germangirl

[germangirl]

Guten Tag,

so glad I found this side to keep me from making really bad mistakes right from the start. We had the pool installed this summer and I was doing ok with the help of this side, even though I was freaking out every time I had to add more than a teaspoon of anything for fear it would mess things up and turn the water cloudy
I have been reading on this side a lot and my husband tells me that I spent more time caring for the pool than swimming in it, which is probably true, but so far I think it's kinda fun. I feel I have a pretty good handle on things, mostly because I do an intense search on this side before putting anything in the pool. (including the vacuum). I bought the TF 100 to test the water.
When on vacation our friends cared for our pool the more "traditional" way and things are a little out of whack now.
Mainly the CYA is a bit on the high side (70). looks like they shocked it every other day-just to be sure- as well as on huge bag of baking soda to keep the water clear. Our pool is in direct sun from sunup to sundown and I have been keeping the FC between 5-7 now. It's been 5 weeks and the pool does look great.
I add about 1/2 gallon of 6% bleach every night which seems about right.
I really don't want to drain and hope that albeit slowly the CYA will go down due to refilling backwashing.... Also when I drain to winterize in the fall should be about right next season after adding water back in.
I added some Polyquad to be safe as well.
Also while the pH was always a little low it now tends to creep up to 7.8 all the time even though I lower it to 7.5 after a day or to it's back up. No waterfall or other water features running most of the time.
The TA is at 100 and I think if I keep lowering the PH it will eventually stabilize itself? Or should I lower the PH further and let the little sprinkler thingy get the PH up? Anyway I am a bit off topic since this forum is to introduce myself. I am as the name suggests german, mow living in the US, unfortunately the girl part of the name is simply a lie since I am just a little past the girlie years. I also apologize for all the mistakes I make since sometimes I am not in the mood to check all grammar and spelling it just takes longer than typing out the post, so bear with me.
A big big big thank you to this forum for educating me on pool care. I am sure I will be back with lots of questions in the future.
oh yea, test results (hope I did this right):

FC 6
CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 100
CH 120
CYA 70

 

[linen]

Welcome to TFP germangirl!

I too have been accused of testing more than swimming

The TA is at 100 and I think if I keep lowering the PH it will eventually stabilize itself? Or should I lower the PH further and let the little sprinkler thingy get the PH up?

I would just let i happen slowly without extra effort (other than MA to lower ph). You are not very far from ideal 70-90.

Your CYA is a little high, but I think you plan is sound. As you already are (with a great test kit I might add) just keep an eye on your pool.

 

[frogabog]

Guten Tag Germangirl!

Welcomen!

For whatever it's worth, your English, grammar, and even punctuation is phenomenal. Some native speakers can't hardly spell their own name much less write like that (look at craigslist adds sometime... you'll feel super smart. Some of my favorites from those adds are "I'm sailing/saleing xxxx" and "boaut" and "moter". And then of course there are the people who don't even know how to spell the town they live in...).

I don't really have anything to add, Linnen said about all there is to say. It sounds like you're doing great without us :~}

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

 

[germangirl]

Thank you for the nice welcome.
Actually I would have not been fine without this forum as I learned a lot here.
As far as my English goes: Being married to an American sure helps, as did the 9 years of mandatory English in school. Somehow that does not keep me from spelling things funny sometimes. Five years of Latin do their share of teaching you grammar. I can't translate one sentence in Latin anymore, but I can still conjugate you any verb.
None of that helps with my pool though, guess I should have paid better attention in Chemistry class. Thank you for the reassurance on my plan with the pool, makes me feel like I really understood what I was reading.

 

[frogabog]

Mandatory English in European non-English speaking countries has been standard there forever. When I was in high school (over 25 years ago), our family hosted European foreign exchange students for years and while they had much to learn, we could communicate with them all quite well even when they first arrived. They were all very well educated overall.

Now, if we could get mandatory English taught here in the US... we might be able to communicate with the people who live in our communities who didn't immigrate from Europe (plus less paper would be used printing everything in 10 different languages) and whole classrooms per language (ESL) wouldn't be hogging funds in the school systems. Recently, ESL (English as a second language) means segregating the non-English speaking kids and just teach them in their native languages. Creates jobs for bilingual teachers I suppose... and leaves my daughter without the funds to offer her a 3rd grade classroom of less than 35 kids. YAY for ESL!

If I moved (or even visited) a non-English speaking country, I'd take the time to learn some of the language and make every effort to improve while there (meaning, speak that language instead of English if possible). My neighbors, while very kind and sweet people... I haven't had even an hour's total conversation with in 20 years because they still only speak a few words of English. Sorry, I'm not going to be able to learn Chinese just to get to know them better.

I know this is OT... but Germangirl's pool is a non-issue and as such... I had no other reply available :~}