Due to the excellent advice form this forum, I got my pool builder to remove the Pool Frog and Ozonator system and replace it with an Intellichlor IC40 SWG (the entire build was still under warranty). They finished the install today and put salt into the pool water about 2 hours ago. For the past 3 weeks I've been following TFPC guidelines and "manually" balancing my pool water. I tested the water BEFORE they added any salt and here's the values:
FC- 5 ppm
CC- 0
pH- 7.7
TA- 125
CH- 175
CYA- 60
H2O Temp- 72ºF
Plugging those numbers into the Pool Calculator I get a CSI of 0.04; which looks pretty good to me. However, I read the Pool School article "Water Balance for SWGs" and the TA and CH recommendations are a bit different.
After 2 hours of circulation, the IC40 (through the EasyTouch panel) shows a salt level of 3000 ppm . Adding the salt level into the Pool Calc, I get a CSI of -0.019; which appears even better to me! (BTW, Pentair recommends 3400 ppm for the IC40 as "ideal.") If I plug the Pool School recommended values into the Pool Calc, I get a CSI of -0.33; which shows it to be "potential to become corrosive to plaster." So, as a new SWG owner, I have a few questions:
1. How important is it to bring the TA down to 60-80?
2. How important is it to raise the CH up to 250-350?
3. Why should I try to balance my pool to be "potentially corrosive to plaster"?
4. Should I bump the salt level to 3400-3500?
Of course, my first instinct is to grab a beer and let the pool "stabilize" for a few days before doing anything!
FC- 5 ppm
CC- 0
pH- 7.7
TA- 125
CH- 175
CYA- 60
H2O Temp- 72ºF
Plugging those numbers into the Pool Calculator I get a CSI of 0.04; which looks pretty good to me. However, I read the Pool School article "Water Balance for SWGs" and the TA and CH recommendations are a bit different.
After 2 hours of circulation, the IC40 (through the EasyTouch panel) shows a salt level of 3000 ppm . Adding the salt level into the Pool Calc, I get a CSI of -0.019; which appears even better to me! (BTW, Pentair recommends 3400 ppm for the IC40 as "ideal.") If I plug the Pool School recommended values into the Pool Calc, I get a CSI of -0.33; which shows it to be "potential to become corrosive to plaster." So, as a new SWG owner, I have a few questions:
1. How important is it to bring the TA down to 60-80?
2. How important is it to raise the CH up to 250-350?
3. Why should I try to balance my pool to be "potentially corrosive to plaster"?
4. Should I bump the salt level to 3400-3500?
Of course, my first instinct is to grab a beer and let the pool "stabilize" for a few days before doing anything!