Thanks for all the resources!

[Babble0n]

Against all better judgement, we bought a house with a pool. It has been fun, and I've learned a lot about pools since, partly thanks to the resources on this site. Mainly I've noticed a large discrepancy in the advice scattered about the internet, so I'm happy to have a resource that crowdsources the best methods for maintenance.
I put most the relevant info in my signature, and here are the results from my last test (yesterday):

pH - 7.7
FC - 2.4
CC - 0.2
TA - 140
CH - 320
CYA - 60
NaCl - 3000
Phosphates - ~1k
However, the water quality looks cloudy and blue and I'm hoping to get some help returning it back to clear water again. I'll make a thread in the appropriate forum with more details.

 

[Newdude]

Hey Babble and Welcome !!!!

We'll see you over in the balancing/algae forum but I will post this here so it's easily findable




Your current minimum is a 5. At the very least you need to dose minimum, plus the recent daily loss, plus some wiggle room / insurance FC. The pool will lose more to the sun in August than May. That's the reason for the range of 6 to 8. 6 is NOT going to cut it this time of year. 8 might not even either as many of us lose 4+ppm a day in the peak season.

Anywho, you need to end up still above minimum at tomorrow's test/dose time.

That's it. The secret to pool life and clear water. If you maintain that principle, we have time to sort out anything else that arises because we aren't worried about the impending swamp. (Like now).

Have some links

FC/CYA Levels
Pool Care Basics
SLAM Process
PoolMath

 

[dfwnoob]

Welcome! Also I will take this time to repeat my usual mantra of saving on test reagents: for FC use 10mL of pool water and 1 heaping scoop of powder. 1 drop = .5 FC. So 10 drops = 5 FC.

 

[Babble0n]

Thanks for the responses! It wasn't clear to me from the manual if the reagent powder scoops were supposed to heap or be level, I've been using level scoops.
Regarding FC: How do we reconcile the advice for FC with the advice from equipment manufacturers to keep it between 1-3ppm? For example, the real one thing preventing me from ramping up my FC so high as recommended by the SLAM process (~24ppm), is this very explicit warning in my heater manual:

> CAUTION: Free chlorine must not exceed 5 ppm which can damage the heater and is not covered under warranty.

product-details – Raypak

Raypak Pool & Spa, Residential and Commercial Hydronic Products -

www.raypak.com

Does everyone just have bypass valves installed?

 

[Newdude]

How do we reconcile the advice for FC with the advice from equipment manufacturers to keep it between 1-3ppm?

The industry fights to not recognize modern science. We understand that there is a relationship between CYA and FC and the more CYA you have, the higher the FC needs to be to sanitize at the same level. Read the FC/CYA link I posted above. It goes into further detail.

I've been using level scoops.

If it goes HOT pink, you used enough.