UPDATE #'s First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

[radgaser]

I have read through the pool school. This pool is new to me and came with a house we purchased this winter. Just opened pool yesterday and here are my numbers using the Taylor test kit:
Chlorine: 5
pH: 7.2
FC: 6
CC: 0.5
TC: 6.5
TA: 170
CYA: 80

I plugged in my numbers on the pool calculator and it tells me to add 11 pounds of Borates, Is this correct???

 

[Richard320]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

I have read through the pool school. This pool is new to me and came with a house we purchased this winter. Just opened pool yesterday and here are my numbers using the Taylor test kit:
Chlorine: 5
pH: 7.2
FC: 6
CC: 0.5
TC: 6.5
TA: 170
CYA: 80

I plugged in my numbers on the pool calculator and it tells me to add 11 pounds of Borates, Is this correct???

Borates are optional. I don't use them, and my water is crystal clear. And you don't want to add them while TA is that high anyway.

How does your water look? Your CYA is awfully high, even if you have a SWG, which I don't see listed. So you're going to have to depend on the FAS-DPD tester because FC should never drop below 6 with 80 CYA. That color matching tester, as you can see, is useless right now - it says 5 when you're actually at 6! If you do need to perform the shock process, you'll end up buying chlorine by the barrel, not the jug!

My advice is to hold off on borates until you're comfortable with maintaining your chemistry.

 

[BoDarville]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

radgaser:

Welcome to TFP Great first post with test results!

• 1. pH is right at the low range of recommended levels of 7.2 to 7.8.
  2. FC of 6 is right at the minimum maintenance level for a CYA of 80. Would dose FC up to around 8 ppm to allow for daily loss to sunlight so that it doesn't drop below 6 ppm.
  3. CC of 0.5 is just under the threshold of needing to shock. Keep an eye on this, though.
  4. Would not worry about TA right now given your relatively low (but still within range) pH
  5. CYA is high. Definitely do not let this get any higher, especially since you do not appear to have a SWG pool. You might find it easier to manage if you did a partial drain & refill to get CYA in the 30-50 ppm range, depending on where you are located. If in the southwest or in Florida, aim for 50. If in the northeast or northwest, aim for 30. In the rest of the southeast or midwest aim for somewhere in between that range. If you would rather not do a partial drain & refill, it will gradually come down with backwashing the filter, topping off the water levels, and rainfall. Also, do not use any chlorine containing trichlor or dichlor - they will increase CYA. Use liquid bleach as your chlorine source.

Would not add the borates, especially with your high TA as borates will increase that.

 

[radgaser]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

How does your water look? Your CYA is awfully high, even if you have a SWG, which I don't see listed. So you're going to have to depend on the FAS-DPD tester because FC should never drop below 6 with 80 CYA. That color matching tester, as you can see, is useless right now - it says 5 when you're actually at 6! If you do need to perform the shock process, you'll end up buying chlorine by the barrel, not the jug!

My advice is to hold off on borates until you're comfortable with maintaining your chemistry.

The water is clear.

 

[linen]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

Welcome to tfp, radgaser

You did not answer if you have a Saltwater Chlorine generator (swg)?

Where do you live?

Generally 30-50 ppm is the recommended range for cya. You can maintain at 80 ppm, but your margin for error is smaller and if you do get an algae outbreak it will be more challenging.

Since you are obviously motivated to take charge of the pool, and if it is possible, I would probably do a partial drain/refill to get down to ~50 ppm. This would require about 1/3 water replacement.

 

[Richard320]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

The water is clear.

That is excellent. I've maintained a pool with 3X your CYA but I don't recommend it to anyone. Stay on top of the chlorine and don't add any more CYA and you'll survive.

 

[radgaser]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

radgaser:

Welcome to TFP Great first post with test results!

• 1. pH is right at the low range of recommended levels of 7.2 to 7.8.
  2. FC of 6 is right at the minimum maintenance level for a CYA of 80. Would dose FC up to around 8 ppm to allow for daily loss to sunlight so that it doesn't drop below 6 ppm.
  3. CC of 0.5 is just under the threshold of needing to shock. Keep an eye on this, though.
  4. Would not worry about TA right now given your relatively low (but still within range) pH
  5. CYA is high. Definitely do not let this get any higher, especially since you do not appear to have a SWG pool. You might find it easier to manage if you did a partial drain & refill to get CYA in the 30-50 ppm range, depending on where you are located. If in the southwest or in Florida, aim for 50. If in the northeast or northwest, aim for 30. In the rest of the southeast or midwest aim for somewhere in between that range. If you would rather not do a partial drain & refill, it will gradually come down with backwashing the filter, topping off the water levels, and rainfall. Also, do not use any chlorine containing trichlor or dichlor - they will increase CYA. Use liquid bleach as your chlorine source.

Would not add the borates, especially with your high TA as borates will increase that.

I'm in the upper midwest.

Have been backwashing d/t stirring up dirt on bottom w/robot. Did it three times tonight at pressure rose.

How much would I have to drain out to get CYA under control???

 

[radgaser]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

Welcome to tfp, radgaser

You did not answer if you have a Saltwater Chlorine generator (swg)?

Where do you live?

Sorry, I do not have a SWG.

I'm in WI.

 

[linen]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

Hey neighbor (mn here). As Richard said, you can maintain at 80 ppm...or you can drain. Since you water is clear it is kind of preference (yours) at this point, i.e. vigilantly maintaining a higher FC level or maintaining a lower FC level (still vigilantly, but with a little more forgiveness).

 

[BoDarville]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

How much would I have to drain out to get CYA under control???

About 50% of your pool water, which would leave you with a CYA of 40.

 

[radgaser]

Re: First post... Sold on BBB, opening numbers

OK... I have updated numbers now that I did a 50% drain and refill. Developed a problem with the draining, liner lifted d/t all the rain we had and left large wrinkles. Tried the plunger trick, wrinkles are too large! Will require a reset.

pH 7.5
CYA 35
FC- 0.5 I added a bottle of bleach
TA 350

What should I do about the elevated TA?

 

[jblizzle]

After everything else is sorted out, then you can worry about the TA and lower it if you want following:
pool-school/lowering%20total%20alkalinity

Pretty odd that it would rise so much I think one of the tests had a testing error.