Water teeny bit less than perfect

[maryann79]

I'd say the water in our nearly two-week-old pool has been just "crystal clear." For me that means on a scale of 10 the water is maybe a 9.5. (since I haven't added borates, I'm holding out the .5 for that )
Tonight we got in the pool and it felt a teeny tiny bit slimy on the bottom only. We brushed and moved around a lot.
I've been adding bleach daily, and the FC I'm taking it to at night is around 5 or 6. When we come home from work, FC is about 2.5 or 3. Ph staying level at 7.6, and water has been looking great.
Tonight when I add my bleach, what do you think I should take it to?
Pump runs 24/7 on low. Outside daytime temp is around 98 with pretty high humidity.

Tonight's readings:
FC-2.5
CC-.5 (usually is 0)
Ph-7.6

(Not tested tonight: Did CYA about 4 days ago, has been consistently 50-55; TA stays at 90)

I just want to stay ahead of the game here...
thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

I would suggest you normally shoot a little higher since you are flirting with the minimum for your CYA level by the time you check again.

Also would not hurt to bump it to shock level for the night to see if that clears up the little sliminess.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone

 

[frogabog]

What jblizzle said ^^ up there

I'd be right nervous at 2.5ppm FC with CYA that high. At 30ppm CYA I get nervous when it gets close to 3. Sliminess is a big red flag IMO.

 

[maryann79]

ok, now you've scared me.
Is it a huge gamble to take it up to 7-8 (which I just did) and see how it is in the a.m.? Or are you saying go straight to shock level now, up to 16?

 

[linen]

I would do some brushing, then I would take it up to shock level tonight to do the OCLT.

 

[frogabog]

It really can't hurt, especially overnight. If it fixes it, the OCLT will be good. You can move on (but not fall below 4ppm again, right? :~})

 

[chem geek]

Intex pools have poor circulation, especially at the bottom, so I wouldn't flirt with minimum FC levels. I'd keep it closer to the target level than the minimum.

 

[supertune]

Hi maryann79,
My pool is at 50ppm CYA, I do not let it get under 4ppm at the end of the day.
Go to 8ppm at nightfall. In Florida and hot and 85% sun on the pool.
Pool has never tested above .5 CC and is always perfect, never has been slimy.
Pool runs 84* to 88* degrees now in the middle of summer.

Chuck

 

[maryann79]

Last night at 11 pm, the reading was:
FC--7.5
CC--less than .5
ph--7.6

This morning at 6:30 am
FC--7.5
CC--.2 at most
Ph--7.9-8.0 (I assume rise is from chlorine added last night & will lower today)

I didn't take to shock level last night. I hope this wasn't a mistake. If today goes OK, I will aim for 8 each night.

So, OCLT/passed. Less than .5 CC/passed, and water is still clear/passed

If I'm passing the three criteria, does this mean I caught anything bad before it got a real chance to take hold? Remember the water went from being "virtually perfect" under my standard to "near perfect." Never cloudy. The pool last night felt a little -- very little -- slimy on the floor, but the walls were fine.

 

[linen]

I would keep at the high end of the FC normal range for your pool for now and brush it daily. Slimy wall/floor should not be considered normal, so if that persists I would do the shocking process with lots of brushing.

I would lower your ph down to 7.2-7.4 for now...it is unlikely it will come down on it's own.

 

[supertune]

Hi again maryann79,
What's you TA at?
My pH kept going up all the time and when lowered it from 160 to 100 that cured it, my pH always stays pegged at 7.5 now.

Chuck

 

[maryann79]

My TA is 90. The Ph issue isn't too bad, really, when I look back on the past (and only) two weeks of this pool's life. I may try and lower it a bit, but it generally likes to live between 7.6-7.8. I would rather have it in this area than too low, but I am still working on getting it down to more like 7.4-7.6. I am still working on my fear of muriatic acid :!: (have just been using dry PhDown).

Regarding feeling a bit of slime on the bottom a couple days ago, tonight will be the first time we can get in the pool since then. The weather has been stormy (for hours) the past two nights. All I've been able to do it brush from outside the pool. Without our deck built yet, this is really hard because I'm not tall enough to do much, and also the backfill area is somewhat muddy. The worst part is not being in the pool to actually feel the bottom.

But, so far the numbers look good and the water is clear.
We're passing every OCLT, and I've done 3....

This morning's FC was 10.5, exactly what I aimed for last night. I expect tonight FC will be around 6.
CC=0
Ph-7.9 -- up, but I experience this the morning after putting a good amount of bleach in the previous night. I don't know if this is normal, but it's what happens in my pool. For example, Thursday morning's Ph was 7.8-7.9, and Thursday evening it was a solid 7.6 -- so tonight I expect it will have decreased. But at any rate, yes, I'm going to try and take it down further with MA!

 

[linen]

If you pool likes to stay at 7.6-7.8...let it. Once you know your pool's ph character, which it appears you do, then when you find a sweet spot, let it live it's life there...don't chase some value.

Ph-7.9 -- up, but I experience this the morning after putting a good amount of bleach in the previous night. I don't know if this is normal, but it's what happens in my pool. For example, Thursday morning's Ph was 7.8-7.9, and Thursday evening it was a solid 7.6 -- so tonight I expect it will have decreased.

Remember when FC is above 10 ppm the ph is not accurate and reads high.

 

[jblizzle]

see you testing the FC level after the last addition at night? Did not sound like it based on what you wrote. You need to test both at night and in the morning to be sure the FC went to what you expected.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone

 

[maryann79]

Yep, I realized I didn't say outright, but after adding bleach around 8 pm last night I tested a little after 11 pm, and FC was spot on what I aimed for, FC=10.5 with CC=0, and same readings from this morning's test at 6:30 am.

 

[linen]

Let us know if there is any more sliminess. Other than that, you have passed the other 3 tests, so I would drop down to the 4-9 range for FC (from poolcalculator.com assuming cya of 55 ppm)...but as chem geek said, I would make the middle (maybe 6 ppm FC) your minimum due to the poorer circulation of the the intex systems.

 

[maryann79]

Thanks for the help, everyone.
Re: Intex system, were you talking about the SWG? We chickened out on using an SWG because the pool warranty says "any use of saltwater" voids it. So we're strictly bleach for now.

 

[linen]

Re: Intex system, were you talking about the SWG? We chickened out on using an SWG because the pool warranty says "any use of saltwater" voids it. So we're strictly bleach for now.

Sorry...I misread the thread, and I see you never indicated it was an intex I am assuming it is a hardwall agp then?

Make sure your return is pointing down some towards the pool bottom enough to disturb the deep water but still giving a circular flow pattern to your pool. That may help with the potential stagnent water that could have caused the sliminess.

 

[maryann79]

Linen, I had talked here about an Intex SWG so that's where I thought you got it. I think if we decided to do SWG we need something with a bit more oomph than the Intex SWG for this size pool. (But mainly right now we're warranty scared).
It is a hard-wall, and thanks for the return tip. I'll know in a couple hours how the bottom feels.

 

[linen]

I agree that the intex may not meet the chlorine demand of your pool. I have a 11000 gallon pool and I am running my intex 8 hours a day. I get full sun from 12-5 pm...but I get hundreds of swimmers/day...okay maybe more like 16 swimmer hours/day (hours not swimmers).

With that said, if you are interested in trying a swg, but don't want to invest a lot of cash yet in a larger one, then intex is cheap and could be tried without too much trouble...who knows, maybe it would be enough for you. If it isn't, you could supplement with a small amount of bleach/LC and still get much of the swg benefits.