So one heaping spoon with standard amount of test water, or 1/2 amount of test water?
Why/how the pool techs could clean my pool in 15 minutes?!
- Thread starter Household6
- Start date
So one heaping spoon with standard amount of test water, or 1/2 amount of test water?
This afternoon's results were a bit wonky. First time FC has gone down during day.
Water is crystal clear.
7:30am:
FC- 13.4
CC-
Added 123 oz of 85% bleach
12:30pm:
FC- 13.8
CC-
Added 104 oz of 85% bleach
2:15pm:
FC- 13.0
CC-
Added 142 oz of 85% bleach
Tested CYA and it's now at 34.
This would put the FC shock level needing to be at 13/14 (as opposed to 15 for original CYA of 37).
Do we add MA to get CYA back up?
Do we still try for 15/16 with CYA at 34 (is that even possible?)?
Do we run with CYA at 34 and go with 13/14 range?
Quick question, but how are you measuring your CYA? Normally, the 10s place is as far as we can tell so reporting numbers like 37 or 34, respectively, would be 40 or 30 rounding up or down. Anyway, just curious. I think you're doing fine. And you mean 8.25% bleach. Just checking. 
Going a tad higher with FC is usually not a bad idea just in case...won't hurt anything.
Going a tad higher with FC is usually not a bad idea just in case...won't hurt anything.
For the record, here were results from previous days (prior to realizing using too much powder).
Mon 8/31:
Rain this morning.
More spots came up when cleaning yesterday, and doesn't take as much time to scrub.
Noon:
FC- 10.8
CC- .4
Added 246 oz
5:30pm:
FC- 14.6
CC - .8
Added 66 oz
Same areas still spotted. Difficult to remove, but looking better.
8pm:
FC- 15.6
CC- .6
0 added. OCLT test
Tues 9/1:
FC- 12.6
CC- .4
Added 161 oz
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Mon 8/31:
Rain this morning.
More spots came up when cleaning yesterday, and doesn't take as much time to scrub.
Noon:
FC- 10.8
CC- .4
Added 246 oz
5:30pm:
FC- 14.6
CC - .8
Added 66 oz
Same areas still spotted. Difficult to remove, but looking better.
8pm:
FC- 15.6
CC- .6
0 added. OCLT test
Tues 9/1:
FC- 12.6
CC- .4
Added 161 oz
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Quick question, but how are you measuring your CYA? Normally, the 10s place is as far as we can tell so reporting numbers like 37 or 34, respectively, would be 40 or 30 rounding up or down. Anyway, just curious. I think you're doing fine. And you mean 8.25% bleach. Just checking.
No idea. But I'll ask.
Remember, I'm not the one actually doing the testing. I'm 5+ hours away. To be honest, I've never in my life done a single pool water test. (Hubs deployed 3 weeks after buying the house. The last thing I needed to be worrying about was pool water. He rec'd orders to move 6 months into that 12 month deployment. So when he returned, we had 2 months to find a new place to rent, rent out this house, pack up and move. Again, last thing we needed to worry about was pool water. So the (now retired) pool company was doing it the entire time.)
This just in -
Thurs (today) @ 7:30pm results:
FC- 14.8
CC- .2
Add 57 oz bleach, or go for OCLT and see what we have in the morning?
Thurs (today) @ 7:30pm results:
FC- 14.8
CC- .2
Add 57 oz bleach, or go for OCLT and see what we have in the morning?
Quick question, but how are you measuring your CYA? Normally, the 10s place is as far as we can tell so reporting numbers like 37 or 34, respectively, would be 40 or 30 rounding up or down. Anyway, just curious. I think you're doing fine. And you mean 8.25% bleach. Just checking.
85% bleach - woooow! That would create havoc, wouldn't it?! Yes, I meant 8.25%.
I'm tired, cranky, frustrated and . . . tired!
[emoji42] [emoji30]
Like other's have mentioned, using "too much" powder does NOT cause invalid FC results, it just wastes powder. On the other hand, for high FC levels, if you don't use ENOUGH powder it will indeed produce an invalid result.
You know you've added the ideal amount of reagent powder when there is only a small amount of undissolved crystals.
Also, there's no real need to perform the FC test with 0.2ppm accuracy. You can use a smaller 10ml water sample and still get 0.5ppm resolution which is good enough for most purposes.
You know you've added the ideal amount of reagent powder when there is only a small amount of undissolved crystals.
Also, there's no real need to perform the FC test with 0.2ppm accuracy. You can use a smaller 10ml water sample and still get 0.5ppm resolution which is good enough for most purposes.
Jesse - The undissolved crystals turns out not to be as important as we used to think. Do a search of recent posts for the details. It turns out the important thing is the deep pink color.
Looking back, I didn't catch what was being said. Now I do.
So why didn't the pool store's results match up with the K2006 results? (I realize pool stores are the anti-Christ, and understand they merely want to sell more stuff.) But I'm pretty sure pool guy has been comparing results and all else has checked out fine. (He'd have said something if they didn't, and side with the pool store's "computer testing" deeming it more accurate.) But the results were pretty far off. How am I going to defend that to pool guy?
And when he returned to the pool, he tested again with two level spoons and the results were close.
His numbers from K2006 kit were between 30 and 40. He took to pool store and they told him 34.
Here's the deal - pool guy is of the opinion that the CYA level will not be able to reach 16 with a CYA of 34. He wants to go with 13 or 14 and see if it will hold overnight.
Important to note that he has other commitments starting tomorrow (Fri) and will only be able to test in the morning and late afternoon through Monday.
So do we
-1. add MA to get water back up to 40?
- 2. Let it sit at 34, and it will eventually reach 16?
- 3. Let it sit at 34, and do OCLT at (a) 13, (b) 14, or (c) 15? or
- 4. something else?
Thanks, everyone, for your input. I'm just as ready for this to be over with as I'm sure everyone here is (so I'll quit bugging you), as well as the pool guy!
Important to note that he has other commitments starting tomorrow (Fri) and will only be able to test in the morning and late afternoon through Monday.
So do we
-1. add MA to get water back up to 40?
- 2. Let it sit at 34, and it will eventually reach 16?
- 3. Let it sit at 34, and do OCLT at (a) 13, (b) 14, or (c) 15? or
- 4. something else?
Thanks, everyone, for your input. I'm just as ready for this to be over with as I'm sure everyone here is (so I'll quit bugging you), as well as the pool guy!
Quick disclaimer, i just started this whole method of pool care this week, and thanks to work, have only been able to tend to my pool 1 or so times a day even though it needed slamming. It's almost clear, but i think not being able to tend more than once/day is really holding me back.
If i understand what I've read around here correctly, why are you concerned with keeping your CYA up near 40? It's just forcing you to dump that much more chlorine in your pool to keep it at shock level. Seems like letting CYA dip (to other reasonable levels - 30 or so) for now would help out with how much chlorine is being dumped in the pool. Then when you get to a maintaining state, get that CYA up so the sun doesn't get rid the chlorine as fast.
Maybe you could even let CYA go down to 20, but then the sun might be burning off too much chlorine and you're back adding tons of chlorine in the pool. Again i'm new to all of this so i'm not real sure my logic is correct.
If i understand what I've read around here correctly, why are you concerned with keeping your CYA up near 40? It's just forcing you to dump that much more chlorine in your pool to keep it at shock level. Seems like letting CYA dip (to other reasonable levels - 30 or so) for now would help out with how much chlorine is being dumped in the pool. Then when you get to a maintaining state, get that CYA up so the sun doesn't get rid the chlorine as fast.
Maybe you could even let CYA go down to 20, but then the sun might be burning off too much chlorine and you're back adding tons of chlorine in the pool. Again i'm new to all of this so i'm not real sure my logic is correct.
Agreed regarding the ultimate goal is getting that deepest pink color, but how do you know you actually have the deepest pink until you've saturated the solution?
n240sxguy
Well-known member
I assume you mean the fc level reaching 16 with the cya at 34?
1. MA does nothing to the CYA.
2. Cya at 34? Fc at 16? You'd just have to add enough chlorine to get there.
3. C
4. Nah
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Going up to CYA 40 would just mean you have to SLAM at higher FC level - no reason to do that. Also, you wouldn't use MA (muriatic acid) to raise CYA; you would use CYA.
I think there is some misconception lurking in this question. The FC level isn't limited in some direct way by the CYA level - if you dumped in enough bleach you could drive the FC much higher than 16. Conversely, FC will not somehow drift toward 16 if you just wait around - more bleach must be added if you want to increase the FC level.
You could certainly try another OCLT, probably with FC closer to 16. You said the pool guy measured CYA between 30 and 40, so I would lean more toward FC levels appropriate for CYA 40.
The FC isn't Not reaching 16ppm because the CYA is only 34ppm, it's not reaching 16ppm because there isn't enough bleach being added to raise it to 16ppm. It's as simple as that. Add enough bleach, and it Will reach 16ppm.
Perhaps since you aren't reaching the desired FC level your gallons could be off some, so if it is calculating you lower than you want.
There are 2 things you can do to remedy that
1) Increase the gallons on the size of your pool,
or
2) Target a higher number say 17 or 18ppm on the FC, and add that amount, so it will keep you at 15-16ppm. Instead of 10-14ppm?
Right now it appears the levels are all over the place with little to no consistency. Anytime the pool drops below the 16ppm the algae is not being killed at that time, so that's why it's so important to raise it, and maintain it at that level.
Also increasing the CYA will Not help the FC to hold overnight. The FC is not holding overnight, or during the day, because the algae is Still currently consuming it because the FC level isn't being maintained consistently at the Shock level. It has to be raised to that level, and held there until the algae is killed off. Every drop below Shock level is hurting your process, and slowing it down.
I can't even imagine how difficult it is for you being so far away trying to get someone else to do it correctly for you, but we will all do our best to ensure you get that algae killed out.
. Oh and please tell your husband I said Thank you for his service. Have a wonderful night, and Hang in there
.
The FC isn't Not reaching 16ppm because the CYA is only 34ppm, it's not reaching 16ppm because there isn't enough bleach being added to raise it to 16ppm. It's as simple as that. Add enough bleach, and it Will reach 16ppm.
Perhaps since you aren't reaching the desired FC level your gallons could be off some, so if it is calculating you lower than you want.
There are 2 things you can do to remedy that
1) Increase the gallons on the size of your pool,
or
2) Target a higher number say 17 or 18ppm on the FC, and add that amount, so it will keep you at 15-16ppm. Instead of 10-14ppm?
Right now it appears the levels are all over the place with little to no consistency. Anytime the pool drops below the 16ppm the algae is not being killed at that time, so that's why it's so important to raise it, and maintain it at that level.
Also increasing the CYA will Not help the FC to hold overnight. The FC is not holding overnight, or during the day, because the algae is Still currently consuming it because the FC level isn't being maintained consistently at the Shock level. It has to be raised to that level, and held there until the algae is killed off. Every drop below Shock level is hurting your process, and slowing it down.
I can't even imagine how difficult it is for you being so far away trying to get someone else to do it correctly for you, but we will all do our best to ensure you get that algae killed out.
Oh and please tell your husband I said Thank you for his service. Have a wonderful night, and Hang in there
This is exactly as I have been wondering - in factoring in the slopes of the pool, and because the county's water meter showed in took 30k to fill it up, pool guy thinks the pool is more around 30k gallons. I think the meter was wrong and that its more like 37k gallons. We "compromised" and he's been using 32k gallons for pool math.
Turns out the tenants are "very upset" (per the property manager) because they were asked for 2 days this week not to use the pool (%||££!?,~|.££*!!!!) and appear to be not so eager to help with anything.
Our pool maintenance costs (not including the repairs) for this summer are well into 4 digits! Most owners would have given up by now, but I'm trying my hardest to hang on!
I've told pool guy to just forget about SLAM this weekend and we'll restart the process Tuesday. I think ALL involved need a break! He's just going to maintain everything at a reasonable level so they can have the pool to swim without his interruption, he can spend time with his family, and I can spend uninterrupted time with mine.
One question though - I'm gathering, despite the size of a pool, it can be taken to ANY shock level, no matter what the CYA is. Is this right?
If so, what's the harm in ramping this thing up to 19 next week? I mean, would the plaster or paint or ladder fall off the walls? Why not go "all out"?
If so, what's the harm in ramping this thing up to 19 next week? I mean, would the plaster or paint or ladder fall off the walls? Why not go "all out"?