Transitioning from Pool Store Method to TFPC - What Should I do First?

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Who knows just how high it was when this started. it might have been SOOOOOOOO high that................it is taking forever to get it down.

SOON it will be done where you want it and you will NEVER have to do this again because you will have the skills and test kit to make a great pool!

Kim
 
Thanks RJ & Kim. Well we swam after the chlorine was added and circulated today anyway which was great. It's been 100+ all week - what a week to go through this! We were swimming with CYA even higher than it was today before starting our drain and fill routine, and we're not green or anything and I definitely needed that today! My husband purchased another pump today also, so we have 2 going now & are doing a second drain for the day (6th drain total). Hopefully we will get it filled again by tonight and get a lower CYA reading! I think I will duck and cover when the water bill comes. Last month they read the meter about the 11th, so they should be reading in 10 days or so.
 
KASCPAMBA said:
Thanks RJ & Kim. Well we swam after the chlorine was added and circulated today anyway which was great. It's been 100+ all week - what a week to go through this! We were swimming with CYA even higher than it was today before starting our drain and fill routine, and we're not green or anything and I definitely needed that today! My husband purchased another pump today also, so we have 2 going now & are doing a second drain for the day (6th drain total). Hopefully we will get it filled again by tonight and get a lower CYA reading! I think I will duck and cover when the water bill comes. Last month they read the meter about the 11th, so they should be reading in 10 days or so.
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Is the pump which you use to drain close to the surface or in deep end at botrom?

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Helislope - both pumps are at the bottom. We were draining from the deep end with the original pump - now we have one at the deep end and one at the shallow end.

You may note that I have changed the gallons in my pool - we found out it was more shallow than we thought when measuring the depth to see when we had the pool half way drained.

We just finished refilling from the 6th drain we started yesterday and CYA = 130. FC = .75. Doesn't it figured right after we got it filled it started raining, so we can't drain and the pool was already full so the rain is of no benefit (as far as the pool goes anyway - the yard needs it). We'll start another drain when the rain stops.
 
KASCPAMBA said:
Helislope - both pumps are at the bottom. We were draining from the deep end with the original pump - now we have one at the deep end and one at the shallow end.

You may note that I have changed the gallons in my pool - we found out it was more shallow than we thought when measuring the depth to see when we had the pool half way drained.

We just finished refilling from the 6th drain we started yesterday and CYA = 130. FC = 75. Doesn't it figured right after we got it filled it started raining, so we can't drain and the pool was already full so the rain is of no benefit (as far as the pool goes anyway - the yard needs it). We'll start another drain when the rain stops.
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I do know this as fact however when I had to lower CYA I was told to drain from the surface not from bottom. According to the individual who was helping me, he has seen people drain from bottom with sometime little change in CYA levels. To put pump removing water from top. His theory was CYA rises to surface.

Again I have no idea, but followed his advice as my pool is 36000 gallons. Lot of water to change when it is recommended to drain 50%. I was able to almost cut CYA levels in half on first drain.

I know the advice on TFP is good. Maybe some with more knowledge can let us know if this is true (CYA is higher at surface).

Good luck.




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Thanks for the thought Heliscope, and clarification Abigail.

After the 7th drain and refill and CYA = 75 (using 100% pool water). I read that if your pool gets a lot of direct sunlight that CYA could be up to 80. My pool gets sunlight all day until mid-evening, so am I "in the clear" as far a CYA? :confused:

I'm getting low on R-0013 so I ordered some more - we went through about 3/4 of a bottle already!

FC = .75 as usual.
 
Smykowski said:
We recommend getting it down to 50. That being said, there are a few of us, who, for one reason or another, started the TFP method between 70-80. It can be done, but it will be harder, and you will have to be very diligent about keeping your FC up at the appropriate level.
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Dittos. Getting it down to 50 will make the water easier to manage on daily basis. In addition, it will give you some headroom if you go out of town for more than a couple of days and need to temporarily use trichlor tablets while you are gone in order to maintain proper chlorine levels.

BTW, great job on your patience and persistence with the drain/refills to get the CYA down :goodjob:
 

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8th drain and refill and CYA = just shy of 50!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :party:

Other weekly tests: FC = .5 ppm, CC = .5 ppm, TC = 1.0 ppm, CH = 200 ppm, TA = 170, ph = about 7.65.

So I will adjust FC based on a target of 6 ppm (minimum 4 ppm recommended) correct?

I'm unclear if I need to do anything about TA. I'm thinking nothing as my ph always tended to be low in the past and now it's in the correct range - please let me know if you recommend otherwise.

Now if we can just get the chlorine to stick!
 
You did it! WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is info about TA.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/129-how-to-lower-lowering-total-alkalinity

Might as well go ahead and get everything in balance.

I see you said weekly test. For FC you need to test daily or even twice a day until you find what YOUR pool likes.

MY pool likes 60 oz of 11% chlorine every night. When I add the chlorine I put the pump on high for 30 mins. then turn it off for the night. It likes the pump to run most of the day on low.

I am in awe of your persistence. You have learned so much and come so far. Now it will be easy!

Kim
 
Thanks PAGirl & kimkats - it was at the least a mental challenge so I appreciate your kudos!

Kimkats - I realize you need to test FC (& I thought Ph) daily. I just mentioned weekly since from what I understand , CC/TC, TA & CYA are normally weekly tests.

I read the link you posted on TA - thanks. It's still mind boggling to me that I want to lower ph when all I have ever wanted to do is increase ph - 7.2 or less was my norm in the past.....and then I will need to increase it again after getting it down. Plus aeration - I swim almost every day but I'm not sure if that will do it - plus that may change depending on weather and my work.

I will look at this again when things calm down. I have some personal issues to deal with, and since TA doesn't appear to be critical, they're taking priority over TA right now - hopefully in the next few days I will be better able to understand the process. I will keep up with the FC for now for sure though!

Where do you get 11% chlorine? All I could find was 8.25%.
 
I just wanted to make sure as some people do not know or what to "mess with it" that much. Good job!

It is funny to push down PH to get TA down then turn around and get PH back up.

To get my PH up I just turn my return eye up and let the water roll. It takes a couple to a few days but is easy and cheap to do it this way.

I get my 11% at my local ACE Hardware store. I "rent" their jugs to have it put in. If I did not have them I would be using Walmart bleach as the pool store that also has 11% is a drive across town in LOTS of traffic. In fact the pool store is a tiny bit cheaper BUT the gas and time makes ACE come out ahead.

Take care of real life. Your pool will still be there waiting to help you relax with a cold one in your hand when you are ready LOL

Kim
 
KASCPAMBA:

You are the :thequeen: of persistence. Great job on sticking with it.

As long as you are using bleach for chlorination, monthly testing for CYA is more than adequate. Under these conditions, CYA will remain rather stable. Splash-out and backwashes will gradually lower it over time but the loss will be very slow. Therefore, monthly testing will suffice.

On the subject of bleach strength, the primary factor is freshness. The 8.25% bleach strength is now the most common. If you can find higher strength bleach and you know it is relatively fresh, then I would definitely go for it. However, if you cannot tell if the higher-strength bleach is fresh, then I would opt for the 8.25% and purchase it from a grocery store (including WalMart) or a warehouse club where the product turnover is high. I learned this lesson a couple of years ago where I bought 10% from a home improvement store, but could not determine when it was bottled. It turned out that what I bought was not fresh and had lost about half its strength. Therefore, I had to dose as though it were 6% bleach and not 10%.

Finally, with regard to pH and TA, focus on pH first. I think of it this way...pH is the channel selector and TA is the fine-tuning that brings the selected channel into proper focus. If pH remains relatively stable within the range of 7.2 - 7.8, then TA is at its happy point and no adjustment is needed. OTOH, if pH swings around either up or down, then TA should be adjusted up or down as needed in order to stabilize pH.
 
Thanks kimkats.

Also thanks for all the information BoDarville. So I will keep an eye on the ph and have that determine whether or not I adjust the TA. As of today, no change. ph = about 7.65. FC = .75. So the chlorine isn't burning up quite so fast - originally it was gone by the next day and that was shooting for 7 and estimating the gallons in my pool too high. Gradually it went up to .25 by the next day, then .50, now .75 and that is shooting for 6 and having the gallons correct. I'll try putting in enough to shoot for 6 again and try testing it in a half hour to see what's happening, then perhaps adjust. The main reason I started this whole process was because I was going through chlorine like crazy - in fact according to the pool store the daily amount I was using should have lasted a week - or at least 3-4 days. I'll come back after the next test and post my reading. It's nice to have time and freedom to deal with other things without the dailiy drain and refill at least!

After 1/2 hour FC = 5. I will add more chlorine according to pool math, but I have to go. I will try this again when I have more time to test after 1/2 hour and try to get it up to 6.
 
We just had a member that had the same problem and I have had it to some degree this summer. He was going through quite a bit more chlorine than last summer. He never did find out why! He SLAMed as much as he could with his travel. What ever was the cause went away and he is holding chlorine again at "normal" levels! We were calling it zombie or ghost algae! LOL

Kim
 
KASCPAMBA:

Now that we have the CYA situation under control, the next step is to figure out why your pool is consuming chlorine so quickly. I would recommend doing the Overnight FC Loss Test which is sometimes referred to as the OCLT. This will give us a good baseline on your chlorine consumption under the closest conditions an outdoor pool can get to the "controlled conditions" of a test lab. After you've had a chance to perform this test, post up your results.
 

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