First time pool owner, so many questions!

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Just leaving the tabs in for one more evening :)

CH of my fill water is 250. CH of the pool water is 750. Definitely time to start replacing.

I'll post some results after I've replaced some water and you guys can look over my calculations for the next round of chemicals.

Then I'll put the remaining trichlor and cal hypo on Craigslist to fuel my bleach and water fund!

One other question, if I run two hoses to the pool (e.g. from each side of the house), will I effectively get 2x the water per unit of time?
 
Ok, so I attempted to let some water out tonight using the backflow hose and the "waste" option on my multiport. I quickly realized that I don't have enough yard (away from the pool anyway) to handle as much water as I'd hoped to drain, and not surprisingly the cheap vinyl hose I inherited from the previous owner started to burst when I tried to move it/spread the water around.

I went ahead and added water to replace what I did manage to get out and then some and added some more chlorine as well to discourage any algae. I'll leave the pump running and test the water in the morning in case I need to make further adjustments.

What's my next move assuming I want to go for a quarter or a third of the pool next time? I'm going to try and locate my sewer cleanout in the morning and I'm considering renting a submersible pump to run to it. Does that make sense?

I'm still trying to figure out the water table situation down here (Austin, TX), but does anyone think I'd be in the danger zone with draining 1/3rd?
 
Ok, so I stayed up late last night and replaced what appears to be about 1/4th of the pool water. Here are my new numbers (holler if I should start a new thread).

FC - 7 ppm
CC - 15 ppm
pH - 7.6
TA - 160 ppm
CH - 600 ppm
CYA - 90 ppm
Phosphates - 50 ppb

What should I focus on first?
 
Whoops! Sorry, I quoted my Total Chlorine (FC + CC) as my CC. My CC is 8 ppm.

FC - 7 ppm
CC - 8 ppm
pH - 7.6
TA - 160 ppm
CH - 600 ppm
CYA - 90 ppm
Phosphates - 50 ppb

Wondering if I should add some acid and start running my waterfalls to try and lower TA. Let me know if the FC vs CC differential is still my biggest concern though.
 
FC and CC are very difference. FC is how much chlorine is available to kill stuff living in the pool, whereas CC is how much chlorine is already in the process of doing that. CC higher than .5 requires slamming. I'm confused about your posting of phosphate level.. that isn't something you got from the TF-100 test kit. Phosphate test is useless AFAIK. Just post test results that you tested yourself -- not anything you got from the pool store. If it's not cost restrictive, I would recommend repeating the draining process until your CYA is closer to 50 and your CH is closer to 350. Once you are done draining and refilling, slam the pool and then use the BBB method from now on! Hopefully you'll never have to do it again. ;)

Also, if you haven't read this take a few moments http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/123-abc-of-pool-water-chemistry

Here are your slamming instructions:

http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shocking

I recommend following those directions "To the T" without deviation.

Also, I'm somewhat of a newb here myself so you might want to wait for someone more experienced to confirm what I am telling you. ;-)
 
Guilty. I got home late and after staying up to 3am the night before on the refill, I got lazy and used the latest readings from Leslies. It won't happen again...

Here are my very own results from this morning, hopefully less alarming:
FC: 11
CC: .5
pH: 7.6
TA: 150
CYA: 80
CH: 600

I ended up having to rent a pump and hoses from Home Depot, so while I ultimately plan to drain and fill a couple of more times, they're probably going to have to be spread out some (unless you guys think I'll be way better off sucking it up now).

Given that, what's my next move with the water I've got? It appears I've got enough FC for my CYA levels. Seems like my TA is too high. Should I begin the cycle of lowering pH and then aerating (via waterfalls)?
 

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goalie28 said:
I'm also concerned about the Live Oak pollen in the spring. One of my co-workers described his pool as looking like yellow soup in April.
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Adding Borates will help a bit with the pollen caused yellow ring at the water line. That plus regular brushing and good circulation goes along way.
I mention Borates because I too have a lot of oak trees near the pool and the yellow water line staining was always an issue, requiring a lot of scrubbing and attention. Last year I added Borates and this past Spring, I had virtually no pollen staining issues. Acorns in the pool is another matter, and if they sit too long on the bottom, they will stain (stains can be removed with some effort, but it is a nuisance).
 
jblizzle said:
What does the water look like? Is there algae requiring you to SLAM?

There is no need to actively lower the TA unless you happen to be bored.
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No, water is clear and no sign of algae. I suppose I'll just focus on keeping the pH and chlorine in range and when it cools off a bit more I'll go for another drain/refill. I take it TA will naturally decline (albeit slowly)?

Hoosierun, I think you might have the wrong post. But good to know, as I do have live oaks too!
 
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