At what CH level is critical?

[DieselD]

So based on our high evap rates here in AZ and our fill water CH of 175-200 our pool water CH has crept up to from 300 to 500 in about a year. My course of action this season has been to run a lower PH and TA to keep the CSI as close to zero as possible. At what point do I need to worry about draining to get the CH down? Rumor is our water rates may go up by the first of the year so I may need to do a drain/fill before that happens anyway. What say the pros?

Current numbers are

FC target 8-9
CC 0
PH 7.2-7.7(I hit it with MA at 7.6-7.7
TA 80-100
CH 500
CYA 60
Water temp 90
ambient day time temps of 115-120*

 

[zea3]

You can avoid scale by keeping the pH low like you have been, using downspouts to capture and direct any rain water you may receive toward the pool, and possibly using stain and scale inhibitor. Some of our members run their pools with very high calcium in their water without difficulty.

 

[chiefwej]

I spent over a year with my CH well above the 1,000 mark, with no scale. The key is very carefully watching and controlling your CSI. I keep my CSI always slightly on the negative side, with a goal between -0.1 and -0.3. It can be done, but as the calcium levels get higher it becomes more and more difficult. By the time you are at or above 1,000 it like walking a tight rope. As far as the cost of the water, it cost me more for the salt, stabilizer, borates than the water itself. With a 10k pool the water cost shouldn't be too bad.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

1150ppm right now. No issues with scale.

I'll be draining in the fall ... and then running a garden hose from chiefwej's house to my pool for some low CH fill water

 

[jblizzle]

1150ppm right now. No issues with scale.

I'll be draining in the fall ... and then running a garden hose from chiefwej's house to my pool for some low CH fill water

Great you won't be stealing my water however unbeknownst to you he lives even farther away from you than I do

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Great you won't be stealing my water however unbeknownst to you he lives even farther away from you than I do

I plan on running two hoses. A pool fills faster with two hose

 

[chiefwej]

Two hoses would definitely overwhelm the water softener that I use for my auto fill.

 

[DieselD]

You can avoid scale by keeping the pH low like you have been, using downspouts to capture and direct any rain water you may receive toward the pool, and possibly using stain and scale inhibitor. Some of our members run their pools with very high calcium in their water without difficulty.

Being in AZ we dont see enough rain water to really make it worth adding downspouts to the roof and directing it to the pool. At least in my orientation of house and pool.

I spent over a year with my CH well above the 1,000 mark, with no scale. The key is very carefully watching and controlling your CSI. I keep my CSI always slightly on the negative side, with a goal between -0.1 and -0.3. It can be done, but as the calcium levels get higher it becomes more and more difficult. By the time you are at or above 1,000 it like walking a tight rope. As far as the cost of the water, it cost me more for the salt, stabilizer, borates than the water itself. With a 10k pool the water cost shouldn't be too bad.

wow, 1000 is nuts but good to hear its all about the CSI score like I have been following. I had been flowing the -.60-.60 around the 300-400 mark but since getting to 500 Ive cut it in half.

We we moved in a year ago the tiles had pretty nasty scaling yet the CH was only at 300, I suspect they had drained the pool over the prior winter since the CYA had only hit 80 with pucks in use. I thought I would have needed to do a partial drain after getting started with TFP but ended up lucking out. So far I have not had any scale return but thanks for the reassurance I am on the right path!

I think I will do a partial drain when it cools off and before out water rates rise. Currently we have dirt cheap rates being with a private water company but that looks like its changing....

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Being in AZ we dont see enough rain water to really make it worth adding downspouts to the roof and directing it to the pool. At least in my orientation of house and pool.
...

I'm at 1150ppm and just fine...

Actually, I have nearly 4000 sq ft of flat roof. The largest section has a down spout (I ripped the scuppers out a year after moving in) that POURS hundreds of gallons of water out of it when the monsoons hit. It's one of my secret evil house upgrade plans to add a large water tank to that downspout. I'd love to add a few hundred gallons of rain water to my pool....

 

[DieselD]

I'm at 1150ppm and just fine...

Actually, I have nearly 4000 sq ft of flat roof. The largest section has a down spout (I ripped the scuppers out a year after moving in) that POURS hundreds of gallons of water out of it when the monsoons hit. It's one of my secret evil house upgrade plans to add a large water tank to that downspout. I'd love to add a few hundred gallons of rain water to my pool....

Tucson has awesome monsoons. Phx is sucking for them and we get very little rain during the monsoons, mostly just dirt and wind to toss a bunch of trash in the water instead of rain lol

 

[QingGuy]

My CH is around 1000-1100. I too do the trying to keep CSI in the negative game. It's a bit of a pain, however, our water here is very hard so other than changing out every other year there's not much you can do. I'm on my third season using this water and will be draining at the end of the season.