Reddit

[KevinL]

I just posted this in Reddit,
"I live in sunny Southern California and have to target 9.5 PPM chlorine every night just in order to keep pouring level above for PPM the next day. So I'm losing about 5.5 PPM per day. And for a 14,700 gallon pool, that adds up to more than 1/2 a gallon of chlorine per day.
So I have two questions. First, does this seem like a reasonable amount to add daily? And two, how is it possible that these professional pool guys can add chlorine just once a week and still maintain proper levels needed to avoid algae? I have to add chlorine every night!"

Almost everyone on Reddit recommended that I raise my CYA (currently 30 ppm). But I understood on trouble-free pools that increasing CYA above 30 brings diminishing returns. And by the way I have already done the overnight chlorine loss test and passed it. Any thoughts?

 

[VinnyinNJ]

CYA is a sunblock. The more you have, the less the chlorine is eaten up by the sunlight. BUT the more CYA you have the higher your free chlorine amount needs to be. There is a CYA/Chlorine table on this forum that will give you the FC needed for your CYA amount. Since you are getting your FC to 9.5 you are OK with higher FC amounts. If you lose 0 chlorine overnight then adding CYA may be the way to go, just remember if you need to SLAM your pool at any time the amount of FC needed goes up as the amount of CYA is in your pool. It is recommended to keep CYA high in a salt water pool with a generator so the amount needed for it to generate is lower (less loss) than at lower CYA levels.

As an FYI, I keep my pool covered with a solar cover and I lose very little chlorine due to the sun; the solar cover is acting like SPF 1000 on the chlorine. We may not normally get the heat/sun you do but it's been really hot and sunny here in NJ and I still lose very little FC with the cover on.

 

[proavia]

I guess my first question is, why did you post to Reddit? I doubt many there understand or follow the TFP methods.

5.5 ppm FC lose per day is a little high. Suggest you do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

Being in sunny SoCal, a CYA of 40 may better serve you. But first, perform the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to rule out the need to SLAM Process.
Also, dose FC for your CYA using the FC/CYA Levels. If your FC loss exceeds the difference between minimum and top end of the target range, add a few more ppm to make up the difference.

 

[duraleigh]

TFP teaches pool care management that works.............and that's all we teach simply because it DOES work.

We have no idea why Reddit or folks on there advise what they advise. You will waste a lot of time and perhaps some money by trying to blend their thoughts into ours.

Your chlorine consumption is a little excessive. Perform an OCLT and report your overnight loss.

 

[KevinL]

TFP teaches pool care management that works.............and that's all we teach simply because it DOES work.

We have no idea why Reddit or folks on there advise what they advise. You will waste a lot of time and perhaps some money by trying to blend their thoughts into ours.

Your chlorine consumption is a little excessive. Perform an OCLT and report your overnight loss.

Thank you for your advice. Do you feel like my CYA at 30 PPM is okay? All the information I have seen shows that you only get a slight improvement in chlorine protection by increasing it beyond 30.

 

[JJ_Tex]

30-60 CYA is the recommended level for a non-salt pool. You are within the range at 30, but if you get a good amount of sun I would bump it up to 40 or 50 but only AFTER you do an OCLT to make sure you don't have algae in the pool.

 

[Newdude]

In the hot climates, many members have found they needed to go to 40, or even 50. Add 10ppm at a time and road test it to see if it gets you back in the 3 to 4 ppm of daily loss.

 

[KevinL]

30-60 CYA is the recommended level for a non-salt pool. You are within the range at 30, but if you get a good amount of sun I would bump it up to 40 or 50 but only AFTER you do an OCLT to make sure you don't have algae in the pool.

Thanks guys, I already passed the OCLT. I have currently ordered the 50 PPM standard for CYA that Taylor sells so I can get more proficient at their very subjective black dot test. Once I do that, I'm probably going to raise CYA by 10 PPM and see what happens.