Newbie converting to bbb method- need help

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Kc2002

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Apr 9, 2014
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Northern VA
I am a newbie at TFP. I have been managing my pool myself with a lot of help from Leslie's! This year I discovered TFP and I have decided to stop being Leslie's favorite customer and convert to the bbb method! We just opened up the pool last week and I tested my water with a Taylor K-2006 kit and here are the results:

FC .26 ppm
CC. 0
pH 7.4
TA 80ppm
CH 200 ppm
CYA 0

I know I need CYA. I have 36 Leslie's 3" trichlor pucks still left. I also have a 25lb bucket of Leslie's Power Powder Pro. I am wondering what to do with these chemicals? I would love to hear from you all! Thank you.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Check your math on the FC ... it is likely 2.6pmm ... also note there is no reason not to use a 10ml sample where each drop is 0.5ppm instead of a 25ml sample with each drop 0.2ppm ... save yourself some reagent.

How is your CYA that low? Did you just refill?

The TFPC method is really just about understanding your pool’s chemistry and through accurate testing, adding only what the pool NEEDS and not what someone wants to sell you. It is not about only using products that start with B ;)

Ideally, you would add stabilizer separately to protect the FC from the sun, but the trichlor tablets will bring it up slowly (or just save them for later). You can use PoolMath to know how much CYA they will add.

The Power Powder is Cal-hypo and it addes CH to the pool. CH will continually rise due to evaporation and your CH is ok where it is at, so I would not use this stuff. I suppose you could use some to raise the CH up to around 250ppm.

How much Pool School have you read? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool
 
Welcome to the forum! :wave:

You have been given great advice by two of our finest.

As for what to do with the old chems, I would hang on to the trichlor pucks for use when you are on vacation or use some now to gradually raise your CYA. As long as they are kept in a reasonably sheltered environment out of direct sunlight, they will last quite a long time - couple of years at least. You can place the cal-hypo on Craigslist or eBay. After I discovered TFP, I sold some leftover cal-hypo using both these sites. You will not recover your initial cost, but you will at least get something for it. If it's priced right, it will sell.
 
I disagree about the cal-hypo. Keep it. You can use it for chlorine just like other chlorine sources. It is OK to use ANY source (bleach, cal-hypo, tablets) as long as you know what you are adding along with it. That is; cal-hypo adds calcium with chlorine.

Truth is, you need some of that now, just some, not a lot. Cal-hypo is also WONDERFUL for shocking a pool FAST. Like when you find something disgusting in the pool and you don't have 6 bottles of bleach -- grab that cal-hypo. The calcium boost is moderate in a one time use but you can really raise the chlorine fast. I do suggest dissolving in pool water, not broadcasting the cal-hypo for I think the floating bits contribute to water line calcium build up but this is just a guess. In fact, I am making a point now of reducing the pH a bit extra if I use cal-hypo, just to keep that line from forming now that we blasted the heck out of the pool getting rid of it.

If you occasionally need to add calcium, using cal-hypo from the biggest buckets sold is one of the most economical sources of chlorine. The cost of the chlorine is almost the same as liquid bleach but the calcium is nearly free and thus saves you on adding calcium booster. Or it was the last time I ran the numbers. It keeps a long time when stored correctly and so if you have the room to hang onto it, do. In fact, I suggest always keeping a big fat bucket of it on hand if your tap water is low in CH or you get a lot of snow melt water added to your pool in winter.

Now, you also need some CYA right away. Given that you may be at 0 or at 20, hard to be certain, you want to be a bit careful about going too fast in raising it up to 30 - 50 ppm. Were it me, I'd add enough CYA to get to 10 or 15 ppm, then go to tablets to increase it slowly after that. Your TA is high enough to use tablets without any worries.
 
I think there's been at least 2 or 3 cases recently where folks have written in concerned about what to do about their high CH levels and "how could it have possibly gotten so high?" Many replies later, it comes out that they had just done an acid wash and although they had only added enough Calcium to meet the recommended range, they were now sitting at 500+. I know that's manageable, but it's also an unnecessary consequence of an acid wash or re-plaster. So I'm thinking its important to establish some facts before suggesting boosting the CH, especially considering the 0 CYA makes it seem like there may have been an entire change of water recently.
 
Before you go adding anything with CYA in it, what is your pool water temp? There are several threads this year concerning this.

It appears that the CYA test can be temperature dependent, and could give false low readings if the water is too cold.
 
If you use the cal-hypo, do not merely dump dry granules into the pool or you risk spotting the pool surface. Be sure to dissolve it in a large bucket of water and stir it vigorously before adding it to the pool. When the granules dissolve, the water in the bucket will still be cloudy. However, it is OK to add it to the pool at that point. Even after adding pre-dissolved cal-hypo to the pool, the pool water will appear cloudy (a milky color) for perhaps several days. That is just a normal by-product of using cal-hypo.
 
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