Taking over saltwater pool...test results

[jqsquared]

Evening all,

Quick background bought a home with a saltwater pool. Don't trust the pool service companies and want to take care of maintenance myself. Actually they included a free month of pool service and my numbers don't match the tag they leave on the door. Something tells me they skip out to save some money. Got my TF100 kit here are the results.

pH: purple as can be 8.0+
FC= 1
CC= .5
TC=1.5

CH=300
TA=240
CYA=??? Did this test twice, could always see the black dot at the bottom of the view tube. Not exactly sure what I am supposed to see, looks like I was just adding water. Some help here?

Overall pool appearance is great, water is clear. Minor hardwater type scaling on tiles and rockwork. Cleaned some of it off with a pool stone...not sure if thats the best way.

All advice welcome!!

Thanks-Robert

 

[JasonLion]

Start by lowering the PH to around 7.2.

That CYA result means your CYA level is zero. For a SWG we recommend CYA around 70 to 80. However, don't go all that way in one go. Raise CYA to perhaps 50, give it time to settle, then test again in a week and adjust from there.

Longer term you need to get that TA level down some. Does your fill water have high TA?

 

[jqsquared]

I assume that the fill water does have high TA, how would I know for sure? Test it?

Alright will work on lowering PH..I know to add acid, is there a particular type that should be used over the other dry vs muriatic ect?

 

[JasonLion]

Yes, test both TA and CH for your fill water.

Muriatic acid is a little more difficult to handle, but worth the extra effort when you are using a lot. It is both less expensive and doesn't add anything to the pool you don't want. Dry acid adds sulfates, which is fine at low or medium levels, but can be a problem if it gets really high.

 

[jqsquared]

What happens if the fill water is high? I do have some brown/rust appearance near the port where the fill water enters the pool. The pool is a plaster type pebbletec type finish. Figured I would get the pool under control before trying to address that issue.

 

[jqsquared]

Now that I think about it, how is it possible for me to still maintain a FC of 1 with 0 CYA?? My SWG is set to about 90% FWIW.

 

[Abigail K]

It is possible for you to maintain FC 1 with 0 CYA because your SWG is producing chlorine (technically Sodium Hypochlorite and Hypochlorous acid) from the salt (Sodium Chloride) and water.
Increasing CYA will allow you to dial down the SWG, reducing wear on the plates.

 

[jqsquared]

Been adding Acid and CYA past couple of days.

FC=11
CC=0
CH=250
TA=190
CYA=30
Ph=7.5

Going to add some more acid and CYA today. 4lbs of CYA raised from 0=30 so I have an additional 4lbs. Would I be correct in assuming that my FC jumped way up due to the fact that I previously had 0 CYA and my SWG was set to 90%? Now that we have a little stabilizer seems I need to turn it down or OFF for a day or so correct?

 

[Richard320]

Been adding Acid and CYA past couple of days.

FC=11
CC=0
CH=250
TA=190
CYA=30
Ph=7.5

Going to add some more acid and CYA today. 4lbs of CYA raised from 0=30 so I have an additional 4lbs. Would I be correct in assuming that my FC jumped way up due to the fact that I previously had 0 CYA and my SWG was set to 90%? Now that we have a little stabilizer seems I need to turn it down or OFF for a day or so correct?

Yes. You've stopped losing so much to the sun and the SWG is finally catching up.

 

[jqsquared]

Should I be worried about the 11 TC? Safe to swim?

Guessing I should target 70-80 CYA with a TC of 3?

 

[Richard320]

Should I be worried about the 11 TC? Safe to swim?

Guessing I should target 70-80 CYA with a TC of 3?

It's fine. Shock level for 30 CYA is 12 FC and you're below that.

I would raise CYA and follow the FC/CYA chart.

 

[jqsquared]

Thanks all.

So while I am trying to get everything in line, is it necessarily a bad thing that my FC is higher than CYA? It will probably take some time to get the SWG dialed in.

 

[Richard320]

Thanks all.

So while I am trying to get everything in line, is it necessarily a bad thing that my FC is higher than CYA? It will probably take some time to get the SWG dialed in.

Nope. As long as you are below shock level, you don't need to worry and can swim.

 

[jqsquared]

turned the SWG down from 90% to 20% today since the FC was still at 11. Had it turned off yesterday. Got a blinking "check cell" light. Anyone have any experience with this? I have records that show the cell was cleaned in May and in good condition. Could the adjustment of the pool cause this?

 

[jqsquared]

Alright read that the SWG has a light that comes on every 500 hours @ 8hours a day that would make sense. Will need to check it and reset the light this weekend.

Here are my current numbers:

FC=10
CC=0
CH=275
TA=130
CYA=60
pH=7.2

Where to go from here?

 

[Richard320]

Alright read that the SWG has a light that comes on every 500 hours @ 8hours a day that would make sense. Will need to check it and reset the light this weekend.

Here are my current numbers:

FC=10
CC=0
CH=275
TA=130
CYA=60
pH=7.2

Where to go from here?

Swimming

 

[jqsquared]

Quick update: Everything seems to be holding steady, here in Houston its hot, having to add acid every couple of days.

FC=6.5
CC=0
CH=275
TA=80
CYA=50
pH=7.4

Current concern is that the water feels different than before I added CYA, raised FC and lowered pH. Its "rougher" feeling on our skin, more dried out feeling. Also fingers get "pruney" not sure if I noticed that before, or took much longer. Is this caused by the CYA, higher FC, or lower pH? Would adding borates solve this?