CH Is Crazy High!

[strinbr]

Hi All,

First-time poster here. I'm super frustrated! I had a new pool built and filled just last April 2014 and have had a pool guy taking care of it for this past year - I have, however, been reading on this board a lot over the last year and am generally familiar with the basics of ABC's of pool chemistry (I know, I know, I should've just taken care of the pool myself entirely) Anyway, I've had tons of white calcium flakes coming out from the SWG the last month, and finally, today, my pool guy tells me my CH is at 800!!!! and my only option is to really drain and re-fill, which in SoCal right now is tough with the drought, etc. My pH and TA have generally been good (around 7.5 and 80-100, respectively). Also, he just tested my fill tap water today and it's only 250. What do I do?? Does my new plaster have something to do with this super high CH too? My biggest concern is that after only a year of filling the pool and doing what I feel was a decent job of keeping the chemistry in balance, my CH is out of control and if I have to refill, then how do we keep the CH under control going forward so this isn't an annual occurence?

Thanks for any suggestions - I love reading posts on this forum and all the nice people here!

 

[kimkats]

What test kit did he use to get your numbers?

Do you have a good test kit yet?

New plaster can mess with numbers but I THINK that after a year the numbers should be settled and balanced.

Kim

 

[cowboycasey]

from the sounds of it ask your "pool guy" if he has been shocking once a week or month with cal-hypo.. that is the only way I can think your CH would rise from 250 to 800...

Sounds like the "pool guy" owes you a truck load of water

 

[tim5055]

What has he been using to chlorinate and "shock" the pool? I have a guess, but would like the answer....

Reverse Osmosis is available in your area, but probably expensive.

 

[strinbr]

I have a SWG which is really the only chlorinator we use - and I occasionally add bleach after heavy usage. I don't think we've really had to shock it, but I could be wrong. I know he likes to use dichlor to chlorinate - could that be it? I'd love to hear your guess

 

[Richard320]

800 isn't so bad. That's what I got the last time I tested. Keep pH down at the lower end of the safe zone and keep TA around 70 and it's fine. Plug your numbers into poolmath and look at the CSI. Play with individual variables and see how each affects things. As long as you're at 0 +/- .3 there is no worry about the plaster. The SWG will need more frequent cleaning, but the alternative is a five hundred dollar water bill....

I would suggest you get your own test kit. Also a speedstir. My CH readings went down 200 just by using the speedstir to test. And with a SWG, you need salt test strips or drops. It's all available at TFTestkits.net