Balancing New Pool Water

[SFVPool]

Hi everyone,

I have a 33k Gal, plaster pool using liquid chlorine.

I just replaced enough pool water to get my CYA to 45. My FC is .6, CC .2, PH 7.6, TA 125, CH 350. The Pool Calculator said to add 2gal and 1cup of 12% chlorine to get my FC to 8. I plan on getting my FC between 6-8, then recheck levels before doing anything else. My question is should I be checking or doing anything else at this time like adjusting the TA, or wait until I get my FC to spec.

I am new to the forum, and glad it is here!

 

[HermanTX]

Welcome to TFP
Focus on FC first. Get it in range for CYA of 50. We always round up on CYA to decade number. Refer to this for proper FC based on your CYA. FC/CYA Levels

Your TA will come down in time with MA additions to control your pH. Your pH and CH are good.
Please read
Pool Care Basics

 

[Newdude]

Hey SFV and welcome !!!!!

Switch to 10ml samples and each drop is 1/2 FC. There's simply no need for .2 resolution. A 2.2 and 2.5 equally suck and a 9.4 and 9.5 are equally great for most CYA levels.




For your 50 CYA, min is 5. If you're losing 4ppm a day in sunny CA because it's still August, that means your absolute lowest target is a 9. Preferable you'd dose over target range, and fall back into it for the peak season. Adjust as necessary as the daily loss decreases slowly for the rest of the season. When you're finally losing 2ppm a day, dose to 9 to end up a 7, free and clear above minimum.

 

[SFVPool]

Welcome to TFP
Focus on FC first. Get it in range for CYA of 50. We always round up on CYA to decade number. Refer to this for proper FC based on your CYA. FC/CYA Levels

Your TA will come down in time with MA additions to control your pH. Your pH and CH are good.
Please read
Pool Care Basics

Welcome to TFP
Focus on FC first. Get it in range for CYA of 50. We always round up on CYA to decade number. Refer to this for proper FC based on your CYA. FC/CYA Levels

Your TA will come down in time with MA additions to control your pH. Your pH and CH are good.
Please read
Pool Care Basics

Copy on rounding up to 50. I do have MA, can you suggest how much I should put in and how often until my target is met.

And thank you for replying!

 

[SFVPool]

Hey SFV and welcome !!!!!

Switch to 10ml samples and each drop is 1/2 FC. There's simply no need for .2 resolution. A 2.2 and 2.5 equally suck and a 9.4 and 9.5 are equally great for most CYA levels.

View attachment 526318


For your 50 CYA, min is 5. If you're losing 4ppm a day in sunny CA because it's still August, that means your absolute lowest target is a 9. Preferable you'd dose over target range, and fall back into it for the peak season. Adjust as necessary as the daily loss decreases slowly for the rest of the season. When you're finally losing 2ppm a day, dose to 9 to end up a 7, free and clear above minimum.

Understood on using the 10ml test so my regents last longer!

Also understood on measuring and adding chlorine daily for our climate.

Thank you so much for your assistance, I’ll follow up how it is going.

 

[Newdude]

I do have MA, can you suggest how much I should put in and how often until my target is met.

Download PoolMath. If you buy the yearly subscription for $8, you can save your logs and we can see them too. The free version totally works for calculating if not.

Whenever your ph hits an 8, dose it back to the 7.6 per poolmath. Each cycle your TA will drop some. It's almost good as it is, there's no need to aggressively lower it. Once it's under 110 it will settle where it wants to be while you ignore it and manage the ph by keeping it in the 7s.

 

[HermanTX]

Copy on rounding up to 50. I do have MA, can you suggest how much I should put in and how often until my target is met.

@Newdude got you covered on the process of lowering pH and TA will lower over time. No rush.
Don't be obsessed with lowering TA too quickly.

These are good articles to understand the pH and TA relationship

Managing pH and Total Alkalinity - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

PH TA Relationship - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

TA - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[SFVPool]

Hi everyone,

I've retested CYA and it is at 40 and each evening I've been testing FC, CC, Ph and TA. My TA is steady at 125, FC between 5.5-6.0, CC between 0-.5, Ph 7.2-7.8. I'm losing between 3-4ppm FC a day and dosing between 100-120oz of 12% chlorine a day. I'm concerned that is a high amount per day for chlorine use, also it was an oddly cool week for SoCal half under cloudy skies, today will be back to normal around 95 degrees, I am wondering what that will mean for my daily FC loss this week. I began with a yellow algae problem that began my search for answers and led me to this site. My yellow algae problem that I started with has been slowly fading more each day to where I think it may be gone in a few more days. Is it possible the chlorine is attacking the algae and once thats in check I'll lose less per day or could this high FC per day point to something else.

Your assistance is invaluable so I thank you all again.

 

[HermanTX]

. I began with a yellow algae problem that began my search for answers and led me to this site. My yellow algae problem that I started with has been slowly fading more each day to where I think it may be gone in a few more days. Is it possible the chlorine is attacking the algae and once thats in check I'll lose less per day or could this high FC per day point to something else.

So this is a new issue. Yes chlorine is the only thing that kills algae. If you have algae then you should be doing the SLAM Process.
That requires you to MAINTAIN your chlorine at a high level - 16ppm for a CYA of 40. If you do this, it will rid your algae much quicker.

You mention yellow algae which could be more difficult to remove. Let’s focus on the normal SLAM process now to see how it goes. This now will even require MORE liquid chlorine to reach 16ppm and to hold (MAINTAIN) it at level by testing every 3-4 hrs during daylight hours to top up your FC level to 16.

Please read the SLAM process as you should lower pH first to 7.2-7.4 level. Do not increase CYA - leave it at 40 and don’t worry about TA and CH at this time. Focus on maintaining FC at SLAM level.

 

[SFVPool]

I've read the SLAM instructions and will be starting it this evening. I will follow up in a few days hoping Ive passed my OCLT along with visible ident and CC under .5

I like how the SLAM descriptions says No Short Cuts, Just Do It.

Again, thank you for your input.

=D

 

[kellyfair]

You are on the right path! And nosy people (ok, just me) like to see photos of pool, pool water, and progress!

 

[SFVPool]

I'm sharing where I'm at, the beginning of SLAM day 3 to see if the amount of chlorine I'm using seems normal. (I began my SLAM the evening of 09/08) At my last 4 hour interval test at 6pm forDay 2 my FC dropped 5ppm (avg drop 4-5ppm between each test during the day each day). Day 2 total chlorine added 3.3 gal to maintain FC 17 throughout the day and tested again this morning at 17.5. Overall from my pov things are looking great algae wise but I realize my chlorine intake is still over the OCLT. I hope this all makes sense, I can repost anything differently for clarity.

I have 3 pictures to share, a couple of shots showing stains. Are stains something I should address at the same time as the SLAM or finish the SLAM first then address stains later.

Thank you everyone for your input!
=D

 

[mknauss]

Pass the SLAM process and then see if you wish to deal with the stains.

 

[HermanTX]

I was looking at your PM logs. Several days you had an input of pH=40. I think you meant to put that as CYA. It is using that historical pH value to calculate CSI so you may want to go back to correct that input.

You are keeping up the FC which is great. Just keep at until you pass the criteria for a SLAM.

One criteria is to have no visible algae so ensure you can differentiate the stains from the algae.
Continue to brush as often as you can to filter out the dead algae.

 

[SFVPool]

I updated that incorrect Ph log, thank you for catching that. Understood on the difference between stains, I do notice a lighter mustard algae-looking stain near what I think are copper stains. I’ve been brushing and vacuuming each day.

Thank you everyone for your input, I can’t say this enough.

 

[SFVPool]

I passed my OCLT this morning with FC 1ppm loss overnight and 0 CC. I was looking around on the threads wondering when I should begin testing again for Ph and found the following thread telling me I should finish my yellow algae SLAM with the last 24 hours at a higher FC. I'm sharing this in case someone needs to let me know I may be misunderstanding this.

I'll be holding my FC at 24ppm for the next 24 hours along with being sure to include any equipment or toys commonly in the pool.

Thanks everyone for your assistance!
=D

 

[SFVPool]

I am at 24ppm at the 24 hour mark of the final shock with a couple of questions,

Should I just wait for my pool to drift back to 7 ppm before taking a full set of measurements again?

How long should I wait before addressing iron and copper stains?

 

[HermanTX]

Please confirm you have passed the 3 criteria
CC is 0.5 or lower
Pass an OCLT (i.e. overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less)
Pool water is crystal clear with no visible sign of algae (dead or alive) on floor and walls

Yes - let the FC drift back down but I would keep it between 7-10ppm. Your pH test will be good if FC under 10

Please read the following on Stains

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[SFVPool]

All of the above is confirmed. FC is drifting down, now at 11.5 and I'll test again during the day to stay between 7-10.

Thank you so much for confirming and I'll be reading up on the link about stains.