tomsmom

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tomsmom

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Jul 14, 2012
17
Katy, TX
New to the forum. Same story. New pool finished in October. Had the builders guys taking care of it till January. They had me using trichlor tabs and dichlor to shock. We have a chlorinator but they never used it, told me to just put pucks in the skimmer. Of course I wanted to use it when I took over maintenance. I could never get it regulated - my chlorine was always sky high. I kept it down to 1/2 on the lever valve but the only time my levels went down was when it was almost empty. Have been trying for months to get the pool builders maintenance guy back, thought it might have a valve problem and everything is still in warranty. I would open the chlorinator and the tall tube in the middle would not be attached - figured more chlorine than needed might be getting into pool. I was having water tested at Leslie's. I told them my chlorine stayed high and when I tested my CYA they were over 100. They consistantly came up with 35 or 40. Phosphates always were high so they would just tell me to take care of that. Pool builder and his maintenance guys won't respond. Started reading your forum and to make a long story short my TF100 test kit should be here by Wed. I turned off the chlorinator today got the 10% bleach at a different pool store. Had them do another water test.
FC 5.0
TC 5.0
CC 0.0
PH 7.6
CH 275
AK 100
CYA 100
Found your CYA/Chlorine chart and added 181 oz bleach using the pool calculator. I will do the OCLT test and hoping I won't have to drain 50% of my pool. We are getting alot of rain and I have been adding water with the garden hose. I have never added anything else to my pool but Orenda for metal and scale and I added something to up the CH from 150 several weeks ago.

Thanks, hoping to get a handle on all this. My husband has been a little worried - he thinks I have acquired an internet addiction. I am more than a little OCD when it comes to things like this. It is maddening when no one will answer your questions or acknowledge a problem.
 
Your CYA level is way too high. Since the common CYA tests reports any level over 100 as 100, there is no telling just how high. You need to replace water to get your CYA level down to something more reasonable. You should also stop using dichlor immediately, which adds huge amounts of CYA, and also consider stopping using trichlor tablets, which also add CYA (though a little more slowly).

You can do the CYA test again with dilution to get a sense if your CYA level is closer to 100 or 200. Mix equal amounts of pool water and tap water, do the CYA test on that, and multiply the result by two. That is rather imprecise, but it will give you an idea if your CYA is around 100, 150, or way high.

You can ignore phosphates. They aren't important as long as you are maintaining appropriate FC levels.
 
Hope my test kit arrives today. I am keeping the pool at the levels suggested on the chlorine/cya chart. My kit only show 5 - 10 FC but it looks much darker so have to assume it is above those numbers. I have been adding water daily and using the over flow. If I want to drain do I use the facuets on the top of the pumps. I have a filter and waterfall pump. So would waterfall pump be best since filter pump would have skimmers sucking air? So just attach a hose turn off main filter pump and turn on waterfall pump. Sorry I should know this but just a little hesitant to procede. FYI Only using bleach in pool and checking chlorine twice a day. Checked CYA this morning first test showed fraction above 90 - then did the diluted test and it was 70. Want to believe the first but the second shows 140. Guess I should just drain some and be done. Holding out for test kit to arrive and have used all my solution to test CYA's again.
 
If your pump has a waste setting you can us that to drain without any problems. Just have to keep an eye on it, the water can get below the skimmer real fast if you don't keep an eye on. You can use a garden hose to drain (hook up to your spigot with other end in pool, turn on water till water comes out the end, then unscrew from the spigot - that starts a backwards flow to drain it) but that also takes longer.
 
I got my test kit yesterday! My CYA is more like 150 than 100 after doing the diluted test. Began my drain today. Since I am in Houston (Katy) should I aim a little higher for my CYA because of the heat?. I will only be using bleach no more pucks or dichlor!!! I have been on bleach, just maintaining until I got my kit, for about a week and my pool water looks so pretty - the water just sparkles - hate to see it drain away but know I have to adjust those CYA's.

Gonna go explore the forum. Need to see what others do for vacation and such. Please forgive if I have posted incorrectly, just learining to navigate this site. I will post my numbers after I refill. Thanks again for the help.
 
Finally - drained and refilled as of this morning. Numbers are as follows

FC 3.5
CC .05
PH 8
TA 150
CH 260
CYA 50
Plugged numbers into Pool Calculator. Added chlorine to raise to target 6, then muriatic acid to lower PH and help adjust TA. I will do the overnight test to make sure nothing is lurking in my water. Still waiting for the sparkle to come back - guess it will take a few turn overs in pool water. Any suggestions or have I missed anything?

Pool builders foreman called said there was no way my CYA should be that high just because of trichlor and dichlor use. Wanted to know the last time I had added cyanuric acid, assured him I had never added any except with the pucks and dichlor. My chlorinator valve was defective - so maybe that accounted for using more pucks than normal.

Had wanted the builder to come by and look at the pebble tec while draining - it is so spotty. Lots of blue plaster left too thick. In the deep end it is very visible. My husband thinks we should just leave it alone - afraid they will cause real problems. Sounds like it is just cosmetic - it would look better acid washed but doesn't that take a toll on the finish? Plus if they would have to drain the pool again. Off course the builder never showed - he was also gonna check some settling between the coping and the deck.

Thanks for all the help - when all this is balanced I want to start using the borax. Sounds like a good addition when using the BBB method.
 
New numbers for pool

Thanks Jason for your help so far. Drained and refilled as of Sunday. Lowered CYA and think I am almost there. OCLT passed Tuesday and it looks real good. TA is still high so following pool calculator advise and lowering ph again today. Trying to figure out how much chlorine to add each night. Yesterday FC was 8 this morning 7. My min. and target is 4 - 6, don't want to get below 4.

I also want to add my sequestering agent, I am using Orenda SC-1000. I was using about 15 oz. monthly but adding 6 1/2 oz. bi weekly since adding all at once drops my chlorine. I did at least at 50% drain should I treat it more like an initial dose? I have to order the Orenda nobody carries it in my area, pool builders guy used it in the begining. Anyone else using it, is there a better product?
FC 7
CC 0
PH 7.5
AK 140
CH 220
CYA 50 (this was like a 45 give or take so went with 50)
Thanks everyone. I will post a picture soon - I have Blue Granite Pebble Sheen so it never looks as blue as the neighbors white finish.
 
Sequestrants based on HEDP, phosphonic acid, or phosphonic acid derivatives are the most effective. ProTeam's Metal Magic and Jack's Magic The Pink Stuff (regular), The Blue Stuff (fresh plaster), and The Purple Stuff (salt) are some of the top sequestrants. You can also find many other brands with similar active ingredients, some of which are noticeably less expensive.

If you replace 50% of the water, you should add 50% of a startup dose of sequestrant.
 

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Re: TA for pebblesheen

The pool is looking great! Just a few questions
FC 7
CC 0
PH 7.8
TA 80
CH 280
CYA 40
Pebble installer suggested I keep TA between 70 - 80. Have been adding ma everyday with up and down ph. TA is slowly coming down - going for 70. What PH and TA works best for others with pebble finish? I do have that white water line stain from before so obviously chemicals were off.

After retesting I find my CYA is about 38 so using 40. That puts me in the 3 - 5 (7 according to pool cal.) range. Is it ok to have FC fall to 3 in the evening or should I make it 4 just to be safe? Right outside Houston with soaring temps and water temps in the low 90's. This is a low use pool but some days I see 3ppm being used. It is very easy to miss count the drops in the FC test - so being off by one drop could put you on the low side. I always get different results running the test several times - user error I'm sure. Any suggestions on how to get more consistent readings.

Thanks
 
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