Water chemistry - need help!

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MITBeta said:
Didn't your kit come with another sample tube not connected to the pH test block?
Click to expand...

This is the K-2006C contents...

Tasylor K-2006C Test Kit.jpg

The TF100 comes with 2 graduated cylinders...

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Good evening everyone! I have another question. My FC today is 6.5

We are getting great weather here in central Texas. My question is what would be the ideal SWG % and pump run time.

Right now is sitting at 1400rpm, 6hrs, SWG 20%, per your recommendation.

I'm waiting for the hay way tech to come check the pump and get rid of that noise, that way I can run it longer during the day or at a hight rpm, because I feel right now there's a lot of dirt in the surface that doesn't quite go to the skimmer.

What's the math behind this adjustment? What setting would you use in my case?

As always, thank you!!!
 
Pump and SWCG settings are based on what your pool needs. First you must generate enough chlorine each day to replace that lost to the sun and organics. Then you need to run the pump long enough to skim the surface.

There are many ways to achieve those goals. One is to run the pump and SWCG 24/7. At low rpms the pump uses little electricity. One just adjusts the SWCG % to meet the FC needs.
The other is to run the pump the minimal amount of time needed for either the FC generation or the skimming. Whichever is greater.
 
The PoolMath app has SWG options in the Effects of Adding section. It can solve for how much you will generate for given inputs, how long you should run the pump for a given SWG %, or what % to set the SWG at for a given pump runtime.
 

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Isasate said:
What's the math behind this adjustment? What setting would you use in my case?
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Took me a bit to get my head wrapped around SWG.

Let start with Target FC. You have a range for your CYA level. Say it is 5-7. Your pool with fluctuate how much FC it uses on a daily basis, depending on sun, organics etc, even day to day. The point is not to constantly adjust your SWG daily based on that days demand, run it so that you stay at the high end of the range. If you have a big FC demand day because a bunch of people went swimming and the next day is overcast, it will catch up. Stick with your setting for a week (but certainly don't let it get below 5 (using our example range). See what happens over that week. If you have to add a bit of LC everyday, then turn your setting up. If you don't have to add any LC, but your FC bounces around during the week and never get below 5, you are good.

Again, you are trying to dial your SWG in so that you never get below the 5 in this example, you will run a higher FC to protect for the big FC demand days.

Your SWG settings WILL change on a more macro timescale (i.e. month to month) July is the highest FC demand for me. Sept/Oct and May/June are smaller demand months.

I hope all this makes sense.
 
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I'm switching from LC to SWG this spring. I have LC pump that I would test daily and tell alexa how long to run the pump that day. I couldn't get how SWG was going to handle variable demand. Here is the thread where I "got it."

How does SWG handle variable demand.

@Newdude has me considering SWG conversion. New liner coming this fall, so maybe time to leap. Currently use stenner with Alexa. Test FC daily, convert FC need to to pump oz/min in my head, "Alexa run pool pump for 30 minutes" Done. I have very variable usage. Some days I don't use it and...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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Howdy everyone! Time has come when I have to finally adjust pH. I've been getting away with it all this time but now is at 8 or a tad higher, so I need to add MA. I'm a little nervious as I've never done it before.

This is the MA I bought from Lowes:

1650498939285.png

I'm a little confused when trying to work it out on the PoolMath. Is this 31.45% - 20 Baume? If so, with a TA of 80 and a target pH of 7.4, I should be adding 11oz of MA. Is this correct?

Thanks 🙏
 
Isasate said:
Howdy everyone! Time has come when I have to finally adjust pH. I've been getting away with it all this time but now is at 8 or a tad higher, so I need to add MA. I'm a little nervious as I've never done it before.

This is the MA I bought from Lowes:

View attachment 402982

I'm a little confused when trying to work it out on the PoolMath. Is this 31.45% - 20 Baume? If so, with a TA of 80 and a target pH of 7.4, I should be adding 11oz of MA. Is this correct?

Thanks 🙏
Click to expand...
Don’t worry about the exact amount or even try to measure it. Here’s a suggestion: go find a measuring cup and measure 11oz of water. Then go open the acid container right next to the pool and lower the entire bottom half of the container halfway into the water and pour out a pencil sized stream in front of a return jet that’s close to the same amount as the water you measured. By lowering the bottle into the pool a little bit, it makes it lighter and easier to pour slowly and even less likely to splash. 11oz is close to 12oz which is a can of coke which is close enough.

It’ll probably have some fumes, do your best not to breathe it or spill it on anything, but don’t be nervous or scared. Is also target 7.6 or 7.8 rather than 7.4 unless you’re trying to lower the TA more.
 
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Bperry said:
Don’t worry about the exact amount or even try to measure it. Here’s a suggestion: go find a measuring cup and measure 11oz of water. Then go open the acid container right next to the pool and lower the entire bottom half of the container halfway into the water and pour out a pencil sized stream in front of a return jet that’s close to the same amount as the water you measured. By lowering the bottle into the pool a little bit, it makes it lighter and easier to pour slowly and even less likely to splash. 11oz is close to 12oz which is a can of coke which is close enough.

It’ll probably have some fumes, do your best not to breathe it or spill it on anything, but don’t be nervous or scared. Is also target 7.6 or 7.8 rather than 7.4 unless you’re trying to lower the TA more.
Click to expand...
Fantastic advice! I did it just as you suggested, and I also poured both the measured water and MA at the same time to be more accurate. Pretty easy and painless. I ended up adding only 6oz to try to get pH to 7.6. Definitely not trying to alter TA at this moment, although not sure if that is possible when adding MA.
 
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Isasate said:
Fantastic advice! I did it just as you suggested, and I also poured both the measured water and MA at the same time to be more accurate. Pretty easy and painless. I ended up adding only 6oz to try to get pH to 7.6. Definitely not trying to alter TA at this moment, although not sure if that is possible when adding MA.
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Fiberglass pool. I would just let the TA settle where it wants. I don’t think there are any issues as long as it doesn’t drop much below 50. Eventually you will reach a point where the PH doesn’t drift much. SWG tend to raise the PH so your always fighting that as long as your trying to maintain your TA higher then it wants to be. In the winter when I shut down my pool and the SWG isn’t running I always dump in a bunch of baking soda to bring my TA up to around 100 or so. That way the ph won’t drop way to low and cause any damage to anything.
 
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I just came back from a trip to Hawaii, Tuesday to Sunday. I left the FC at 6 or so, came back and it was 3'5. Now, the temperatures here in Austin went nuts when we left, so I'm guessing that's why. It rained A LOT too. pH high, expected. Have not tested CYA yet.

I have added 3 more hours to the pump, but I will have to check CYA too. Might to overnight test as well...

But I have to say, it is nice to be able to leave the pool unattended for a few days and not having green water :)
 
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Today when we went into the pool we saw what it looked like a bunch of dirt or pollen all over the surface of the water. I thought it must be my neighbors tree, that lays almost directly above the pool. But when we looked closer, it was bugs. Hundreds of them. Super tiny. Yellow like color. FC is still "low" (today was 3), CYA is between 50 - 60.

I've been going through old posts and it seems to be a fairly common issue in some areas after heavy rains. However, there's no clear answer on how to get rid of them. Too tiny to skim them manually, and they don't seem to be affected by the water flow. Should I go ahead and SLAM it directly? Or should I go slow and do the overnight test first? I did raised SWG to 50% - 10hrs (overkill?)

This is such a bummer because the water is crystal clear, perfect pH (7.4), TA 60, water temp 86. Ugh.
 
Isasate said:
Today when we went into the pool we saw what it looked like a bunch of dirt or pollen all over the surface of the water. I thought it must be my neighbors tree, that lays almost directly above the pool. But when we looked closer, it was bugs. Hundreds of them. Super tiny. Yellow like color. FC is still "low" (today was 3), CYA is between 50 - 60.

I've been going through old posts and it seems to be a fairly common issue in some areas after heavy rains. However, there's no clear answer on how to get rid of them. Too tiny to skim them manually, and they don't seem to be affected by the water flow. Should I go ahead and SLAM it directly? Or should I go slow and do the overnight test first? I did raised SWG to 50% - 10hrs (overkill?)

This is such a bummer because the water is crystal clear, perfect pH (7.4), TA 60, water temp 86. Ugh.
Click to expand...
Bugs on top of the water won’t be affected much to require a SLAM. Unless you can drown them and then use a vacuum?
 
Count your cya as 60 - always round up if you see in between.
Dose with liquid chlorine to around 5or 6ppm - don’t wait for your swg to catch up.
Then do the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test w/ swg off
If you fail - start SLAM Process
If you pass - raise cya to 70 then chlorinate accordingly FC/CYA Levels
See if the swg keeps up. As your current cya is a bit low for the hot texas sun.
Remember- Always dose w/ liquid chlorine then allow the swg to maintain not the other way around- swg’s are great maintainers but too slow to catch up quickly when demand increases so things can grow in the meantime while your waiting. Better to have fc a little higher than to not have enough.
 
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