Trying to maintain salt pool

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T

TxFireAg

Member
Jun 1, 2022
15
Houston, TX
Pool Size
15300
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
CircuPool Core-35
Long story short because I’m doing this from my phone, my father used to maintain his salt pool but isn’t able to any more. My mom hired a budget pool guy to clean it but they don’t seem to do any testing or chemicals unless the SWG (Circupool Core35) shows low salt.
Per the recommendations here, I got the TF-Pro test kit and salt strips. I just did the first test and here’s what I got:
-FC 6.5
-CC 0.5
-pH 8.4 (darker than the darkest red square of 8.2)
-TA 140
-CH 375
-CYA 20
-Salt 5000 (strips only read in resolution of 1000)

Per a last Leslie’s test (3 weeks ago) phosphates are 2056 so I put 2 capfuls of PhosFree that my dad had in the skimmer today. I instructed my mom to do that weekly per the bottle instructions.

Per the Pool Math app I need to add 2 gal 3 oz of 31.45% HCl (what we have) to lower pH and that’ll solve half the issues. Before I dumped 2 gallons in (all I have on hand tonight) I wanted to do a reality check here.

Thoughts?
 
An Aggie???

Something is way off in your thinking.

In a 15K pool, a gallon of 31% MA will reduce your pH by 2.0. If your pH 8.4, then you'd drop your pH to 6.4 which is way below acceptable,

Two plus gallons would be insane!!!

You might want to recheck your numbers.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
And,

With a CYA of only 20, the FC will burn off so fast that I doubt your SWCG can keep up in the summer.

We suggest that saltwater pools have a CYA level of 60 to 80.

Tell us how long you run the pump each day, and where you have the cell's output set.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Hey there. In 15k gallons to drop your ph to 7.5 it would only take 40 ounces of 31.45% muriatic. From 8.4 to 7.2 it’s only 62 ounces of acid. I’m assuming poolmath is coming back that high in an effort to drop Alk as well or you’ve got the wrong volume settings applied.
 
Thanks all! I get the Aggie jokes :) admittedly I’m a mechanical guy and not a chemical guy and I’m not a pool owner so I come to the experts. The pool volume is set right in the app and this picture won’t lie so it must be trying to adjust multiple things:
766E82B1-0AC8-484D-A612-313C5F6F879B.jpeg

Currently the SWG is set at 50% and it and the pool run together (no ability to time the SWG separately without rewiring) from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. I did just find the “off” lug missing so it’s been on 24 hours for a week since I was here last presumably. Fixed it now though.
 
As Jim indicated above, you’d want to increase your CYA levels. I’d also suggest working to drop alk into range as well. The article below details levels for a pool with SWG.

www.troublefreepool.com

Water Balance for SWGs

Saltwater pools are becoming more and more popular. We discuss How salt generators work and water balance tips for SWGs to run them.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Tx,

Sorry to be blunt, but I wanted to stop you before you added 2 gallons of MA.

I am very glad that you came here for a sanity check before proceeding.

I too am much more of an electrical/mechanical guy than I am a Khemist. :mrgreen:

Our app is pretty good, but when things look odd, it is always better to be safe than blindly following the app. That is why we are here.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Jimrahbe said:
Tx,

Sorry to be blunt, but I wanted to stop you before you added 2 gallons of MA.

I am very glad that you came here for a sanity check before proceeding.

I too am much more of an electrical/mechanical guy than I am a Khemist. :mrgreen:

Our app is pretty good, but when things look odd, it is always better to be safe than blindly following the app. That is why we are here.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
No worries! All I appreciated. My sanity check paid off here otherwise we would have been swimming in pH 6 and doing who knows what else to the equipment.
 
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No need to bother with phosphate remover. It has a place as insurance against algae blooms, but it’s not needed if you have appropriate levels of chlorine.

How does the water look? Any signs of algae?
 
IceShadow said:
No need to bother with phosphate remover. It has a place as insurance against algae blooms, but it’s not needed if you have appropriate levels of chlorine.

How does the water look? Any signs of algae?
Click to expand...
Pretty good right now. It had real bad algae back in April which left some staining. The pool guy got most of it off but there are still a few spots around.
 
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