Need to SLAM, just ordered testing kit.

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Megsyperk said:
Hi Dan, we removed the two lights in the pool but I just realized I'm not sure if we did the one in the spa.

The rocks/waterfall have me concerned. I'm going to get some up close pics later today.
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I would turn off the waterfall, and spray with a 1/1 mixture of water and bleach. let it sit for a while, then scrub. turn on water fall to rinse. then do it all over again. definitely a place where algae can thrive. depending on how your waterfall works, you may have to do this regularly once your SLAM is done. some water falls create areas where it gets moist, but the chlorinated pool water is not constantly flowing over it to kill algae, while other waterfalls have more consistent flow, and people can run them for 2 hours a day and have no issues. just depends on how it operates, etc.
 
Zero loss overnight. ZERO!

Started at 13.5, ended at 13.5. CC is 0.

Do I keep going?

Our pH crept up again to 8.4. I tested it yesterday afternoon when FC was at 5.5. I only ran the waterfall for 10 min. What else could be causing pH to rise?


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Thanks! The pool water is very clear. It's got the sparkle for sure.

Can any of you help me identify issues with the rocks? I can't tell if some of this is normal or not - and what's algae vs some sort of mossy growth. Not all of these areas of the rocks come into direct contact with the waterfall.













I've been spraying the whole area with a 1:1 bleach solution and scrubbing. But some of it isn't moving. Tho the mossy growth is dying for sure.

I'm just not sure which parts I need to be overly concerned with. Or if all of it is an issue.




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I think I may have figured out our trouble with rising pH. Just ran the battery of tests.

TA 140
CH 275
CYA 40

The CYA being at 40 could also explain why the SLAM took so long ? - I've been basing my calculations on 30. I did the test several times and it's definitely at 40. I have a sock of it sitting in the skimmer because I was trying to get it up by 10 ppm. Wondering if I should remove it (just added it this morning) and focus on getting the TA down first.

The pool gets full Texas sun - so that's why I am wanting to raise it by 10 ppm.

Here's a screenshot of pool math:





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The CYA not being what you were targeting the FC for could explain a lot.

I am not much help with the rocks other than............I would be spraying and brushing like mad the areas that comes any where near your water OR where rain water runs off of it into the pool.

I am thinking that once you get the rocks "clean" you should look into as in research the thoughts on sealing them. I am thinking that if you clean them REAL good and seal them they will take a lot longer to grow new bad stuff on them.

PLEASE research this idea and see if it has been done before and if there are any reasons not to do this. I am just talking about loud and using my gut.

Kim
 
I can't believe how stable the numbers have become since passing OCLT! I didn't add any chlorine (other than what made it in inadvertently from the rock cleaning) and the kids swam all day!

Started day at 13.5
Ended at 9.5

It was 9 this am.

Got TA down to 110 but the CSI is still high so I'm going to bring it down a bit more today.

pH this am was back to 7.5. So adding more MA and aerating ... Aiming for TA of 90 as that will get the CSI back in range.


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The first pic is moss and the rest are lichens. That is how they come out of the woods. The sun will probably kill it all, if it isn't dead already. No issue leaving them as they are if you like the look. Some people pay extra for moss rocks and that more natural look. I would not seal those rocks unless or u til you have a verifiable problem with them. It just creates an annual maintenance task and expense that is of little to no value imo.

Raising your CYA to 50 is a good idea.

Once your TA gets to 90 or 80 you still need to keep an eye on your PH. When it gets to 7.8 lower it to 7.2 with MA and let the TA slowly keep dropping until your PH becomes stable, which might be TA at 60 or even 50.
 
Thanks so much for the tips on the rocks, pooldv!

Quick question about pH becoming stable - can you define what stable is? Not sure what I'm looking for. What's a normal rise?
 
Stable is when the PH does not gain much at all each day. For the average pool with a PH riser like a waterfall or such you should not have to lower the pool more than once or twice a week.

A pool that does not have a water feature stable is not having to lower the PH at all for a while. Once I get mine set with the TA in the Spring I will not have to mess with it again until next Spring.

Kim
 

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Howdy folks!

New numbers as of this morning:

FC 6
CC 0
pH 7.5
TA 80
CH 325
CYA 50

A few questions for you if you don't mind ...

I'm losing on average 3 ppm during the day - full sun, four kids swimming for a couple hours. Should I bump my CYA a bit to reduce FC loss? Or is 3 ppm acceptable? I read another thread that talked about how adding more than your maximum range chlorine is wasteful - I'm getting it to 9 before I leave for work in the morning. But the high end of my range is 8. Should I first try to bump it only to 8 and see if I still land at 6 by end of day?

Next question. Still fighting rising pH but I'm thinking I should just keep adding MA as needed and focus on the FC/CYA relationship before addressing the TA/pH one. Would you agree?


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Yes, keep adding MA....It will bring pH down, and lower TA over time, to where TA/pH reach an equilibrium and you won't have as quick a rise in pH.

2 to 3ppm is normal FC loss per day. Most of us in your situation shoot for a slightly higher FC each day just for this reason. I have an SWG, but I like to keep mine around 7 to 8 at all times, even though I would be safe at 6. If you can keep your CYA down, I would, just on the off chance you ever have an event that causes you to SLAM. I wouldn't say the extra FC is wasteful, and its perfectly safe to swim in up to Shock level.
 
Thanks Robert. Appreciate your input.

I wish I could find the thread I'm thinking of about the extra being wasteful - but if I remember correctly it was chemgeek and duraleigh who were chiming in about the percentage of FC loss and how it increases the higher above your range you go. I took that to mean that in my instance, the extra FC would be eaten by sunlight and not used for sanitation so it was essentially useless. The part that I'm confused about if it that applies to me adding an extra 20 oz of bleach per day to get to 9 ppm in the morning vs 8.

I'm probably over complicating this situation now that I type all that out ... But I am really enjoying geeking out over chemistry. It was one of my favorite college subjects and I rarely get to use it working in IT! :)


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As noted in the Chlorine / CYA Chart the minimum FC for your 50 ppm CYA is 4 ppm and since you are currently losing 3 ppm FC per day why don't you raise the FC to 7 ppm and see how that goes. If you find that you are then losing only 2 ppm FC per day, then you could go to 6 ppm instead. You do lose more at higher FC levels at the same CYA level because the loss is proportional to the FC level. So 33% of 9 ppm is 3 ppm while 33% of 7 ppm is 2.3 ppm.

Now as for raising CYA, a higher CYA level will lose less absolute FC in spite of a proportionally higher FC level due to CYA shielding effects. So you would probably be able to go from 8 to 6 ppm FC with 80 ppm CYA (maybe even 7.5 to 6 or 8 to 6.5), but we don't normally recommend that because if anything goes wrong and you need to SLAM then the amount of chlorine needed is substantially higher.
 
Thanks chem geek! I'd already brought it up to 8 by the time I saw your post so I'll try it tomorrow. Btw, I lost 3 ppm today.


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Pretty sure I know the answer to this, but thought I'd ask anyway.

It's hot here in Texas. Ridiculously hot. FC loss during day is getting higher. Attributed this to heat and a few evening showers we had this week.

Yesterday we had four extra kids sleep over and I was diligent in testing. After they got out last night, FC was 8 (CYA 50) but I decided to go up to 10 to start today off a little high. So I added 40 oz of 10%. This morning's test is 8.

Do I start a SLAM? Water is crystal clear but I don't want another bloom on my hands.


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Megsyperk said:
Pretty sure I know the answer to this, but thought I'd ask anyway.

It's hot here in Texas. Ridiculously hot. FC loss during day is getting higher. Attributed this to heat and a few evening showers we had this week.

Yesterday we had four extra kids sleep over and I was diligent in testing. After they got out last night, FC was 8 (CYA 50) but I decided to go up to 10 to start today off a little high. So I added 40 oz of 10%. This morning's test is 8.

Do I start a SLAM? Water is crystal clear but I don't want another bloom on my hands.


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Did you check to make sure it was indeed at 10ppm 30 minutes or so after the 40oz?

If you did lose 2ppm overnight something other than sunlight is consuming FC. Maybe not enough bathroom breaks for the kids?

I wouldn't panic just yet. Keep your FC elevated through the day today (12-15ppm) and do the OCLT again. When you do the OCLT start with a FC closer to 15ppm.

If if you are confident that CYA is 50ppm, the pool is safe to swim in at these elevated FC levels.

Dom
 
Thanks Dom! I didn't check it again last night since 8 is my target. But I just checked it after adding 40 oz at 6am and it was only at 9. Maybe my bleach isn't as strong as I thought. I got the latest date I could find, but it was still made in early June.

I'll do what you suggest today and report back. My pH was at 8.2 this morning so I added 26 oz of MA. It's now at 7.5. I could leave it there, right? Or should I get it to 7.2?


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Megsyperk said:
Thanks Dom! I didn't check it again last night since 8 is my target. But I just checked it after adding 40 oz at 6am and it was only at 9. Maybe my bleach isn't as strong as I thought. I got the latest date I could find, but it was still made in early June.

I'll do what you suggest today and report back. My pH was at 8.2 this morning so I added 26 oz of MA. It's now at 7.5. I could leave it there, right? Or should I get it to 7.2?


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2 month old bleach most likely has lost a bit of strength, which is how it seems with your results.

While the pH is fine at 7.5 for now, it would be helpful to know TA also.

Dom
 

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