Trying to get pool chem right

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StacyE

0
Apr 29, 2012
14
Delaware
Second year opening our new pool. This year the cover came off and the water was green and swamp like. Finally got it cleaned up and water is clear, but cloudy. We can see the bottom in the shallow end and most of the deep end. What I have done so far was shocked pool twice, added muriatic acid, and 4 bags of salt. My numbers are:

PH= 7.8
FC= .5
CC= 0
TA = 140
CH = 90
Salt = 1660 ppm
CYA = 0

What should I start adjusting first?

Thanks!
 
Shocking is not a bag of powder you dump in, rather it is a process. CYA needs to be above 20 or all your chlorine will burn off. Please review pool school and then ask if there is any confusion :)

- Sent from Galaxy Note II, sorry if I'm terse
 
Yeah, you need to get up into Pool School and read the Article on shocking. The shock process is ended when the pool is crystal clear. Your's is not so, in effect, you never have really shocked properly.

Obviously, you will need more chlorine. Don't try to get the SWG to bring it up.....use liquid chlorine instead.
 
Thanks for the responses. I have been through 16 gallons of liquid shock already, i will keep at it. I am wondering at what point should i add stabilizer to bring up the CYA and at what point after pool is clear should I let SWG take over?
 
You should to add enough CYA to bring it up to 30 right now. Put the CYA in a sock and hang it over a return and give it a squeeze every now and then. After the shock process is over, turn the SWG back on. The shock process is over after the pool has met the three requirements; the water is clear, combined chlorine is .5 ppm or less, and the pool shows 1.0 ppm or less of chlorine loss over night.
 
StacyE said:
Thanks for the responses. I have been through 16 gallons of liquid shock already, i will keep at it. I am wondering at what point should i add stabilizer to bring up the CYA and at what point after pool is clear should I let SWG take over?
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I'm not sure what "liquid shock" is, but if its got a fancy name and is pool specific it must cost more than just bleach, right? Save yourself some coin and use just bleach.

I have a SWG that I let chug along doing its thing slowly, but when I want to quickly punch up my CL level for whatever reason I use regular Chlorox sold in big bottles at Costco/SamsClub etc. So I consider my SWG my behind the scenes backup and the liquid Chlorox my emergency treatment. When you're done with the shocking process you can turn your SWG on. Its a matter of tweaking the percentage with the pump run times to find what works for your pool.

(as a side note- I have an automatic cover so I keep my CYA a tad lower than suggested, but I like to keep the filter running a few extra hours to circulate water so I keep my SWG on a very low percentage <even "off" on occasion> as my CL remain a skosh higher from the lessening of sun and contaminates. But I can test almost daily so have learned how my pool behaves and can respond quickly)

Put some CYA in soon, but only put in half of what you want and retest. Remember it won't show up on tests for about a week, so don't overdose thinking you didn't add enough that first time. You can add more easily but its a PITA if your CYA level is too high. For some reason the CYA level recommendations for a SWG pool is higher than a non-SWG pool. I don't know why or how to explain it but I take it as gospel if these folks here at TFP say so.
 
FYI, liquid "pool shock" is nothing more than higher concentrated sodium hypochlorite. Prices are different all over the country, and you have to do the math to figure out the best unit cost. In my case (Chicago area) 12.5% is by far the cheapest form of liquid bleach - Great Escape or American Sale for regular price, Menard's and Ace Hardware if you can catch a sale.
 
The "Liquid shock" is 12.5 percent and sold at bj's wholesale club for 13.50 for a case of 4 gallons. It worked out to be cheaper than bleach. I am not sure if it is as effective as the bleach though.

I purchased the granular CYA and now have to figure out how much to use. The pool calculator tells me what to add in liquid form.

Thanks for the help! I am learning slowly!
 
I purchased the granular CYA and now have to figure out how much to use. The pool calculator tells me what to add in liquid form
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The poolcalculator will also tell you how much granular. I don't have it open right now but I think they (liquid and granular) display side by side or there is a drop down box.
 

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I am going to start by just adding the 3 pounds purchased today.
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That'll work! Yeah, you have a big pool and it takes a good bit to bring the CYA up to SWG level 60-80 ppm. The nice thing about it is it will allow your SWG to do a very nice job on a low setting and add a LOT to the cell life of the SWG.
 
You don't want to bring the CYA above 30 while you are going through the shock process, you will need more chlorine if you do. Putting in 3lbs of CYA calculates out to 22 which should be fine for the shock process. Your price seems good to me for your chlorine and it will use fewer jugs.
 
Did another round of liquid chlorine on Saturday evening and added 1.5 pounds of granular CYA in a sock. Woke up Sunday morning to a crystal clear pool. Numbers this evening are:

PH: 7.8
FC: 12
CC: .5
TA: 140

Not going to do CYA test again until next week. I will check in the morning to see if the FC numbers decreased overnight. Should I be concerned about the high FC reading? It has been 48 hours since the liquid chlorine was added. This is the first time since starting the shock process that the chlorine levels didn't disappear the next day.

Thanks!
 
StacyE said:
This is the first time since starting the shock process that the chlorine levels didn't disappear the next day.
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That is what the CYA does.... it protects the chlorine from being used up by sunlight. As you read through Pool School (the first, second, and third times, really) you will start to understand how all these chemicals work together to keep your water clean and your pool surfaces in good shape.

I suggest that you start a Pool Notebook, add any bits of wisdom from forum posts as well as important points from Pool School. Include your pool equipment stats, phone numbers of local pool stores and other places that you find pool things (Walmart, Sam's Club, Kroger, Lowes, whatever) and their current prices on a few things you use. Write down specifics of the chemicals you have on hand.

Then begin adding a running list of the tests you do on pool water and what you added to the pool. Very helpful to have all this info at hand when you need to check prices on parts or chemicals or recall when you last added some chemical.
 
Tested the pool again last night and this is what I have:

PH: 7.8 (may even be higher)
FC: 0
CC: 0
TA: 140
CYA: 0
Pool Status: crystal clear

Lost all the chlorine in the pool since Tuesday, PH seems to be higher (looks like it may be closer to the 8.2 reading). I tested my CYA again even though I just added it on Saturday and its still zero. I have it in a sock by the skimmer, but it doesn't seem to be dissolving.

Should I just continue to add liquid chlorine every other day until CYA levels come up? I am used to the SWG and don't usually have to add much of anything to the pool.

My Salt reading is low @1600 and the SWG isn't kicking in yet. Is it normal to lose all the salt content over the winter? I will have to add another 10-12 bags to get the salt at the right level. I am guessing I should wait until CYA is up to at least 30 before adding salt and letting SWG take over? I have an Aqua Comfort SWG and appears that there is no way to turn it off while the filter is running so I am hoping I don't have a bad cell.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!
 
Start squishing the sock in the skimmer. That will help the CYA dissolve.

No, you should not be adding chlorine every other day, you should be adding it EVERY DAY! ;) especially since it's gone to zero. I'd also suggest you run the OCLT.

There has to be a way to stop the cell from producing while adding salt. Even if it's setting the output to zero. You don't want the cell to start producing while adding salt.
 
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