Some basic questions!

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fklash

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Jun 17, 2015
23
Montreal, QC, Canada
Hello everyone,

I'm a new pool owner since last fall. I've read a lot, but I got a few basic questions.
Disclaimer: I am experimenting using trichlo tabs this year and I am well aware of their downside, so please don't "SLAM" me about it :p

1. So in general, how important is it to keep water at a certain level. So I started with water about half of skimmer height, but it's been raining a lot, so now i'm about 3/4 height. Is it important to bring it back down to mid skimmer level? It makes sense to me if water level goes down to replenish it, but if water goes up a bit, is there a downside?

2. When is it accurate to re-test levels after adding something. eg. if I add pH minus, when can I retest pH and get an accurate read? 30 min after? 2 hours after? The next day?
I’m sure it depends on what you are adding. How about liquid chlorine? Because I think I might use trichlor for a baseline chlorine and top off with liquid chlorine before a swim.

I've got more questions but I'm going to stop here for now.

Using Taylor K-2006. Here are latest stats.

Water is clear.
pH 7.6
free cl 1.0
Combined cl 0
TA 110
CH 230
Cya 30


Thank you
 
1) The skimmer works better if there's room for debris to float in. Also, if an above ground pool overflows the lip, you could get water behind the liner. Also the water will find the lowest point on the sidewall to spill over. That area will get waterlogged and soft and the low support will sink even lower. Better if you drain the water where you want it.
2) Thirty minutes with the pump on should be plenty for adjustments to show up. If you brush all around the pool and get some cross currents, even less.
 
Richard thanks a lot for quick response.

Here is another questions specifically about increasing TA, because I had to play with TA and pH adjustment when I first opened the pool.

This is what I've read online, is any of this true?

I've read that increasing (or decreasing) TA is a slow process.
I've read when increasing TA, you shouldn't add more than 1kg (2.2lbs) of sodium bicarbonate per 50,000 L (13,000 gallons) of water.
I've read that sodium bicarbonate should be added with the pump turned off, sprinkled in deep end of pool (in my AG pool anywhere), then wait 15 min (I've also read wait 2 hours) before turning back the pump. Then wait 3-4 days before re-testing level and re-adjusting.

True, partially true, or myth?

Thank you
 
i wouldn't worry about your TA, its fine. its above recommended level but its nothing to worry about. higher TA will drive your pH up, but you will be adding muriatic acid to lower it. this process of constantly lowering your pH and then it rising back up with lower your TA over time. you will find that you will not have to adjust your pH as much and it the TA/pH will be more stable.

if you want to raise pH, aim one of your returns at the surface of the water. the extra agitation/aeration will raise pH

EDIT: I saw you mentioned you use pH down. don't buy any more of that stuff. best option for lowering pH is muriatic acid, about $7 for a gallon at one of the big box stores. doenst take much either.

and your FC is way too low for your CYA. don't use trichlor, it will raise your CYA. liquid bleach/chlorine is best.
 
in canada you can get muriatic acid at canadian tire or home hardware in the paint section (no idea why they keep it there) e.g. this

you can use trichlor, but as you may know you will gradually have to increase your target FC all summer long as the CYA builds up.

as for TA, raising it is fast and easy with baking soda. as dan said above, lowering it is slow as you must decrease the pH to 7.0-7.2 with acid, which will also lower the TA, then raise it back up with aeration, and repeat the cycle until TA is where you want it.
 
Good job getting a good test kit!

You can use the pucks or whatever you want to deal with your FC BUT your FC is way low! You need to get some bleach/chlorine and plan on adding it every day as you are heading to an algae bloom if you keep on where you are at.

Let us know how else we can help!

Kim
 
Thanks a lot for all the responses.

Please correct my chain of thought here about TA.
Because my pH was always crawling up to 8, I decided to have the TA in the 100-120 range (the higher limit of normal found on the back of the TA+ bottle that I had bought from pool store), thinking that if I have more of the buffer, I wouldn't have to adjust pH as often. Also thinking that since I'm using trichlor which is acidic, might as well keep TA slightly higher. But from some of the threads I've read, people seem to have more stable pH at lower TA around 70.

As an aside, I have some pH minus from pool store that I had bought last fall. I was going to finish it, then switch to muriatic acid. We do partially drain pool for winter closing yearly, so I shouldn't have trouble with sulfates. Hopefully.

Thank you
 
Please use these levels as a guide. They are proven time and again to work with solid science behind them.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/134-recommended-levels

I found this summer that my TA was a little high for my pool (TA100) and that caused my PH to raise faster than it used to when I kept my TA at 75. Once I dropped my TA down to 75 my PH stabilized!

Just some food for thought.

Kim

- - - Updated - - -

Please use these levels as a guide. They are proven time and again to work with solid science behind them.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/134-recommended-levels

I found this summer that my TA was a little high for my pool (TA100) and that caused my PH to raise faster than it used to when I kept my TA at 75. Once I dropped my TA down to 75 my PH stabilized!

Just some food for thought.

Kim
 
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