Keep adding chemicals?

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Switched

Well-known member
Dec 25, 2019
78
Adelaide
Hi All,
Current chemical levels are below. Recently took ownership of pool and swimming season shuts soon - it’s now last week of summer.
CYA is low and also need to addmore calcium. Considering end of season soon, do I bother as I’m unlikelyto be swimming
In until it opens again.
Any help would be appreciated.

==========================================
HomePool
------------------------------------------
Build Type: Plaster
Volume: 75000 liters
------------------------------------------
Latest Test Result Summary:
FC: 6.0 (8 hours ago)
CC: 0.5 (12 days ago)
pH: 7.8 (16 days ago)
TA: 90 (8 hours ago)
CH: 300 (3 hours ago)
CYA: 30 (8 hours ago)
SALT: 4800 (12 days ago)
==========================================
 
Thanks ajw22! Over the autumn and winter season, I plan on checking everything besides ph and fc around every month. Do I still maintain these current levels? What am I likely to need to do during this period with regards to chemical additions? FC and PH I think I will continue to check maybe twice per week. I am still checking FC every day to understand where my SWG needs to be set at with cover on and off
 
Ok a few things pop out for consideration
- Adelaide (ADL) still gets decent to higher temps through March so you still have 4 to 6 weeks of potential swim time
- ADL doesn't get cold enough to close pools like in the US, coldest mean min is 7.5c (45f) unless your up in the hills i guess
- likely your SWCG will stop working for a couple months so you will need some liquid chlorine but consumption will drop to next to nothing anyway.
- you show 12 days since a cc test, you really should test it each time you do your FC.
- CYA is definitely low for a SWCG pool add enough to at least get to 60

the reality is that you just get your levels all correct now and then over the winter period when you not using the pool run your pump a little each day to keep the water circulated and add some liquid chlorine as required.
If the levels are good going into winter then its so easu to come into spring with a pool that needs nothing except a check of levels and a ramping up of the chlorine used.

Cheers
Phil
 
AusPhil said:
Ok a few things pop out for consideration
- Adelaide (ADL) still gets decent to higher temps through March so you still have 4 to 6 weeks of potential swim time
- ADL doesn't get cold enough to close pools like in the US, coldest mean min is 7.5c (45f) unless your up in the hills i guess
- likely your SWCG will stop working for a couple months so you will need some liquid chlorine but consumption will drop to next to nothing anyway.
- you show 12 days since a cc test, you really should test it each time you do your FC.
- CYA is definitely low for a SWCG pool add enough to at least get to 60

the reality is that you just get your levels all correct now and then over the winter period when you not using the pool run your pump a little each day to keep the water circulated and add some liquid chlorine as required.
If the levels are good going into winter then its so easu to come into spring with a pool that needs nothing except a check of levels and a ramping up of the chlorine used.

Cheers
Phil
Click to expand...
many thanks Phil - good to know about the SWG shutting down, again learnt something new there. Considering everything will continue to work, I will leave it all powered and leave pool cover on. Is it only the chlorine I need to worry about - will any other chemica start to fall out of range over winter, if so do I continue to add as required before it gets warm to swim again or mostly leave it until swim time starts again?
 
I'm going to call @Costas > DownUnder to see if he can provide some more advice being local to Adelaide.

Switched said:
Is it only the chlorine I need to worry about - will any other chemica start to fall out of range over winter, if so do I continue to add as required before it gets warm to swim again or mostly leave it until swim time starts again?
Click to expand...
If you use the poolmath application then let your CSI be a guide but don't let it rule :)

if your 3x larger pool behaves similar to my AGP over winter with a cover you will go weeks doing nothing and only need Chlorine .... unless something goes really pear shaped if all the rest is good going into winter then it will good going into spring :)
 
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As your water gets colder, you want to keep an eye on your pH and make sure it stays high enough to keep your CSI in range. For mine, that means trying to keep it at around 7.8 in the winter and I rarely have to add acid.

Winter should be pretty easy. Add some chlorine every so often and make sure the pump is running if you get freezing temps.
 
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One thing you've mentioned is your swim season is still 6 weeks. If that means the pool water remains warm or warmish, you will need to care for the FC and PH as if the pool is open. The optimal time to close and not have to worry as much is only when the water temps drop to
15.5 °c or below otherwise algae will be taking over.
 
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Switched said:
will any other chemicals start to fall out of range over winter, if so do I continue to add as required before it gets warm to swim again or mostly leave it until swim time starts again?
Click to expand...


Hi Switched,

As others have mentioned - Here in Aus we don't tend to 'close' our pools as such due to the relatively mild winter.

I live in the eastern suburbs near the foothills and over the last two winters my pool water has not dropped below approx. 10C.

You will lose chemicals over winter when you need to empty/backwash the pool due to excess rainfall. I use this opportunity to backwash my filter without requiring the use of any tap water.

The loss due to rainfall (backwash/empty) is not huge however it can be a good way of dropping CH if it climbs slightly over summer due to tap water use (CH of my tap water is 100ppm ie not that high - good idea to check yours for future reference).

I have not found my SWCG shutting down over winter but it is dialed right back to minimum output and some weeks I manually turn it off completely (usually when FC climbs due to overcast days/weeks).

You still need to monitor FC but not as religiously as compared to the summer months.

As others have also mentioned, apart from FC level - your biggest concern will be CSI.

You need to ensure that your CSI does not drop too far into the -ve region (you want it just slightly negative - Refer to PoolMath calculator) as the drop in water temp combined with lowish PH and TA levels can result in water that is aggressive which will be detrimental to your surface over a period of time.

In my case I very closely monitor PH, TA and CH over the winter months to ensure that these values do not drop far enough to cause my CSI to go too far -ve.

CH is fairly stable but can be affected by frequent back-washes/emptying if you cop plenty of rain. PH/TA usually don't vary too much - keep PH in the upper range (7.8) and ensure CSI is slightly -ve in combination with CH & TA levels.

At the end of the day it's not any different to the summer months except for the much lower FC demand and the fact that you end up dumping some water (and chemicals) out of the pool rather than requiring tap water to replace evaporation loss.

BTW - I don't use my cover over winter - It really is only usefull for minimising evaporation loss over the swim season, not an issue over winter.

What's all this talk about closing your pool down anyway - This weekend's forecast in Adelaide is for perfect swimming weather...!
 
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Costas > DownUnder said:
Hi Switched,

As others have mentioned - Here in Aus we don't tend to 'close' our pools as such due to the relatively mild winter.

I live in the eastern suburbs near the foothills and over the last two winters my pool water has not dropped below approx. 10C.

You will lose chemicals over winter when you need to empty/backwash the pool due to excess rainfall. I use this opportunity to backwash my filter without requiring the use of any tap water.

The loss due to rainfall (backwash/empty) is not huge however it can be a good way of dropping CH if it climbs slightly over summer due to tap water use (CH of my tap water is 100ppm ie not that high - good idea to check yours for future reference).

I have not found my SWCG shutting down over winter but it is dialed right back to minimum output and some weeks I manually turn it off completely (usually when FC climbs due to overcast days/weeks).

You still need to monitor FC but not as religiously as compared to the summer months.

As others have also mentioned, apart from FC level - your biggest concern will be CSI.

You need to ensure that your CSI does not drop too far into the -ve region (you want it just slightly negative - Refer to PoolMath calculator) as the drop in water temp combined with lowish PH and TA levels can result in water that is aggressive which will be detrimental to your surface over a period of time.

In my case I very closely monitor PH, TA and CH over the winter months to ensure that these values do not drop far enough to cause my CSI to go too far -ve.

CH is fairly stable but can be affected by frequent back-washes/emptying if you cop plenty of rain. PH/TA usually don't vary too much - keep PH in the upper range (7.8) and ensure CSI is slightly -ve in combination with CH & TA levels.

At the end of the day it's not any different to the summer months except for the much lower FC demand and the fact that you end up dumping some water (and chemicals) out of the pool rather than requiring tap water to replace evaporation loss.

BTW - I don't use my cover over winter - It really is only usefull for minimising evaporation loss over the swim season, not an issue over winter.

What's all this talk about closing your pool down anyway - This weekend's forecast in Adelaide is for perfect swimming weather...!
Click to expand...
Great thanks for the comprehensive write up. I’m over at burnside so might not be that far from you. I’ll need to start
Measuring CSI - I have a thermopen that will help me with that as my pool doesn’t have a sensor. Interesting to note about the pool cover over winter - hadn’t really considered not using it, maybe only because we have neighbors with large gums that tend to drop or in the pool. I’ve been hosing off the cover direct into skimmer basket. I recently had to drop my PH to reduce TA and monitoring how long it takes to rise - it’s still low at around 7.2 but I don’t have eye balls on my return jets to help aerate the pool - only some spa blowers that helps to get some bubbles going. Will this work?
 
Hi Switched - Looks like I'm just around the corner from you in Fullarton... :goodjob:

I also get quite a few gum leaves and bark in my pool but usually this is mostly towards late spring.

For me I find it easier simply to scoop them out with my pole net and the robot does the rest.

PH will rise slowly - Majority of the rise is from the SWCG electrolysis process and while you can also increase PH via aeration/bubbles, this usually takes even longer unless you have a really large surface area water feature.

Just keep an eye on the PH with the test kit and you should see an increase in the coming days.
 
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