Hi, all. New to the forum and to self-chemical maintenance. Most of my info is in my Sig.
I started treating my own pool about a month ago. I had been using a chemical maintenance Co for many years, with mostly good results but I've always been planning on handling my own chemical treatments in my pool. Recently, my Pool Chem Svc Co hired an inexperienced technician (who is no longer with the Co) and he apparently made some mistakes with my pool's chemical svc. For the 1st time in many years, Algae began appearing in the pool along with green water. To be brief, I dropped the Chem Svc Co and obtained the help of a friend that has been maintaining his own IG gunite pool.
I had the water mostly under control before my friend helped me with some basics and I also have been reading up on Pool Chemical info via the 'net.
After getting the water chemicals under control, along with performing a complete D.E. Filter cleanup, the pool is in good shape, as far as I can see.
I'm testing for Chlorine, pH daily, & AL, CH, CYA less frequently for a while to establish a baseline for my pool's chemical maintenance requirements.
Here's some of my test #'s during recent testing:
FC: Testing daily. This will vary and I have a question about this in the next paragraph, but it's usually starting out somewhere in the 5+ range the next day after I "shock" with 12 Oz Calcium Hypochlorite 68% granules. I'm using that amount based on the product's Mfg recommendations for my pool size (15kG), and in conjunction with my Leslie's (OEM:Taylor) kit's chart recommendations for weekly shocking amounts.
So far, I've not seen CC readings, all zero (that's good, right?). My weekly FC readings will slowly decrease, beginning a day after "shocking", to about 2ppm FC. The next day, my next weekly "shock" will be added. I'm also using (weekly) two 3" Trichloro 99% tablets in a Floater. The product recommendation is for 1 tablet per 10Kg pool so I went with 2 for a while to track the results in my pool.
pH: Testing daily. 7.5 I've added Muriatic Acid twice since June, to reduce pH. It's holding at 7.5 for now but I have seen the pH climb slowly since I have started performing my own chemical maintenance. I read some 'net info about "ph Bounce", etc so I'm learning about how to maintain pH in target for a longer period of time.
AL: It usually tests between 80-100. I added Baking Soda once, to raise it back up after a treatment of Muriatic Acid (ph lower).
CYA: I have tested it twice since the initial testing done at Leslie's. My results are 70-80.
Calcium Hardness: I've tested it twice. It's around 300 . This one's hard for me to be precise, detecting when the Reagent color result changes in the test tube. However, I had it tested at Leslie's with about the same results.
I have 2 questions:
1) So far, I don't see how to maintain a day-in, day-out, FC level of 2-4 since "shocking" will spike the FC level and the results of the spike can be seen for almost a week. How does one maintain a daily FC level of 2-4? I'm also using two 3" Trichloro 99% teblets per week in a Floater.
2) Is there a product available that will lower Calcium Hardness in a pool? I've been reading the "Pool School" info and it would appear that at some point, when using my Chlorine shock product, that I'll have to reduce my C.H. level.
I read about a product called "Caltreat" (OEM: United Chemical) that's supposed to lower the C.H. levels in pools. Has anyone used this product for this purpose in their pool? Does it affect other pool chemical parameters?
I started treating my own pool about a month ago. I had been using a chemical maintenance Co for many years, with mostly good results but I've always been planning on handling my own chemical treatments in my pool. Recently, my Pool Chem Svc Co hired an inexperienced technician (who is no longer with the Co) and he apparently made some mistakes with my pool's chemical svc. For the 1st time in many years, Algae began appearing in the pool along with green water. To be brief, I dropped the Chem Svc Co and obtained the help of a friend that has been maintaining his own IG gunite pool.
I had the water mostly under control before my friend helped me with some basics and I also have been reading up on Pool Chemical info via the 'net.
After getting the water chemicals under control, along with performing a complete D.E. Filter cleanup, the pool is in good shape, as far as I can see.
I'm testing for Chlorine, pH daily, & AL, CH, CYA less frequently for a while to establish a baseline for my pool's chemical maintenance requirements.
Here's some of my test #'s during recent testing:
FC: Testing daily. This will vary and I have a question about this in the next paragraph, but it's usually starting out somewhere in the 5+ range the next day after I "shock" with 12 Oz Calcium Hypochlorite 68% granules. I'm using that amount based on the product's Mfg recommendations for my pool size (15kG), and in conjunction with my Leslie's (OEM:Taylor) kit's chart recommendations for weekly shocking amounts.
So far, I've not seen CC readings, all zero (that's good, right?). My weekly FC readings will slowly decrease, beginning a day after "shocking", to about 2ppm FC. The next day, my next weekly "shock" will be added. I'm also using (weekly) two 3" Trichloro 99% tablets in a Floater. The product recommendation is for 1 tablet per 10Kg pool so I went with 2 for a while to track the results in my pool.
pH: Testing daily. 7.5 I've added Muriatic Acid twice since June, to reduce pH. It's holding at 7.5 for now but I have seen the pH climb slowly since I have started performing my own chemical maintenance. I read some 'net info about "ph Bounce", etc so I'm learning about how to maintain pH in target for a longer period of time.
AL: It usually tests between 80-100. I added Baking Soda once, to raise it back up after a treatment of Muriatic Acid (ph lower).
CYA: I have tested it twice since the initial testing done at Leslie's. My results are 70-80.
Calcium Hardness: I've tested it twice. It's around 300 . This one's hard for me to be precise, detecting when the Reagent color result changes in the test tube. However, I had it tested at Leslie's with about the same results.
I have 2 questions:
1) So far, I don't see how to maintain a day-in, day-out, FC level of 2-4 since "shocking" will spike the FC level and the results of the spike can be seen for almost a week. How does one maintain a daily FC level of 2-4? I'm also using two 3" Trichloro 99% teblets per week in a Floater.
2) Is there a product available that will lower Calcium Hardness in a pool? I've been reading the "Pool School" info and it would appear that at some point, when using my Chlorine shock product, that I'll have to reduce my C.H. level.
I read about a product called "Caltreat" (OEM: United Chemical) that's supposed to lower the C.H. levels in pools. Has anyone used this product for this purpose in their pool? Does it affect other pool chemical parameters?