Need a little reassurance

[KineKilla]

So my pool has remained largely in good balance so far this season (knock on wood) thanks to the TFPC Method. My FC levels are typically right around 3-3.5, the pH fluctuates but I have been intentionally bumping it down then aerating to lower my TA (which is starting to work). So this weekend I felt good about having a huge pool party/housewarming party with my family.

The invitation of warm water combined with cold spirits and a hot BBQ yielded a TON of people at my house. Knowing the impact this could have on my pristine pool water, I bumped the FC level from 3 to 6 (because that is all the bleach I had on hand) and dropped my pH down to 7.1 (in the hopes that all these pool pirates splashing would aerate it for me). Well, the day came and went and the next morning I raked all the sunken junk off the bottom and retested the water levels...

My water was only SLIGHTLY cloudy in the deep end of the pool (I could still count the holes in the main drains IF I had wanted to) the next morning and my test results were as follows:

FC 3.5
CC 0.5
pH 7.4
TA 125
CYA 70

I added what I had left in my wife's stash of bleach (64 oz @ 8.25%) to the water and closed her up to run for the day undisturbed. I have not yet opened it since because I am back at work. You think the cloudiness was mostly caused by the high bather load or you think I might have another issue looming? I took the CYA Chart Target of 3 as gospel regarding where I wanted to keep my FC levels but now am reading that maybe it should be 5 or higher?

Thoughts?

 

[Richard320]

My money is on bather load.

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello Utah! It is possible your water is just struggling a bit from the heavy traffic. I would waste no time in getting some more bleach though to get that FC back up to AT LEAST 5. Actually, it may not hurt to go up slightly to 6-8 just for the night and see if that kicks the clarity in its pants. If not, perhaps do an OCLT during hours of darkness to make sure you're not losing FC to something aggressive.

Party's and kids do a number on the water. Let us know if you have any more questions.

 

[tim5055]

You are running your FC too low. 3 is the absolute minimum you should ever see. So, to keep it above 3 we recommend targeting 5.

On the way home from work stop and pick up a couple of more bottle of bleach. Bring the FC up to about 8 and after the sun is off the pool conduct an Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT). If tomorrow morning you have not lost more than 1ppm FC then you are golden and can count this a s a lesson learned. If you loose more than 1 it's time to SLAM the pool.

In the future, before a pool party raise the FC a few points to account for the accidents that happen as folks consume adult beverages.

 

[KineKilla]

Advice heeded!

I did turn it up to 6 prior to the party and according to the Pool Math I pushed it back up to about 4.8 the morning after. Between that and increasing my SWG to 60% I'm sure it has not dropped below 3.5 for very long if at all. I read somewhere here that FC 2-7 was the target for Vinyl SWG pools but I will see about keeping it on the higher end of that spread going forward. I picked up 2 jugs of 8.25% yesterday so I should be prepared if I go home and find a cloudy pool this afternoon.

Fortunately for me, no adult beverages ended up in or near the pool...just lots of people! The crowd was VERY respectful of the house, yard and pool. I'll check everything tonight and let y'all know if I find a problem.

Just to be clear:

I should be targeting FC 5 as my lowest acceptable number according to the FC/CYA Chart, correct? The pool is covered for the majority of the time every day if that makes any difference, as all three members of the family work full time. That and it gets shaded around 5 each night by the surrounding trees.

 

[Texas Splash]

Yes, always best to go with the "Target" since that will be the most efficient and hopefully give you some wiggle room if for some reason FC is lost or not produced efficiently as expected. It's one of those things you eventually get "dialed-in" on with your pool as you gain more experience with usage, seasons, etc. And as you already know. when heavy activity is planned .. go a bit higher.

 

[tim5055]

Fortunately for me, no adult beverages ended up in or near the pool...just lots of people!

Depending on the delivery mechanism, some may have.....

 

[KineKilla]

Depending on the delivery mechanism, some may have.....

That's just plain funny.

 

[tim5055]

That's just plain funny.

Sorry to say, it's the truth. A little bleach before a party goes a long way in keeping a clear pool.

 

[KineKilla]

Tragedy avoided!

Got home today, ran some tests.

FC 7.5
CC < 0.5
pH 7.4

Water is back to crystal clear. I turned the SWG down to 30% in the hopes of lowering FC to around 5-5.5. I'm sure once I put some new water in to make up for the evap/splash out it will be perfect.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tim5055]

Wonderful!! We will expect an invitation to the next party.