PH, TA high CH 775 seeking advise

[miller]

Our numbers are concerning. Is our best course of action is to drain 61% (pool calu) and start over as it is the only way to deal with CA?
Not sure how long numbers have been so high and no maintaince what maintaince should be done?
What damage might we have?

Equipment working well, Water is clear, plaster has some staining, tile little ca deposit which we cleaned
Numbers:
TC 5
PH 8
TA 140
CYA 49
CH 775
Salt 3900
Phos 300

History
Pool is 6.5 years, ours for 3.5 years. Had pool guy until Jan 2012 at which time my husband took it over he choose to get all testing, advise and supplies from Leslies.
I have a little pool expierance so when I saw the numbers (little change Jan to now) and asked questions it became clear that I had better jump in.

The pool guy never told us about any testing issues (prob no testing), recomended or preformed any maintaince except and occ backwash. No record of chemicals used.

Jan-current -chemical fiber clear in filter, muriatic acid, perfect phos free
Thank you

 

[duraleigh]

1. Lower your pH down to around 7.2.....sooner rather than later.

Your test results look like they come from a test strip or an electronic reader at a pool store, is that correct?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome

First, what was the source of the test results you supplied? Your kit, pool guy, pool store?

Do you know how chlorine has been added to your pool over the years?

Given that the CYA appears ok and the CH is really high, I might guess that some cal-hypo had been used for adding chlorine as it also adds CH. Or it could just be that your tap water has a lot of CH in it already and that evaporation over the years has made it worse.

Can you test your tap water?

We strongly believe in testing your own pool to gain an understanding of what it NEEDS vs. what a pool store wants to sell you. That said, you should really have your own kit and the ones recommended can be found in my signature.

If you CH is indeed that high and your tap water is lower, then the appropriate course of action would be a partial drain to lower the CH level.

Given that your CH is high AND your pH is high (NEVER let it get above 7.8), scale is not surprising in your pool.
STEP 1: Lower your pH

How was your FC tested? Some test max out at 5
With a CYA of 49 (how was this arrived at as they are typically in increments of 10) you need to maintain a FC of 4-8 to keep a clear pool.

See if you can answer some of these questions and then we can try to make recommendations.

 

[miller]

Against my advice my husband choose to use Leslie's for testing 3 times since taking the pool over in Jan 2012. The sample were colected in a provided bottle and taken in right after collection.

I am ordering a TF-100 kit today (going forward we will test ofter and keep complete records).
We have a saltwater pool.
We have a Aqua turbo cell #t-cell-15 for chlorine production.

I plan to test both water source and pool once kit arrives.

According to form CYA = > 100 ppm, - 30 from TA = adjusted aa. First test results (jan 2) were 65.

We have no test results pryor or Jan 2012 so there is no way to know how long this has been going on.
Thank you

Muriatic acid is being used to reduce to lower PH however no change from January.

We have learned the hard way to be in control of testing and chemical plan.

 

[jblizzle]

According to form CYA = > 100 ppm, - 30 from TA = adjusted aa. First test results (jan 2) were 65.

I am having a hard time interpreting this statement ... although I suppose it does not matter too much since you made a great decision on ordering a test kit. Pools stores can be notoriously off.

While you are waiting, read through Pool School to help your understanding.

When you get your kit, come back to this thread and post a full test on your pool and test your tap water for pH, TA, and CH.

If you CYA is indeed > 100, that is another reason to suggest at least a partial drain of your pool to get that in the 70-80 range along with helping your CH.

You really need to get your pH down and not wait. Both your SWG and your high TA are continually pulling you pH up toward the 8s. You likely need to be adding acid pretty often (every few days at least) to get it into the mid 7s (or lower as Dave suggested).

What is the concentration of the acid you have and how much are you typically adding? You can use the pool calculator in my signature to calculate dosages.

 

[duraleigh]

ditto what jason said!! :-D :-D

 

[JamesW]

According to form CYA = > 100 ppm, - 30 from TA = adjusted aa. First test results (jan 2) were 65.

I am having a hard time interpreting this statement

Cyanuric acid makes up part of the Total Alkalinity. To get the Adjusted Alkalinity, which is the Carbonate Alkalinity, you subtract a percentage of the Cyanuric acid from the Total Alkalinity. The percentage of the Cyanuric acid that you subtract from the Total Alkalinity depends on the pH. Normally the percentage is about 30 to 33%.

For example, if the CYA is 100, you subtract 30 from the TA to get the adjusted TA, also known as carbonate alkalinity.

 

[Richard320]

I'd trust the pH reading from the pool store.

And the CH may very well be that high. It's one of the pleasures of living in California. It's manageable, but requires a lot of attention. I certainly hope you ordered a speedstir when you ordered the TF100, because the CH test will take a long, long time otherwise. It takes several minutes for me using a speedstir! Use the directions for a 10ml sample. 25 ppm resolution is close enough when the numbers get that high.

 

[miller]

Thank you I will add the speedstir to my order.