BBB can't possibly be this easy?? One question though...

[derekyork]

We've had our pool about a month now. Water has been crystal clear from the start. Used about 13 bottles of bleach and 40 ounces of baking soda thus far. My neighbor who also has a pool is dumbfounded about how we keep our water so nice. People who have been in our pool love that the water feels good and doesn't dry their skin or leave them smelling like chlorine. Most people told me before I got the pool about how much money and time I would be spending keeping it nice but $58 later(bleach, Baking soda and stabilizer) I just don't see how pools are that much trouble.

I do have one quick question about my cya. It's sitting right at 30 now. The weather has finally started to act like its summer. My pool is full sun up until around 4 o'clock. I'm targeting 4 on my FC. Every evening when I check it I am usually at 1.5, sometimes 1 but mostly 1.5. Is that loss about right or would I be better upping the cya to 40? It

 

[257WbyMag]

Yes, definitely raise your CYA to 40 and see how it goes. You may even consider running a touch higher on the FC as well.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'd probably up the CYA to about 40 or 50 and see what happens. You'll probably lose a little less and that'll keep you within range.

 

[jcowart]

That sounds about right. Like the others have said, bump up you CYA. I run mine at 50. It sees full sun from rise to set. Your lower FC number will be higher so keep that in mind. Doesn't it feel nice when people that are clueless and pool stored ask about your water. I just grin and go with it. The trick is to see how many you can convert to the "CLEAR" side and save them some money.

 

[Smykowski]

It's so easy it's almost mindless, and I don't understand why other people are so resistant to putting bleach in your pool.

I'd probably bump the CYA a little as well. Even if you don't, I'd start targeting FC of 5 or 6. You really don't want to let your FC get below 2 with your CYA at 30. You're asking for nasties to get a toehold.

 

[fast1971chevelle]

I have my cya at 50 and I target 8 ppm fc I test and add EVERY EVENING after the sun is off the pool back to 8 ppm a couple above my target of 6 ppm because I lose 2.5 ppm a day to the sun and bather load and 2 years running and have NEVER had to shock my pool.....BBB IS AWESOME........Mike

 

[derekyork]

That is what I was thinking. I'm going to add some cya via sock tonight to get me up to around 40 and go ahead and adjust my chlorine target and see how that works.

 

[UberA3]

Yeah I just filled my pool July 2. The guy who came over to help me start it up had never heard of the BBB method. He came back the other day to remove the door and window alarms and said the pool looked perfect, which I knew because of testing. I asked him if he would buy back the bucket of trichlor he brought on the start up. He asked how many I had used and was shocked when I told him ZERO. I told him that it would take me 25 years of vacations to use them and he laughed. After doing the BBB method I would tell anybody not using it they're crazy, even crazier to have somebody else maintaining their pool.

 

[scott.MI]

Every evening when I check it I am usually at 1.5, sometimes 1 but mostly 1.5.

You want to try to keep your FC from dropping below the minimum per the CYA chart. Letting it get less than the minimum and that close to zero could be asking for trouble. That means either targeting a higher FC so that after your loss, your still above the minimum or dosing multiple times. Higher CYA will help with how much your losing to the sun.

 

[Smykowski]

I posted this in another thread, but it's worth repeating. This is directed at no one in particular, but for general consumption as the topic has wandered this way. I'm getting up on my soapbox....

There's a weird reluctance on the part of new forum members to shy away from "high" FC levels. I don't know if it's leftover pool store info that hasn't been brain dumped yet, or if it's a desire to be in the middle of a published range, but the FC minimum is exactly that: a MINIMUM! A hard deck. Don't let it get below that. Ever.

We all know that even in a clean pool, FC will be lost during the day to sunlight. Every pool is different, so we can't predict what your FC loss will be. You need to learn your pool, and do whatever you have to do to keep it above the minimum. Dose your pool today so that the next time you dose your pool, whenever that may be, you will always be above the minimum.

I run my CYA at 60, which means my minimum FC is 5. I rarely let it get below 8, and it's usually around 10 or 11. Because I never want to let it get below the MINIMUM. Ever.

Rant over.

 

[derekyork]

The biggest thing with my new pool is I wasn't getting that much chlorine consumption for the first few weeks because the weather was cool, cloudy and raining most of the time. I was maybe adding 20 ounces or so of bleach a day. Then finally the sun has come out and stayed out, which means more chlorine used up by the sun as well as way more time spent in the pool which uses more chlorine. I upped my chlorine up to 6 last night, and added enough stabilizer to get to 40 cya.

 

[zimm]

Question for ya'll... I've been doing BBB for a month with good results, but did have to shock twice due to FC going below 2 and getting mustard algae on the walls. I'm converting to a SWG (on order), but is there a real "max" TC or FC level for safe swimming? I have small kids and a dog who likes to lap up some water. My shock level is 15 (CYA 30) I'm just wondering if keeping FC above 5 does any damage to equipment, swim suits, people?

 

[Smykowski]

Question for ya'll... I've been doing BBB for a month with good results, but did have to shock twice due to FC going below 2 and getting mustard algae on the walls. I'm converting to a SWG (on order), but is there a real "max" TC or FC level for safe swimming? I have small kids and a dog who likes to lap up some water. My shock level is 15 (CYA 30) I'm just wondering if keeping FC above 5 does any damage to equipment, swim suits, people?

Shock level is max. You are plenty safe dosing to the top of the range suggested (or even slightly above). Remember, the CYA is stabilizing the chlorine in the pool, so even though your "free" chlorine may be well above 5, your "active, available" chlorine is many, many orders of magnitude below that.

 

[scott.MI]

Less than shock level for you specific CYA seems to be the general rule...
so in your case less than 15

 

[derekyork]

Bumping my CYA up seems to have done the the trick. CYA should be around 40. Upped my FC target to 5. The last couple of days have been full sun and around 93-95 degrees. Last two days FC has been at 3.5 in the evening when I test. Going to see how the rest of the week and next week goes to see if I need to make any other adjustments to it.