Brand new pool and neew to BBB

[mckay]

PB turned over maintenance to me a few days ago. I took out the floater and have been using 10% chlorine since. Target is set to 5 because CYA is at 45.
Here are my numbers that have not really changed the last few days minus the swing in chlorine.

FC 2 need 58oz 10%
CC 0
PH 7.8 need 176 oz MA (EDIT: Weeee I screwed up, I need 19 MA to drop my PH, I accidentally put 1110 in for TA, glad I caught this)
TA 110
CH 120 need 383oz calcium chloride
CYA 45

I will adjust the ph tonight and add the bleach.
My question is on the CH, that seems like ALOT of material to add. I have a 4lb bottle of HTH Calcium Plus waiting to go.

Seems like allot of chlorine too. I am in full sun all day in central California.


Suggestions?

 

[Optica]

The national plasterer's council website recommended that CH be adjusted slowly over 28 days starting on the 4th day or so after filling the pool.

This is probably to prevent you from overshooting the target level since the plaster will leech some Calcium into the water as it cures, faster at first and then slower as the plaster ages.

http://www.npconline.net/StartUp.pdf for the info

 

[Richard320]

The bleach sounds about right. Are you sure it's 10% you're using and not 12.5% from the pool store or 6% from Costco?

Always maintain the pH. If it seems wacky, recheck numbers for a typo. But I think you already learned that

Hold off on adding Calcium. It will likely go up from the curing plaster as well as refilling to replace evaporation. Take it from one who knows: Calcium is hard to get rid of. Chlorine comes and goes but Calcium is forever.

 

[duraleigh]

Looks like Optica has you covered on the CH so I will address your FC comment....

I haven't done the math as you have but FC appears to be in the ballpark. You will probably lose 3ppm or so FC daily and need to add that much each day to keep it @ 5ppm. Try it for a week or so and you'll get a good feel for the amount required.

However my real point is it takes what it takes. It it VERY important you keep the FC not less than about 4ppm and your pool will remain crystal clear the remainder of the season.

If you consume much more than 2-3ppm FC daily after a week or so of data, you can bring CYA up to as high as 60 if you like but I certainly wouldn't do that now.

You seem to have a good grasp of BBB.......nice work!

 

[mckay]

The national plasterer's council website recommended that CH be adjusted slowly over 28 days starting on the 4th day or so after filling the pool.

This is probably to prevent you from overshooting the target level since the plaster will leech some Calcium into the water as it cures, faster at first and then slower as the plaster ages.

http://www.npconline.net/StartUp.pdf for the info

Great link, thanks.

 

[mckay]

Looks like Optica has you covered on the CH so I will address your FC comment....

I haven't done the math as you have but FC appears to be in the ballpark. You will probably lose 3ppm or so FC daily and need to add that much each day to keep it @ 5ppm. Try it for a week or so and you'll get a good feel for the amount required.

However my real point is it takes what it takes. It it VERY important you keep the FC not less than about 4ppm and your pool will remain crystal clear the remainder of the season.

If you consume much more than 2-3ppm FC daily after a week or so of data, you can bring CYA up to as high as 60 if you like but I certainly wouldn't do that now.

You seem to have a good grasp of BBB.......nice work!

I have dropped to 2 to 2.5 everyday this week on FC, cant keep it higher. I add chemical at night and test at night as well.
Ill get PH back inline and wait a few more days to see if it helps the chlorine consumption.

 

[frogabog]

I have dropped to 2 to 2.5 everyday this week on FC, cant keep it higher. I add chemical at night and test at night as well.
Ill get PH back inline and wait a few more days to see if it helps the chlorine consumption.

You'll need to raise FC at night to 8ppm instead of 5ppm. At 45ppm CYA the high target is 8, minimum is 4. The reason you can't keep it above 4 is because the sun and bathers make the pool loose about 50% of the chlorine every day. This, you can do nothing about. But it means that if you loose half of 5ppm, you end up at 2.5 (or 2 like you're seeing, on some days you loose more than half).

If you continue to loose more than half the FC after dosing to 8ppm every night, then raise CYA to 50 or so and see if that helps. At 50ppm CYA, the dose is still 8ppm nightly, minimum 4.

 

[mckay]

I have dropped to 2 to 2.5 everyday this week on FC, cant keep it higher. I add chemical at night and test at night as well.
Ill get PH back inline and wait a few more days to see if it helps the chlorine consumption.

You'll need to raise FC at night to 8ppm instead of 5ppm. At 45ppm CYA the high target is 8, minimum is 4. The reason you can't keep it above 4 is because the sun and bathers make the pool loose about 50% of the chlorine every day. This, you can do nothing about. But it means that if you loose half of 5ppm, you end up at 2.5 (or 2 like you're seeing, on some days you loose more than half).

If you continue to loose more than half the FC after dosing to 8ppm every night, then raise CYA to 50 or so and see if that helps. At 50ppm CYA, the dose is still 8ppm nightly, minimum 4.

Ill bump to 8 and see where that takes me. I was considering going higher but its all so new, the pool and me taking care of one!

Side note, was at Costco yesterday and saw a three pack of Clorox in 182oz for 8 bucks.
Ive been using 10% but Im paying 8.43 for two gallons.

 

[mckay]

Success!

I bumped my FC to 7 last night and 24 hours later she reads 5.5, ph is good at 7.5.
today it says I need 35 ounces of 10% to go back to 7 FC
Thanks a million!