quynh

New member
Jun 9, 2020
2
Montreal, QC
Hi, we just installed a new ozone pool system using chlorine as a secondary sanitizer. Instructions are to check chlorine, pH and alkalinity levels but do I need to balance the calcium and cyanuric acid levels too? Can't find anything online or in the manual about this. Thank you for your help!
 
Welcome!

I'm going to have to pass on commenting on the ozone system - all I have is what we typically would say about those, which can be found here: Ozone Systems - Further Reading - basically, we don't endorse them or feel that they're particularly safe.

Calcium depends on your current calcium levels and on the construction of the pool. If it's a plaster/pebble/gunite pool, then you have to make sure your CSI (of which calcium is a major factor) isn't too low to avoid damaging the finishes. All pools should avoid their CSI (and thus, calcium) from getting too high to avoid scaling and calcium buildup issues.

CYA needs to be in range to maintain a proper ratio per the FC/CYA Levels. If it gets too high, your chlorine won't be able to do any sanitizing at all. How do you typically add chlorine?
 
Hi IceShadow!

Thanks for the welcome and I will definitely give the article a read!
I super shocked the pool and have an automated chlorinator.
My pH, alkaline and chlorine levels are all good but total hardness and CYA are low.
I'll work on bringing those two up.

I appreciate the information and reply!
 
OK - for now, if your CYA is low, the chlorinator (which will use trichlor tabs and adds both FC and CYA to the water) is fine. Not sure on what product you used to "shock" the pool, but it could have more CYA or add CH to the pool - not necessarily a bad thing, but those two things will build up in your pool as they're added while FC will burn away. Eventually your water will get to a level where the CYA or CH is too high and you'd have to replace some of the water. So, we recommend keeping an eye on your CYA levels using a solid test kit, and if they start to get up in the 30-40 range, switching over to liquid chlorine, which doesn't add anything but chlorine and a bit of salt to the water.

I know it can be difficult to get a Taylor or TFT-100 kit in Canada - one of the people in Canada will have to advise on the best way to get a good test kit up there...
 
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