Newbie with a couple of questions.

[mobrien719]

First time pool owner. Using my new test kit! We have recently switched from using granular chlorine and pucks in the feeder to liquid bleach. Here are my readings from today. I know my FC level is low. I plugged values into calculator and will adjust chlorine as advised. I am wondering how often people need to add chlorine to their pools? I know it is affected by use, sunlight, etc...I am just trying to get a general idea. We do have a lot of direct sunlight. Is chlorine something most people add daily? I am still learning and just looking for feedback. Do the rest of my numbers look okay? Pool water appears crystal clear. Any advice is appreciated.

FC = 1
CC= 0.5
pH= 7.5
TA= 220
CH= 300
CYA= 90

35,000 gallon in-ground pool with vinyl liner. Water temp 89 degrees.

 

[jblizzle]

You first problem is your CYA seems to be way too high due to your use of pucks.
Read this to make sure you did the test correctly: extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html#p206397

If it really is that high, you need to replace about 50% of your water. This probably sounds crazy to you, but it will make life so much easier.

Then re test everything and get the appropriate level of FC in the pool.

You generally should be adding bleach every 1-2 days.

With a CYA of 90ppm (should you choose NOT to replace water), you can not let the FC get below 7ppm ... and hopefully you do not ever have to shock because shock level is 35ppm

 

[BoDarville]

Hi mobrien719

Welcome to TFP!

Having crystal clear water, you are in good shape overall. The one thing that does jump out at me, though, is your CYA level - 90 is rather high. At that level, you are looking at a maintenance FC level of between 7 and 12 ppm. If it were me, I would do a partial drain & refill (D&R) to get the CYA down to around 50. Another benefit of the partial D&R is that it will lower your CH (while not high, it is at the upper range of optimal for a vinyl liner).

After a partial D&R, I would run a full set of tests to get a new baseline. I would then focus on FC & pH first and then TA. Your CYA and CH should be in line after the D&R, so no action should be necessary on those.

As for bleach additions, my pool is in the full Texas sun most of the day. Over the past week or so (with the days at their longest), I'm losing about 2-2.5 ppm per day at a CYA level of 30. I test and dose daily. During the off-season, the daily loss is much lower due to shorter days and correspondingly less sunlight. At that time, I can go several days between chlorine doses.