I am just learning how to maintain my SWG pool. I have read the pool school articles. We just had a new liner installed and obviously have new water. They told me they would open the pool but all they really did was turn the equipment on. I had already added the salt. So it seems I need to add CYA. I just want to be sure I don't mess this up. I have ordered the recommended testing kit but wont get it until this Wednesday. I had some test strips laying around. I know they are not very useful but it does show I dont have any free chlorine. Should I add bleach before I get my testing kit?
New liner, new water, help!
- Thread starter hilda50
- Start date
Yes, add a couple gallons tonight & another gallon every day till the test kit arrives.
Thank you Mike1162. My kit has arrived and here are my numbers. Now what? Add CYA?
FC=3.2
CC=2
pH=7.8
TA=100
CH=120
FC=3.2
CC=2
pH=7.8
TA=100
CH=120
Correct add CYA to 50 and creep up on 70. With 2 CC it seems your FC is busy at work. It might be a good idea to bring FC up to 20 and do an OCLT.
I'm not 100% sure but I think you only want to shoot for a CYA level of 30 until you complete the SLAM procedure.
Add enough muriatic acid to get the PH around 7.4 & then start the SLAM. Be careful with the muriatic acid, read all the cautions on the bottle.
You may already be familiar with these but just in case here's two links to help with the SLAM. Use Pool Math to determine how much acid & chlorine to add. If you're not sure about anything just ask!
https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl
https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock
Add enough muriatic acid to get the PH around 7.4 & then start the SLAM. Be careful with the muriatic acid, read all the cautions on the bottle.
You may already be familiar with these but just in case here's two links to help with the SLAM. Use Pool Math to determine how much acid & chlorine to add. If you're not sure about anything just ask!
https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl
https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock
I am not sure what to do next. I added CYA and level was 45 ppm. I also added bleach. I had to go away for a few days. I tested today and the FC was 21 and CC was 4.2. After leaving the auto cover off all day the FC went down to 15 and CC was .6. I'm confused. I also tested NaCl and it is 4400 ppm. That is high too right?
We round up to the next multiple of 10 on CYA, so your 45 should be treated as 50 on the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. My guess is you need to SLAM, but performing the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test is the official way to verify the need to SLAM Process the pool before we get your CYA higher and fine tune the SWG.
What model SWG do you have?
What model SWG do you have?
Keep the cover off while slamming. Bring the chlorine back up to shock level. Is the water still clear?
I don't have a salt water pool so someone else will have to advise you on that.
I don't have a salt water pool so someone else will have to advise you on that.
It's also a lot more economical to perform the FC test with a 10ml sample, add 1 heaped spoonful of powder and then divide the number of total drops by 2 to give you your final reading. (i.e. each drop is 0.5).
Then for CC add the 5 drops of R-0003 and then each drop is 0.5.
It will save your testing reagents big time.
Then for CC add the 5 drops of R-0003 and then each drop is 0.5.
It will save your testing reagents big time.
Thanks for mentioning smaller sample size. I have already had to reorder reagents.... I did an overnight test and FC went from 17.5 to 15.5. water is clear. I turned off swg last night but left pump on. Should I do a SLAM? I thought you only do this with low FC.
- - - Updated - - -
CC went from 2 ppm last night to .5 this morning.
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CC went from 2 ppm last night to .5 this morning.
As long as you did the last test after sunset and the first before sunrise - you lost more than 1ppm FC and failed the OCLT - and yes, we suggest you SLAM. This will sanitize whatever is consuming your FC - and should have you losing 0.3 - 1.0 FC per night. Whatever is taking up your chlorine (probably algae and bacteria) need to be stopped before it gets bad. You might have a very short SLAM though, but still, better to not let these things continue to waste your $ and risk your health. Here are the links for easy reference: SLAM ProcessPoolMath
I did a repeat OCLT last night with a FC of 18 and CC of .5 . This morning it was FC of 20 and CC of .5. So I don't need to slam after all?
Yes no worries there. You may find that the FC will drop off quite quickly so just monitor your FC levels closely and when it comes back at the high end of your target FC switch your SWG back on and then fine tune the SWG from there.
Did you have any tablets/pucks floating in the pool or in an inline chlorination tower during the OCLT?