Pool is finally done, time to show it off and ask some Getting Started questions

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HobieDallas

Active member
Apr 27, 2022
30
Houston, Tx
It took 55 Weeks from Signing to Filling, and a ton of yelling at the PB during all of that, but it's finally 'done' (still have the ole punch list). Overall we're thrilled with the final design/product, but still a little sore over all the issues we had getting it built and built right. Working on relaxing and letting all that hate go.

We're still piecing together all the landscaping/sprinklers/etc so once that's done I hope to have even more pictures, but man, it sure is nice to be here.

We're approaching the tail end of our 28 day startup and will be dosing the alkalinity up this weekend with MAYBE a filter cleaning planned too, that may get bumped til next weekend.

Couple quick questions for y'all. We're in Houston but the house gets decent evening shade. What CYA levels would you recommend and how much liquid chlorine would we reasonably expect to consume a week? I've been told to expect to consistently dump acid for the foreseeable future due to the new Wet Edge plaster. When will that begin to slow down?
 

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Welcome to TFP. Nice pool.


HobieDallas said:
will be dosing the alkalinity up this weekend
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Why?

HobieDallas said:
What CYA levels would you recommend and how much liquid chlorine would we reasonably expect to consume a week?
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CYA 40-50 max. You want to follow the FC/CYA Levels but keep your FC level below 10. With FC above 10 your pH test becomes invalid so testing becomes more complicated.

HobieDallas said:
I've been told to expect to consistently dump acid for the foreseeable future due to the new Wet Edge plaster. When will that begin to slow down?
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Some pools after a year or so and some pools never. It depends on your pools environment, water TA, equipment, and water features.

www.troublefreepool.com

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
We'll be dosing up the TA because keeping the pH in range has cratered TA to 33 or so. Wet Edge startup instructions called to wait until 28 days to do Alkalinity treatments.

CYA is right at 40 right now. We're not quite Az, but it is REALLY sunny here so I've heard of some Houstonians running on the higher end of normal. I figured better to ask the experts. How much chlorine would we expect to consume on a weekly/month basis under average circumstances? It's not a super important number, I just like to get a ballpark budget.
 
Taylor TA testing is 1 drop = 10 ppm. Your TA is either 30 or 40. How can you say it is 33?

What is your fill water pH and TA?

You are getting into high evaporation season and adding fill water will naturally raise your TA. If your pH is stable I would leave your TA alone and monitor it. Raising it will only make your pH rise problem worse.
 
Gorgeous set-up! We'll keep an eye out in our TFP Inbox for the weekend invitations. :)

full
 
HobieDallas said:
Working on relaxing and letting all that hate go.
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After a massive house remodel I hated my contractor's face and hoped everyday he would be gone by the time I got home. A year later I still wouldn't recommend him. 2 years later the frustration of the process had faded away and I would totally give him a hug when if I ran into him and 3 years later gave the companies information to a friend and called them to bid another job at my house. I've loved the outcome of my house from the beginning, but the process and babysitting every little thing was emotionally draining. Eventually the hate will fade.
 
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ajw22 said:
Taylor TA testing is 1 drop = 10 ppm. Your TA is either 30 or 40. How can you say it is 33?

What is your fill water pH and TA?

You are getting into high evaporation season and adding fill water will naturally raise your TA. If your pH is stable I would leave your TA alone and monitor it. Raising it will only make your pH rise problem worse.
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I check myself with pool store tests. So yes the TA is somewhere between 30 and 33. Even if it's pushing 40 that's still under the recommended minimum here: What Are My Ideal Pool Levels? Should I be keeping TA lower than that link says?

pH is far from stable. Steady climbs of .15 - .2 or so per 24hrs. But Ive also got 28 day old plaster, so that's likely the culprit right?

I can't find my tap water testing notes, I'll have to do that again tomorrow
 

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kne said:
After a massive house remodel I hated my contractor's face and hoped everyday he would be gone by the time I got home. A year later I still wouldn't recommend him. 2 years later the frustration of the process had faded away and I would totally give him a hug when if I ran into him and 3 years later gave the companies information to a friend and called them to bid another job at my house. I've loved the outcome of my house from the beginning, but the process and babysitting every little thing was emotionally draining. Eventually the hate will fade.
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Had a similar situation building our house. But their problems PALED in comparison to the pool builder. I'm telling everyone I can to avoid those guys like the plague. I won't rehash it all here but here are the highlights: I'm on my FIFTH Construction Supervisor. Previous four were fired. They dug a full foot into my utility easement and didn't notice for 2 months. We're on something like revision #7 on my natural gas plumbing. It's crazy how bad they are. And this is a company that built 450+ pools last year and took the entire company to Costa Rica for 7 days.
 
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HobieDallas said:
I check myself with pool store tests. So yes the TA is somewhere between 30 and 33.
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Around here we ignore pool store tests and will only give advice based on your own testing.

So your TA is 40.

HobieDallas said:
Even if it's pushing 40 that's still under the recommended minimum here: What Are My Ideal Pool Levels? Should I be keeping TA lower than that link says?
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Did you read what I wrote above about evaporation and your fill water?

HobieDallas said:
pH is far from stable. Steady climbs of .15 - .2 or so per 24hrs.
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Please read ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and TA - Further Reading

You may also want to read PH TA Relationship - Further Reading and PH - Further Reading

If your pH is rising and not crashing your low TA is fine. TA keeps your pH from crashing. Higher TA will cause your pH to raise faster.


HobieDallas said:
But Ive also got 28 day old plaster, so that's likely the culprit right?
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Your pics show a few water features which cause aeration which raise your pH.

I think there is more going on in your pool and the way you are maintaining the chemistry for you to have a TA of 40 and rising pH that you are complaining about.

HobieDallas said:
I can't find my tap water testing notes, I'll have to do that again tomorrow
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We can discuss further when you post them.
 
Seems I had a bit of a misunderstanding of TA's role in pool chemistry. Always been told/read that it is a 'buffer that keeps pH from swinging so wildly' which I guess is true, but the actual role is far more nuanced. I was going to raise the TA because we're below the minimum range the Pool Care Basics link has, simple as that. Keeping TA lower than the minimum and letting fill water slowly raise it over time wasn't anywhere in there, but it DOES make good sense.

I knew aeration raises pH, so for that reason (and the fact that they're stupid loud) we only run the two waterfalls for 4hrs a week (four scheduled 1hr run times throughout the week). The bubblers we were pretty unhappy with. They only shoot the water 12'' or so and turn the whole pool into a giant wave pool so we've blocked those in for now. We DO have a spillover on the spa, so that's always going to be a aeration source.

I appreciate all the help so far. If we don't need to add more $$ to the pool to raise the TA then that's great, we've definitely thrown enough money into that hole in the ground in the past 12 months already.
 
From Jandy Aqualink RS - Further Reading

If you have a pool and spa you can enable the Spillover function with dip switch #3 on the main panel. When switch #3 is on then AUX3 becomes the spillover control. If you have any relay connected to AUX3 you need to move it to an available Aux position.

With Spillover turned on by Aux3 the POOL/SPA return valve will move to the SPA position. Water will be suctioned by the pool and returned to the spa.

You will need to reset the cam on the return actuator to fully close the spa return when in POOL mode.

You can then program AUX3 to run once or twice a day for 15 - 30 minutes to refresh the pool water. I run my spillover at 9am and 3 pm.

This keeps the spillover from raising your pH. I think stopping your spillover will go a long way to reducing the rate of your pH rise.
 
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The way everything is configured right now when I turn on the filter mode and Spa Mode is off, the pump pulls its suction from the Main Drain and Skimmer suction lines, through the equipment, and to the returns in the Spa and Pool both. Which is why we have spillover anytime the filter pump is running in Pool Mode. Would configuring AUX3 to be the dedicated spillover mode somehow also change the regular Pool Mode so it doesn't cause spillover anymore?
 
HobieDallas said:
Would configuring AUX3 to be the dedicated spillover mode somehow also change the regular Pool Mode so it doesn't cause spillover anymore?
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You will need to reset the cam on the return actuator to fully close the spa return when in POOL mode.

Post pics of your equipment pad and the return actuator and I can point it out.

Valve Actuators - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Ah ok, that makes sense then. So you'd only be turning over the water in the Spa when in Aux 3 mode for those 30-60 minutes a day. I have an oversized (8ftx8ft) Spa. Do you think that'd be enough water turned over each day?

I'll snag some pictures tomorrow when the sun is back out
 

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