New to SWG and nonstop rain

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Z

Ziora

0
Jul 24, 2007
14
Southeast
We haven't been able to swim at all this season because of the rain, storms, and flooding. I had a SWG installed in April but it's been impossible to keep anything balanced with all the rain. I've had to do many partial drains. The liner floated in the shallow end and it's wrinkly now but the water table is so high I don't know how to work around that. It's in the blue stage, but still cloudy. I am out of the chlorine reagent and it won't be here until Monday so I can't keep it at shock level. Leslie's doesn't sell it here. I'm just keeping chlorine in it. I don't know what to do about the salt. I tested it with Aquacheck test strips. It says it's down to 1830 ppm. That seems right with as much draining as I've had to do. We started the season with a CYA of 80 and it went to 0 (give or take 20.) I have it back up to 52 and am waiting a week just to make sure not to add too much.

I guess I don't even know what my question is as much as ranting! Should I trust the AquaCheck test strips? That would mean I need to add another 300 pounds or so of salt?
 
I would wait to deal with the salt until you are finished with the SLAM process (formerly known as the shock process): http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool Getting your water clear using bleach/liquid chlorine should be your priority first.

With that said, I use the aquacheck strips and they have always been reasonably accurate for me. I usually use a second strip if anything surprises me. Was the swg complaining?
 
I swam in my pool for the first time today since installing the swg! It wasn't like I expected, though. My skin feels kind of sticky. Maybe it just takes a little getting used to.

FC 5.9
CC 0.2
TA 80
Salt 3600
PH 7.4
CYA - Around 60. Still dissolving in a sock by the return.
Calcium 20

I'm aerating with a small fountain to raise the PH to 7.6. I'm going to raise the Calcium to 50 and the CYA to 70. Is the chlorine too high and PH too low for comfortable swimming?
 
It could be user error. I saw just a faint hit of pink and it took one drop of the reagent to be completely clear. I have been manually adding a little extra chlorine until I got the salt level up.

Arrgh, now I am getting a warning from the swg that I have too much salt. They recommend 3500 and I have 3700 so maybe that's why.
 
Also you might want to get a phosphate test kit.
Its just a plastic tube and a bunch of test strips.
Cheap.. Lots of folks say i does not matter , at first i was having some trouble with my SWG keeping up . I called discount salt pool and they said to check phosfates, i did and they were high. I got a phos. Test kit a a bottle of phos free from leslies. After that no more problems with SWG !!! I have had to treat the phos issue twice this summer . It seems to really matter ..
 
@Seanhan

Typically there is no need for calcium in a vinyl pool

Also, ignore phosphates. When a pool is properly chlorinated, phosphates can be high without problems. Seanhan, if you are having problems please start a new thread and put your test results there.
 

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Ziora said:
I swam in my pool for the first time today since installing the swg! It wasn't like I expected, though. My skin feels kind of sticky. Maybe it just takes a little getting used to.
Click to expand...
What does your water look like? Is it clear?

Ziora said:
I'm aerating with a small fountain to raise the PH to 7.6.
Click to expand...
No need to raise ph, the swg should do that on it's own. 7.4 is fine (even down to 7.2 or so).

Ziora said:
I'm going to raise the Calcium to 50 and the CYA to 70.
Click to expand...
No need to raise your calcium level since you have a vinyl pool, but if you do, 50 is plenty.

Ziora said:
Is the chlorine too high and PH too low for comfortable swimming?
Click to expand...
Nope those numbers look fine.
 
I was going by this guide. pool-school/water_balance_saltwater_generator Maybe I was being a little too "by the book" about my numbers. I'm confused about how to test for free chlorine with Taylor. I did what the instructions said. I filled the tube to 25, put in 2 scoops of powder and multiplied my R-0871 drops by 10. Then I noticed it was just very slightly pink and added 1 drop of the other reagent till it was clear which is how I came up with the CC number. Is that not how to do it?
 
Each drop of the R-0871 is equal to 0.2 ppm when using the 25 ml sample, so take your total number of drops and multiply by 0.2. In the future I would use 10 ml sample size instead making each drop of the R-0871 equal to 0.5 which is close enough precision. See the extended test kit directions here: http://www.troublefreepool.com/extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html#p206393

It sounds like you did the CC part correctly.

Your test numbers look good to me assuming your cya is still coming up to 70-80 ppm.
 
Finally I can start swimming! My FC tonight is still high at 15. What is a safe level to swim in?

I don't have much debris in the bottom of the pool, but hate to vacuum to waste. Would be it ok to just go through the filter and backwash? I am slow to vacuum.
 
Summer is not over for me! First clear and sunny Saturday all season and the pool is looking lovely. I held my breath this morning when I tested the water.

FC 11.5
CC 0
CYA 72
PH 7.4
CH 20-30
TA 80
Salt: 4600 with Taylor drop test
3700 with AquaCheck test strips

Coffee and then I'm breaking out the floats! :party: TFP rocks! :goodjob:
 
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