots of other things more than it is by the chlorine level, so the probe is unable to do its job. I thought this didn't happen until higher levels of CYA are reached, and there was a region where you can have some of the protective effects of CYA against sunlight without lowering the ORP to a point where the sensor doesn't work. I've seen advice in various places that CYA should be kept below 50ppm if you are using ORP. I know an outdoor pool where they use ORP and CYA of about 20-30 ppm.

Alternatively, the pool needs a bigger day tank that can handle the daily chlorine demand. (Or is the feeder timing out for some other reason?).

PoolGuyBobolina · Aug 9, 2011

Hey all, Yes its an ORP system, and they said they have had nothing but problems when adding CYA, so they did away with it. I am thinking on installing another feeder to help with the demand of the chlorine just to keep the pool at proper levels. I had done some research with the AquaSol Chemical Feed Controls Systems and its normal for them to time out after 3-4 hours of continuous feeding in chlorine, its done for a safety purpose. As for building a roof over the giant pool, I doubt they will go for this as everything needs to be within their budget. Thanks for all the suggestions and help.

AClogston · Aug 9, 2011

What about using a peristaltic pump or two and doing away with the ORP? Once you got the system dialed in you could use CYA and probably save the company some $$$ on chlorine usage.

Bama Rambler · Aug 10, 2011

I agree with Alex, a peristaltic pump or two and a timer would make your life a lot more enjoyable. The thing about the injection pumps is that you can run them during the day when the sun is burning the FC off the greatest.

Patrick_B · Aug 16, 2011

Welcome to the forum, and I look forward to more of your posts. Sounds like they dont want to change, and being new, I wouldnt push them Not yet, till you gain some "cred". Can the timer not be increased? If not can you increase the injection rate? Sounds like that is your only option right now. Speaking of budget, they sure are blowing a lot on Cl. Perhaps they can be brought around later on, but folks are often resistant to change. I deal with it all the time with my customers o er very similar issues.

PoolGuyBobolina · Aug 17, 2011

Brushpup said:
Welcome to the forum, and I look forward to more of your posts. Sounds like they dont want to change, and being new, I wouldnt push them Not yet, till you gain some "cred". Can the timer not be increased? If not can you increase the injection rate? Sounds like that is your only option right now. Speaking of budget, they sure are blowing a lot on Cl. Perhaps they can be brought around later on, but folks are often resistant to change. I deal with it all the time with my customers o er very similar issues.

Thanks for the warm welcome. Yes I have resolved the issue somewhat by installing another feeder, this helps with the sunlight demands. NO I cannot adjust the feed rate any higher as its set at its highest. I figured I have to be on the job for awhile for them to give me proper "cred". Anyhow they are listening somewhat since the old employee was doing all the chemical readings improperly anyhow.
I just learned that within the next 2 weeks this particular pool will be closed for resurfacing and I get to show them what needs fixing at that time, so I will just wait and see..

Thanks to all for the great advice and to this awesome community.