Indoor pool chemical problem

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It is you need to add more pH up / alternatively you can get Washing Soda (not Washing Detergent, not Baking Soda) which raises pH as well as slightly raises TA most common brand is Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda found in the laundry aisle at many grocery / dollar stores.

Ike

p.s. don't worry we are getting you closer, and are almost to the fine tuning stage

on the CYA test does the sample with the reagent in the view tube look cloudy at all?
 
Do you get some cloudiness of the water during CYA test - in other words, was the black dot starting to disappear when you put in water to the top of the view tube (above the line marked 30)? Or is it just perfectly clear?

I'm just asking what you remember - don't run another test right away, as K-2006 only comes with enough reagent for 6 CYA tests.

Also, have you had a chance to check CH (I edited a previous post to ask about that, but we've moved on to the next page in the thread since then)?
 
No, the reagent did not look cloudy to me at all as it said it would. I started filling the view tube and the black dot did not fade until it was to the top and then the black dot disappeared altogether. I have not checked CH yet, I will though. Yes, we are getting closer and that makes me very happy. Thanks so much! I will get some pH up or some Washing Soda and work on that today and post back.
 
You don't need to worry about CH very much since you have a vinyl liner pool, only very high CH might be a problem. I would suggest waiting on your speedstir before running this test as the speedstir makes doing the CH test MUCH easier.
 
I asked about pool material earlier, but don't remember an answer from the OP. Nor is that information in her signature. Or are all indoor pools vinyl for some reason?

I was more concerned about possible clouding of the water, if CH happens to be high, but so far so good apparently. Nice to hear about the progress!
 
It was mentioned back on page 1 or 2, I just remember it since her pool is both the same size and material as mine. Out of the people that have posted about indoor pools on here over the years only a handfull have been vinyl liner pools, most are plaster and I don't think i have ever heard of an indoor fiberglass pool
 
Hello.. Sorry for the delay, as we were gone this weekend and when we were here, we were painting cabinets. My chlorine now seems a bit low, maybe 1.5 or something. My pH is now 7. Hardness is 137 on the pool store analysis. The others I'm gathering from my kit and comparing. TA is around 20 or a bit lower. CYA is showing 2. Iron is showing 0.5
 

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I suspect you will need to add CYA, you don't want to over shoot though as the only way to lower CYA is water replacement. CYA can also take a few days to show up on the test after it is in the water, the best method to add CYA is to put it in an old sock and hang it in front of one of the pool returns so it does not touch the sides it is very very slow to dissolve, CYA is very acidic so will will cause your pH do drop some. If the CYA of 2 test result is accurate, which I doubt you are likely to need about 8 pounds of CYA to reach your 30 ppm target. I would suggest trying to add about 4 pounds of CYA at a a time, wait a few days and retest, you can squeeze the sock now and then to speed up the process of dissolving. While you are doing this maintain your FC at a level of 3.5 - 4 ppm using bleach / liquid chlorine. You want to avoid all dry chlorine products.

So to recap use bleach to raise your FC to 3.5 to 4, retest and boost back to 4 as needed every couple of days, don't let it drop below 3 ppm FC.

Get some granular CYA stabilizer, hang it in an old sock in front of the return, use about 4 pounds now, wait a few days and retest if CYA is still not high enough repeat for a total of 8 pounds CYA, do not use over 8 pounds granular CYA

You can buy CYA Stabilizer at pool stores, big box stores like Wal-Mart and Lowes also carry it in their pool department, the brand Wal-Mart sells is reputed to dissolve a bit faster than the brand Lowes commonly sells. It is typically sold in 4, 4.5 or 5 pound containers.
 
Your pH is still quite low (you reported 7) and the CYA will tend to push that down further. TA is also still quite low (20 from your own test?), which will tend to allow the pH to go further down. So, I would recommend nudging the pH up a little more, or at least keeping a very close eye on it as you do your CYA addition.
 
I agree you do need to continue to boost pH as you have been doing with pH up / Washing Soda, I would continue to leave TA alone and save it for the last thing to adjust, I feel many people obsess about TA too much, it really is a fine tuning item and you should seek the TA at which pH stability occurs in your pool, not an artificial number. The TA number can give us clues at which point this will occur, but really the only way you know if through long term pH trends, and since TA is easy to raise and hard to lower I still think it is best to creep up on it once you get into a stable routine of adding chemicals, not while we are still tweaking things like CYA which is acidic.
 
Slowly pour it in front of one of the returns while the circulation pump is running, bleach is heavier than water so could potentially sink to the bottom and bleach out the liner if you just pour it in too fast. When I have to add it by hand I usually buy a brand with the pull tab under the screw off top and just poke a few holes in the tab for slower pouring leave it dripping on my diving board so it can't drip on the side of the liner.

A gallon jug of 8.25% bleach will raise your FC by about 2.5 ppm, with my indoor pool I typically loose less than .5 ppm FC per day in the summer

p.s. one of those smaller 96 oz bottles of 8.25% bleach would put you a bit over 4 ppm right now (close enough, as it will drift down)
 

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