Turning the corner?

[skyjenn]

Sink and Sweep directions stated to have ph between 7.5 - 8.0; After vacuuming, my chlorine is still very high (above 5 for both FC and TC), but ph lowered to 7.2 and stabilizer down from 35 to 25.

With many inches of rain coming (2-4 at least), I added 4 gallons of bleach which will consequently raise my ph and a very small amount of stabilizer. Since stabilizer can take a few days to truly read accurately, well, I can always add more and I hate to empty water if I don't have to.

I have found knowing my CYA an PH are the most important factors. I'll test again and see how things go. Deep end is still cloudy even though I can see the bottom. Will keep FC high until I see improvement unless someone here tells me different.

 

[skyjenn]

Additional information:

If you have already bought a DPD kit, you do not have to spend another $85 to get the right test kit. You can simply go to tftestkits.net and order the additional test(s) that you need. You can buy a fas kit for $26, buy a CYA kit (which I already had so I bought a bottle of reagent for $8) and other great single kits or replacement testing reagents. Once you have a kit, you only need to buy refills which are much cheaper.

I am watching my pool and vacuuming after another 4 inches of rain. My deep end is almost as clear as the shallow end. I believe that flocking was the best direction for me because time between rains was limited. If you have a week of clear weather, then bleach and fas testing is great. For us on the Gulf Coast, that is not always a solution because one day or two of rain can ruin your chemical mix. I adjusted chlorine and ph high right before the rain so the pool could handle the additional water and the vacuuming is necessary because flooding rain brings other things into your pool besides water: pollen, dirt, leaves, flowers and anything else around your pool. All of these things are BAD and must be removed immediately. If you can't see the bottom of your pool there is no way you can remove it all and algae loves all of these things. Flocking helped me to get these things out and keep vacuuming the small debris. Yes, it is a lot of work, but you have to get it out or you will be fas testing and pouring bleach a lot longer. Think I will keep the pool operational next winter to avoid start up; it's just not worth the trouble.

 

[skyjenn]

OH, I missed that you are in the middle of SLAMing ... in that case you need to lower your pH and then get the FC level back up to SLAM level around 16ppm (which you have no way of confirming, unfortunately).

The fact that you are letting the FC drop so low is just going to make the process take longer.

If you have already bought a DPD kit, you do not have to spend another $85 to get the right test kit. You can simply go to tftestkits.net and order the additional test(s) that you need. You can buy a fas kit for $26, buy a CYA kit (which I already had so I bought a bottle of reagent for $8) and other great single kits or replacement testing reagents. Once you have a kit, you only need to buy refills which are much cheaper.

 

[Smykowski]

because one day or two of rain can ruin your chemical mix.

This is not correct. Even multiple inches of rain at once is a small percentage of the volume of the bulk pool water. There are a few of us that intentionally collect rainwater from the roof and divert it to the pool for free water.

 

[skyjenn]

This is not correct. Even multiple inches of rain at once is a small percentage of the volume of the bulk pool water. There are a few of us that intentionally collect rainwater from the roof and divert it to the pool for free water.

You are in Illinois and I am on the Alabama Gulf Coast; come live here with a pool and see what happens with large quantities of rain!

 

[duraleigh]

Changing the subject just a bit but let's discuss rainwater. Many new members think it completely upsets pool water balance. It does not.

Let's say your pool averages 48" in depth and you receive a 4" rain......assuming you drained 4" off prior to this rain (not likely) the new rainwater is now 8% of your total.

So,

your CYA then goes from what was 50 ppm down to 46 ppm

Your CH that was 200 now goes to 184 ppm

You FC, which was 5 ppm goes to 4.6

I don't know how to calculate pH and TA changes but the results should be similar in percentage.

So, even in a City like Mobile (I think it's about the wettest city in the US) a HUGE rain does not drastically affect your pool water chemistry.

There are many cities in the US that get over 60 inches of rain annually so, in fact, they completely get new pool water each year. That said, An individual rainfall has very little affect, so the adjustments to your pool over the season should be incremental.

For those of us living in drier climates, a 1" or .5" rain has virtually no affect and can be ignored as a cause for major swings in pool water balance.

skyjenn,

I am glad flocculants work for you. Over the years on this forum, we find that they make no difference for many people and actually make more work for some.. It is safe to say we seem to find far less than half of the folks who report have success with them. We would never suggest the use of flocculants as a routine part of pool maintenance or a part of the SLAM process.