Last weekend instead of swimming in my pool, I saw it turn green. Needless to say wife wasn't happy (which means I very unhappy) especially since I was paying someone to take care of the pool. I went and shocked it (well double shocked it) up to very high chlorine, scrubbed like a crazy person to get up all the algie dust and spent several days repeating (added some Algecide for good measure) and hosing out the filter cartridge until it looked clean.
My wife saw just how great a job I did (mistake on my part), fired the pool guy, and declared that I am the new pool guy (saving us money, and also giving me a new hobby of becoming a pool chemist).
Did a lot of research and found this site (a little late), had a Taylor Test kit ordered (the 2006 one), and today I finally went and tested everything since I figured there was no point in testing it right after a shock.
Here is the info about my pool ( this is my first time doing these tests so I may have screwed something up):
Type of pool- Plaster
Size - ~10k gallons
SWG
Water Temp - ~82 degrees (Florida with solar pool heater
)
Salt - 3200 PPM (this is in line with the SWG manual)
FC 9.6PPM (I am guessing it is still high from the shock last week which probably pushed it to over 20 PPM)
CC - 0 PPM (No indicators of any )
PH - looked like it was over 7.8 (couldn't tell difference between 7.8 and 8.0 shades of red), I ran an Acid Demand test and 2 Drops brought me to ~7.4 which I am guessing is the ideal from what I have read).
CYA ~35
TA - 60PPM
CH either 190 or 200 (I may have miss counted a drop).
My actions :
First - CYA - Using the research I found here, the Taylor book and the manual for my SWG, I put about 35OZ (which is less than Pool Math and Tylor book says to add because I have read that it is much easier to add this stuff than get it out of pool), in a Sock and placed in skimmer basket (Whoever invented that idea is probably a genius much smarter than me so I followed like a sheep on that advise). The Goal being to bring it closed to the 60-80PPM range
Chlorine - My pool guy had my generator at 100% (which I am guessing is way to high if the CYA is right), and as such, I have reverted it to 50% and going to have to re-test my chlorine levels to see what changes to make (See question below about when to do that).
Second - I added about 64 OZ baking soda to Raise TA (Pool math says i need less to get it to 80, but I am trying to push it above 80 cause My PH situation and I assume that Muric Acid will eat down some of the TA.
Third - I added 12 OZ of Muric Acid it fit in a Dixy Cup easy so I figured I would start there and see what it does (tailor drop test said to add ~22 OZ)
My manual for the SWG (For what it is worth) says that CH should be between 200 and 400, so I am considering 190 to be close enough to fine and going to leave it for now and re-test next month.
Questions I would like help with if possibe:
1. ~ how long will the CYA take to dissolve in the Sock (I don't plan on re-testing it until fully dissolved as is as it used a lot of test chemical and it seem pointless to test before then). Also should I leave pool pump on 24/7 until fully dissolved, or leave it on its normal operating schedule (which I adjusted to about 12 hours a day until I sort everything out)
2. I am guessing I should wait until CYA is fully dissolved before trying to adjust my SWG percentages but want to confirm with the collective set of pool geniuses here. If I should test it, how long to wait from today to do re-test?
3. How soon should I re-test PH and TA after adding the chemicals I did to determine how much more needs to be added/adjusted.
4. Should I worry about the CH? As of now I figure I should focus on the other ones that are out of Whack first and then deal with that problem if it is a problem at all.
Any help or advise would be much appreciated
My wife saw just how great a job I did (mistake on my part), fired the pool guy, and declared that I am the new pool guy (saving us money, and also giving me a new hobby of becoming a pool chemist).
Did a lot of research and found this site (a little late), had a Taylor Test kit ordered (the 2006 one), and today I finally went and tested everything since I figured there was no point in testing it right after a shock.
Here is the info about my pool ( this is my first time doing these tests so I may have screwed something up):
Type of pool- Plaster
Size - ~10k gallons
SWG
Water Temp - ~82 degrees (Florida with solar pool heater
)Salt - 3200 PPM (this is in line with the SWG manual)
FC 9.6PPM (I am guessing it is still high from the shock last week which probably pushed it to over 20 PPM)
CC - 0 PPM (No indicators of any )
PH - looked like it was over 7.8 (couldn't tell difference between 7.8 and 8.0 shades of red), I ran an Acid Demand test and 2 Drops brought me to ~7.4 which I am guessing is the ideal from what I have read).
CYA ~35
TA - 60PPM
CH either 190 or 200 (I may have miss counted a drop).
My actions :
First - CYA - Using the research I found here, the Taylor book and the manual for my SWG, I put about 35OZ (which is less than Pool Math and Tylor book says to add because I have read that it is much easier to add this stuff than get it out of pool), in a Sock and placed in skimmer basket (Whoever invented that idea is probably a genius much smarter than me so I followed like a sheep on that advise). The Goal being to bring it closed to the 60-80PPM range
Chlorine - My pool guy had my generator at 100% (which I am guessing is way to high if the CYA is right), and as such, I have reverted it to 50% and going to have to re-test my chlorine levels to see what changes to make (See question below about when to do that).
Second - I added about 64 OZ baking soda to Raise TA (Pool math says i need less to get it to 80, but I am trying to push it above 80 cause My PH situation and I assume that Muric Acid will eat down some of the TA.
Third - I added 12 OZ of Muric Acid it fit in a Dixy Cup easy so I figured I would start there and see what it does (tailor drop test said to add ~22 OZ)
My manual for the SWG (For what it is worth) says that CH should be between 200 and 400, so I am considering 190 to be close enough to fine and going to leave it for now and re-test next month.
Questions I would like help with if possibe:
1. ~ how long will the CYA take to dissolve in the Sock (I don't plan on re-testing it until fully dissolved as is as it used a lot of test chemical and it seem pointless to test before then). Also should I leave pool pump on 24/7 until fully dissolved, or leave it on its normal operating schedule (which I adjusted to about 12 hours a day until I sort everything out)
2. I am guessing I should wait until CYA is fully dissolved before trying to adjust my SWG percentages but want to confirm with the collective set of pool geniuses here. If I should test it, how long to wait from today to do re-test?
3. How soon should I re-test PH and TA after adding the chemicals I did to determine how much more needs to be added/adjusted.
4. Should I worry about the CH? As of now I figure I should focus on the other ones that are out of Whack first and then deal with that problem if it is a problem at all.
Any help or advise would be much appreciated
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