Hello Y'all,
First post and new to the forum and new to maintaining a pool. I have read a couple books and spent a decent amount of time pursuing various forums and blogs. I'd say at this stage I've gathered about equal parts knowledge and confusion over some maintenance methods.
A quick summary of where I am and where I've been: Just had a 15' x 29' x 5.5' pool completed. It does have a large shallow tanning ledge so the total gallonage is roughly 13,500. Use a cartridge filter, UV lamp, VS Pump, in-line puck cholrinator, has two skimmers (independent), two drains (combined) and some bubblers. Pebbletech plaster. Pool was initially filled about June 1 2021.
During some COVID-crazed rumor/actuality, my wife saw on TV that CL could be in short demand this year and she was not going to get our pool time affected by lack therof so she went and bought 3 massive buckets of 3" tablets. We obviously started just sticking in about 5-6 of those in the cholrinator, turning it up to 3-4 and letting it do it's thing. I really only checked the CL and pH for a few months and we just tried to enjoy the water.
I eventually started to notice my CYA levels rise and now know that is due to the excessive use of the pucks. After reading around I flipped to almost exclusive use of liquid CL, baking soda and muriatic acid. Now I feel like I'm constantly battling elevated pH and quickly diminishing CL. The pool is crystal clear, no issues at all.
One of the main questions I have is about CYA, its effect on the CL effectiveness, and safety of CL at particular levels. I'll start by breaking down my readings from this afternoon from a test at Leslie Pools. FWIW, I rarely test there but was just curious about some of the things I don't test for.
FC: 2.65
TC: 2.66
pH: 7.8
TA: 105 (adjusted due to CYA), I got 140 on my own test.
***(On the TA, FWIW, this number has been about 40pts lower up until today, added a bunch of BS last night)***
CH: 304
CYA: 74
Iron: 0
Copper: 0.1
Phosp: 767
TDS: 900
So, I have read about all the pros and cons of the liquid CL vs puck debate but am starting to think maybe just a blend of each is best?? The pucks tend to keep the FC from tanking quite so quickly, make it a bit easier to regulate the pH. The liquid doesn't add excessive CYA, but doesn't seem to last all that long and raises pH some and contributes to the TDS ( I believe).
Back to the question: for my level of CYA, and if using the target of 7.5%, I get that my target CL should be ~5.5ppm. I have also read that you don't want to swim in water that has a CL level above 5ppm. So, this is confounding. Do I HAVE to drain/dilute this out to get my CYA level low enough (~40) that I can keep CL around 3ppm and have a "safe" pool?
At what point to people recommend "fixing" the elevated CYA levels?
Currently, I can add enough liquid CL per PoolMath to pull my CL from say 1 to 5 in the evening, but if people are all swimming the next day it will be back to 1, if not lower that next evening.
I'm just trying to decide how much I should really be worried about the CYA levels, how to best keep CL high enough to be effective but also low enough to be safe.
With regards to the pH I usually just lower it to a target of 7.2 in the evening and it is about 7.4 the next morning. 2 days later it'll be closer to 7.8-7.9ish and I retreat with a little MA to the target. I've heard that new plaster pools will create a bit of a battle there for a few months so I'm not too worried at this stage. Does that sound right?
Thanks in advance, sorry for the lengthy post. Hope you can filter through all that bs and find the question.
Bryan
First post and new to the forum and new to maintaining a pool. I have read a couple books and spent a decent amount of time pursuing various forums and blogs. I'd say at this stage I've gathered about equal parts knowledge and confusion over some maintenance methods.
A quick summary of where I am and where I've been: Just had a 15' x 29' x 5.5' pool completed. It does have a large shallow tanning ledge so the total gallonage is roughly 13,500. Use a cartridge filter, UV lamp, VS Pump, in-line puck cholrinator, has two skimmers (independent), two drains (combined) and some bubblers. Pebbletech plaster. Pool was initially filled about June 1 2021.
During some COVID-crazed rumor/actuality, my wife saw on TV that CL could be in short demand this year and she was not going to get our pool time affected by lack therof so she went and bought 3 massive buckets of 3" tablets. We obviously started just sticking in about 5-6 of those in the cholrinator, turning it up to 3-4 and letting it do it's thing. I really only checked the CL and pH for a few months and we just tried to enjoy the water.
I eventually started to notice my CYA levels rise and now know that is due to the excessive use of the pucks. After reading around I flipped to almost exclusive use of liquid CL, baking soda and muriatic acid. Now I feel like I'm constantly battling elevated pH and quickly diminishing CL. The pool is crystal clear, no issues at all.
One of the main questions I have is about CYA, its effect on the CL effectiveness, and safety of CL at particular levels. I'll start by breaking down my readings from this afternoon from a test at Leslie Pools. FWIW, I rarely test there but was just curious about some of the things I don't test for.
FC: 2.65
TC: 2.66
pH: 7.8
TA: 105 (adjusted due to CYA), I got 140 on my own test.
***(On the TA, FWIW, this number has been about 40pts lower up until today, added a bunch of BS last night)***
CH: 304
CYA: 74
Iron: 0
Copper: 0.1
Phosp: 767
TDS: 900
So, I have read about all the pros and cons of the liquid CL vs puck debate but am starting to think maybe just a blend of each is best?? The pucks tend to keep the FC from tanking quite so quickly, make it a bit easier to regulate the pH. The liquid doesn't add excessive CYA, but doesn't seem to last all that long and raises pH some and contributes to the TDS ( I believe).
Back to the question: for my level of CYA, and if using the target of 7.5%, I get that my target CL should be ~5.5ppm. I have also read that you don't want to swim in water that has a CL level above 5ppm. So, this is confounding. Do I HAVE to drain/dilute this out to get my CYA level low enough (~40) that I can keep CL around 3ppm and have a "safe" pool?
At what point to people recommend "fixing" the elevated CYA levels?
Currently, I can add enough liquid CL per PoolMath to pull my CL from say 1 to 5 in the evening, but if people are all swimming the next day it will be back to 1, if not lower that next evening.
I'm just trying to decide how much I should really be worried about the CYA levels, how to best keep CL high enough to be effective but also low enough to be safe.
With regards to the pH I usually just lower it to a target of 7.2 in the evening and it is about 7.4 the next morning. 2 days later it'll be closer to 7.8-7.9ish and I retreat with a little MA to the target. I've heard that new plaster pools will create a bit of a battle there for a few months so I'm not too worried at this stage. Does that sound right?
Thanks in advance, sorry for the lengthy post. Hope you can filter through all that bs and find the question.
Bryan