New pool owner - need help balancing

[Schaeper]

Hello, our pool was just finished a little over a week ago and we are trying to balance our pool. I think we were getting some inaccurate readings at the pool store as one day the free chlorine levels were registering at a 20+ so we uncovered the pool and turned off the salt cell. The next day free chlorine was registering at .26... So I finally sat down and figured out the Taylor test kit yesterday. We have a 12,000 gallon, saltwater, fiberglass pool with an autocover and heater (Water temp at 84). Hayward omnilogic equipment with cell currently set to 0 as we were trying to lower the chlorine. We live in Northern KY and temps are in the 70s right now.

4/29
Free chlorine 9ppm
Combined chlorine .6ppm
pH 7.6
Alkalinity 140
Calcium hardness 210
Cya is lower than can read on test (I can still see the black dot)
Salt 3600

4/30
Free chlorine 5ppm
Combined chlorine .4ppm
pH 7.8
Alkalinity 140
Calcium hardness 190
CYA is lower than can read on test (I can still see the black dot)
Salt 3400

We added 3lbs of stabilizer on Sunday evening because that was showing a 5 at the pool store and that is what they said to add. I tested with the Taylor kit yesterday and today and CYA is still not showing up. I'm unsure of where to go from here. Do I need to wait a few days still for the CYA to register with what we added or should we go ahead and add more (but how much??)? I know I need to increase calcium. The Alkalinity is high but the article about decreasing alkalinity says "There are two reasons to lower your TA right away, because you want to slow down the rate that the pH rises, or if high TA is contributing to a high calcium CSI. You shouldn't lower TA just to reach a target number. Make sure you actually have one of the above issues before lowering your TA." We don't have one of those issues right now so do we just leave the TA alone??

 

[HermanTX]

We added 3lbs of stabilizer on Sunday evening because that was showing a 5 at the pool store and that is what they said to add. I tested with the Taylor kit yesterday and today and CYA is still not showing up. I'm unsure of where to go from here. Do I need to wait a few days still for the CYA to register with what we added or should we go ahead and add more (but how much??)?

How did you add the 3lbs of stablizer? Was it in a sock floating in pool or directly to skimmer?
CYA can take up to 48 hrs to register. Adding 3 lbs to a 12000gal pool should raise CYA by 30 ppm.
I would test again in afternoon. Don't add any more until the first dose has been circulated.

What type of filter do you have?

Raise CH with Calcium Chloride purchased at Home Depot or on Amazon.

 

[Schaeper]

How did you add the 3lbs of stablizer? Was it in a sock floating in pool or directly to skimmer?
CYA can take up to 48 hrs to register. Adding 3 lbs to a 12000gal pool should raise CYA by 30 ppm.
I would test again in afternoon. Don't add any more until the first dose has been circulated.

What type of filter do you have?

Raise CH with Calcium Chloride purchased at Home Depot or on Amazon.

Well I think my husband did it wrong because he didn't read the instructions...He just threw it in the pool and then realized it wasn't dissolving right away so he just sat there and brushed it over and over again until it dissolved. We know about the sock method for next time! Do you think that changed the outcome at all? I'll test it again tonight!

Filter I'm not sure what info to tell you? I attached a pic of what it looks like.

What about the alkalinity...do I just leave it unless our calcium or pH gets too high?

 

[HermanTX]

"There are two reasons to lower your TA right away, because you want to slow down the rate that the pH rises, or if high TA is contributing to a high calcium CSI. You shouldn't lower TA just to reach a target number. Make sure you actually have one of the above issues before lowering your TA."

This is good advice because TA comes down with additions of muriatic acid which also lowers pH. You never want pH below 7 so it is required to cycle TA down over time - could take several weeks. Add MA to lower pH to 7.2 then aerate water (spillover from spa or other water feature), which increases pH. When pH hits 8 then add MA again to lower to 7.2 and the cycle repeats. So there is no rush to lower pH but be conscious of both TA and pH levels to lower TA over time. Some pools like TA of 80, some at 70, etc. so just try to get in range and see if pH stabilizes.

ilter I'm not sure what info to tell you? I attached a pic of what it looks like.

The is a quad cartridge filter. So take note of the filter pressure at baseline operation - heater and cleaner both off, etc. When pressure increases 25% over the baseline then time to clean the filter. So if baseline pressure of 15psi, when pressure reaches 19psi it is time to clean the filter. The baseline pressure will vary by pool equipment set up so it is unique to your pool.

He just threw it in the pool and then realized it wasn't dissolving right away so he just sat there and brushed it over and over again until it dissolved. We know about the sock method for next time! Do you think that changed the outcome at all? I'll test it again tonight!

We all of done similar things. Continue to brush to allow it to mix thoroughly and then test for CYA level later today or tomorrow morning.

 

[CreedenceTapes]

Buying your own test kit was one of the best moves you'll ever make.

CYA can take several days to fully disburse, especially when dumped in like that. No harm, the brushing will have helped some. Keeping your filter pump running will help, in part because larger CYA particles can catch in it and they'll dissolve faster with water moving through the filter.

To answer your question, dumping CYA won't change the final outcome. It just takes it longer to get in solution.