Just got my kit and completed tests

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Enzman

Well-known member
Dec 30, 2013
76
Las Vegas, NV
Here are my numbers for my chlorinated pool.

TA 90
FC 3.5ppm
CC 1ppm
CH 700 (Calcium deposits running off of my "waterfall" from jacuzzi into pool, as well as on the edges of the pool.
CYA >100 (I asked my wife as well to check the dot and we both couldn't see it and the water level was almost 1/4" below the first measurement line of 100)

The Pool Calculator is telling me that I need to drain 60% of my pool (for both the CH and CYA results). Now, to do the research on how to do this. I live in Las Vegas, NV and was reading about pools popping out etc. I'm a fairly handy guy (an electrician by trade) and take pride in understanding and doing things on my own. Now, should I just hire a pool company to drain my pool for me, or try to do it myself? Any suggestions/comments highly appreciated. Should I just drain the entire pool? Do I need to actively remove calcium deposits?

Thanks!

Marty
 
Being that far below the 100ppm line could put you very high. You could try that again with 50/50 pool and tap water, add the reagent and test outside with back to the sun and tube at waist and then double the reading to get a better idea.

First step is certainly replacing a lot of water. Draining 1/3 at a time is certainly safe ... You could do that 3 times and then test the CYA again.
 
Welcome to the forum Enzman.

Don't forget to include, but more importantly test for your pH next time. It's really an important number to watch, especially with high calcium. As for removing calcium deposits, do you mean on the waterfall, or in the pool? If you can get a picture of them it might be helpful.
 
Welcome to the forum. :wave: Yeah, drain your pool in 1/3 increments and it will not float for sure.

Repeating from above, your pH is very important....especially to minimize scale.

You will have to remove the scale with acid. I would suggest you get your water in balance first and then, after a couple of weeks, start cleaning the scale.....hopefully little of it will return.
 
I have dumped in a couple of gallons of muriatic acid over the last couple weeks and managed to get my ph at or near 7.2. It feels like I'm adding way more than I should to keep the levels down though. We just bought this house in November. I will try to take some pictures today.
 
So, I assume you are reporting pH of around 7.2. That's fine. Keep it in the mid 7's and DO NOT let it get into the eights.

It's important to understand that it really doesn't matter if you feel the additions are excessive.....you have no choice for now. Keep your pH in the 7's and monitor more accurately just how much acid you are using and we'll go from there.

Are you manually chlorinating your pool?
 
The main things that drive the pH up are:
high TA ... yours is in range, but a little high
amount of aeration ... waterfalls, spillovers, SWG, etc
pH of your top-off water ... test your tap water to find out

I would not worry too much about the pH until after you get the water replaced (assuming you are doing that soon and not waiting a few months for some reason). When you replace the water, all your parameters will change and you will need to readjust.
 
Here are some pics of my backyard. My led lighting is coming today as well, so should be able to finalize that install for my porch lighting. Hoping to also get some RGB flood lights onto my patio cover to project into my backyard, but still doing some research/finalizing that project.

On another note, anyone have any suggestions on the most cost effective way to remove water from my pool? Will my self leveler on my pool add water as I remove it or will I have to use a hose to refill it? Sorry, just trying to get an overall feel of how my system works from you knowledgeable people. Thanks again!




 
The easiest way to remove the water is rent or buy a submersible pump. If you can isolate a floor drain as the only suction line and have a multi-valve with a waste setting, you may be able to use the pool pump to remove the water.

When draining you should shut off the auto-fill, and when filling you should use a hose (or two) as the auto-fill is likely much slower.

Please add your pool details to your signature and location to your profile as described HERE as it will help us help you.
 

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Depends on the size of the softener, but usually they are not able to soften enough water fast enough to fill a pool. It could be used for top off water later though to slow the CH rise.
 
Father-in-law lent me a pump he has still from his old pool. Got er pumping away most of the day so far. Pool has come down almost 2"! :) Anyways, I'm really not sure how low I'm going to take it down before I start filling her up. Would it be bad to empty out past 50%? Once the water drops just over a foot, I can work on the calcium deposits hanging over the waterfall. Just chipping them off and cleaning them up is all I should really worry about at this point right? There aren't really any stains or anything at the bottom of the pool so I think just replacing the water best I can will be my only issue at this time?
 
Just over halfway drained... should be about 80% in the morning. I am thinking about turning back on the autofill in the morning, and just let the pump keep going all day tomorrow. Should be almost as good as 100% change.
 
Enzman said:
I have a regular spigot and also a spigot connected to the output of my water softener. Would it be worth it to fill the pool with one from the water softener?
Click to expand...
I'd be willing to be your softener can't come close to filling your pool. As Jason said it might handle top off, but you can't fill a pool with one.

It would never have time to regenerate and fill in a reasonable timely manner.
 
Emptied & refilled pool

Merged by moderator to keep your story together. Thanks, jblizzle

OK, here goes. I just emptied my pool 80%, then ran the autofill on my pool for another 8 hours while I ran fresh water into my pool at the same time. I was deathly afraid of emptying it all the way because of pool popout, etc. Anyways...

Old Numbers
TA 90
FC 3.5
CC 1
TC 4.5
CH 700
CYA >100

New Numbers
TA 120
FC 4
CC 0
TC 4
CH 325
CYA 50

I poured about 2 cups of 8.25% chlorine into my pool after it reached 50%, and also failed to realize I still had tabs floating in my pool. When I do the simple chlorine test, it's very yellow, so I may have overchlorinated it ever so slightly. I also took my filter apart and pulled out both filters and hosed them down. They were absolutely filthy, but cleaned up quite nicely with some tedious work.

Thanks for your advice! Probably saved me a ton of money already.
 
Please test and post the pH reading. Honestly, it is more important to know than TA.

You aren't high on FC, but actually could use a little more at 50 Cya. Don't let it fall and stay on top of it to avoid problems.
 

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