New to Tfp - Initial suggestions?

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DiGlorious

Member
Apr 8, 2023
11
Spring, TX
Hey all,
New here and happy to join. We bought a house in Houston a year ago w an in ground pool/hot tub, maybe 15k gallons.

After using the pool service to help us while we got adjusted to the new house, we are taking things over ourselves. Just did our first water chemistry test with Taylor 2006c and think we have some changes to make. The pool store had us add 1 gallon of liquid chlorine as a liquid shock and three tabs in the Chlorinator. 6 days later our readings are:

FC 13.2ppm
PH 7.8
TA 130
CH 220
Cya >100

I know from the initial skimming here that the cya is terrifying high, which is likely a product of pool service using a lot of tabs. We don't know how to drain our pool but would potentially use a hose to flood it into the overflow?

Happy to take the communities ideas on the best steps to slowly get the water back into range. No rush to fix it overnight - pool water looks beautiful - but would like to make progress to get it in range.

Thanks in advance!
 
Welcome to TFP! Good job getting one of the recommended test kits. I have the K2006C myself.

One thing you’ll want to do is determine how high your CYA really is by doing the diluted CYA test. Add pool water to the first line in the CYA test bottle. Then add tap water to the second line. Mix well, then pour off that mixture back down to the first line. Then add the CYA reagent to the top line. Perform the CYA test and double your results. Post the results back here so the forum can add additional advice.
 
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an1vrsy said:
Welcome to TFP! Good job getting one of the recommended test kits. I have the K2006C myself.

One thing you’ll want to do is determine how high your CYA really is by doing the diluted CYA test. Add pool water to the first line in the CYA test bottle. Then add tap water to the second line. Mix well, then pour off that mixture back down to the first line. Then add the CYA reagent to the top line. Perform the CYA test and double your results. Post the results back here so the forum can add additional advice.
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Thanks for the suggestion - never thought of that!

Test completed and it came in very high - about 180....

I'm bracing myself for the incoming advice :)
 
DiGlorious said:
Do you think I can "salvage" the chemistry slowly by switching to liquid chlorine asap, or is some form of water replacement immediately necessary?
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The short answer is no. I don't think you can keep enough HOCl in the water with CYA at 180 to sanitize the pool.

The nuanced answer is you can wait. The Pool will be a challenge to keep the water sanitary, but that is up to you. You will need to maintain at least FC of 14. That is MINIMUM and does not include daily demand. If your demand is 4-5, you will need to maintain 18-20. That is HARD to do with LC additions.

I think it would be more prudent and safe to do a NO DRAIN WATER EXCHANGE. Read that here, section 3.5. Easy to do, and you would be starting with a clean slate.

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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an1vrsy said:
Just to be certain of your results. Your results from the diluted CYA test was 90? Then you doubled it to get 180?
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Correct. The initial undiluted result was very far below 100 so I'm not surprised.

We have actually been doing a water exchange throughout most of the day today, targeting 50-60% water volume. Should be done soon and I planned to run the pump all night and re-test tomorrow after work to see the new chemistry.

Sound like a good plan? Any other "gotchyas" I need to be extra cautious of during this?
 
RE-tested today. Looks like we took cya down by around 35-40% via exchanging half the volume, which passes the sanity test for me considering the inevitable mixing that would have happened.

My question is whether we should do it again to get fully into an acceptable range, or pause here to fix some of the other chemistry that got out of whack (high TA and low CH).

Advice?

Thanks for the support - looking forward to this initial setup to hopefully set us up for a stable summer season!
 

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DiGlorious said:
My question is whether we should do it again to get fully into an acceptable range, or pause here to fix some of the other chemistry that got out of whack (high TA and low CH).

Advice?
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Fix the CYA, everything else is fine for the moment. Do at least 50-60% exchange, assuming a) you gave it 12-24 to mix after exchange, and you did an accurate CYA dilution test.

While you are at the exchange, test your fill water for everything. This will give us some sense where we should take your CH and TA after the replacement.

Go!
 
DiGlorious said:
(maybe more like 75% vol, considering the mixing we saw this iteration) to try to get back in range!
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Round 2 will be 35% to 40% of new water, *and* mix. 🤦‍♂️

It is what it is. But if you can safely drain more, go big, because subsequent drains loose considerable efficiency.
 
Hey all, I wanted to provide an update after the second water exchange.

pH and alkalinity were very high so have added a couple gallons of muriatic acid.
CH was low so have added about 20# CaCl2.

Today's test results are in and looking pretty good! Fwiw pool water is crystal clear and looking better than ever!

FC 4.2
pH 7.4
TA 160
CH 290
Cya 50
Temp 69
CSI -0.05 (pool math calc; my Taylor 2006c dial may have shown closer to +0.1)

My questions for the collective knowledge here:
- is it worth adding more acid to attempt to lower TA? Pool store suggests it but I'm not sure...
- I've read through the pool school here but want to clarify the chlorine maintenance... Do you recommend just adding liquid chlorine every couple days to stay at a consistently good amount, or is there any merit in the weekly high volume "shock" treatment?
- I have some white calcium buildup on the spa tiles that overflow into the pool
.. Is leaving CSI negative a way to slowly dissolve that over time?


Thanks so much! I'm feeling much better about where we are today and am hoping for a trouble-free summer!
 
DiGlorious said:
is it worth adding more acid to attempt to lower TA?
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It's up to you. If you simply manage the PH, it will fall on its own. In the meantime, the PH will need more attention as the TA makes it rise quicker.

Or you spend the attention on the TA now, to need to make less PH adjustments later.

It's really half a dozen or six, let us know and we can instruct further.
DiGlorious said:
Do you recommend just adding liquid chlorine every couple days to stay at a consistently good amount, or is there any merit in the weekly high volume "shock" treatment?
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Dose daily to remain in target level, or above, at all times. If you slack you need to overcorrect and shock. You'll be gifted a swamp if it happens often.
DiGlorious said:
- I have some white calcium buildup on the spa tiles that overflow into the pool
.. Is leaving CSI negative a way to slowly dissolve that over time?
Click to expand...
Hang tight for one of our plaster pros. I believe you've got it, but I speak vinyl.
 

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