Beginner - Not too bad

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E

espejo

0
LifeTime Supporter
Nov 25, 2014
163
Houston Texas
Pool Size
15000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
My pool was installed a couple of weeks ago and for the past week I have been maintaining the chemicals. I have the Taylor K-2006 and have been testing and adding (mostly acid and bleach) to keep my numbers in check. I have the exact numbers at home but I have to admit for my last pool I had a chemical service only but the pool was nice but I don't think it was ever this clear. I have incentive now to maintain and have been checking chemicals every evening and adding about a gallon of bleach each evening. I'm shocked. I was at my brother in law's house this weekend and his pool looked "green" by comparison. Here are a couple of pictures with the water this clear you can see the individual specs in the Pebble Tec.

TFP1.jpg

TFP2.jpg
 
A gallon a day? That seems a bit high to me. Even if it's actually 121 ounces of 8.25% bleach, that's 4.2 ppm per day. Could be (in order of likelihood):
  1. You're actually buying the Walmart 6% bleach that they slipped in to make it cheaper.
  2. The pool is bigger than you think. Are you seeing the pH and TA changes you're expecting, or coming up short consistently? Check out Effects of Adding Chemicals at the bottom of poolmath.
  3. Your pool is getting a lot of use
  4. Your CYA level is too low for the TExas sun
  5. You have algae starting.
 
Richard320:

1. I have confirmed it is 8.25%. I'm adding more like 98 ounces each night if that matters.
2. I checked twice both with PB and my own calculations and I feel certain it is very close to 20,000 gallons. pH and TA both look fine. pH has been climbing more slowly now but PB says not uncommon with new plaster.
3. Not too much but it is in direct full sun from 11am to 7pm.
4. CYA is at 60ppm
5. I sure hope not but should I SLAM to be sure or is the 98 ounces of bleach and not a gallon a better number. Sorry I should have been more exact.

I'm new and learning so any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
espejo said:
Richard320:

1. I have confirmed it is 8.25%. I'm adding more like 98 ounces each night if that matters.
2. I checked twice both with PB and my own calculations and I feel certain it is very close to 20,000 gallons. pH and TA both look fine. pH has been climbing more slowly now but PB says not uncommon with new plaster.
3. Not too much but it is in direct full sun from 11am to 7pm.
4. CYA is at 60ppm
5. I sure hope not but should I SLAM to be sure or is the 98 ounces of bleach and not a gallon a better number. Sorry I should have been more exact.

I'm new and learning so any advice is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
That makes it only 3.4 ppm loss per day, which is within normal range.
 
espejo,

That does look very nice! What color of Pebble Tec did you go with? I went with Blue Granite but used Pebble Sheen instead. My wife liked that the Sheen was a tad smoother than the Tec according to her feet. I'm on day 26 since fill-up with the new Pebble Sheen and my pH also is constantly going up so lots of acid has been added. In fact, I've added so much acid that I finally needed to add baking soda to raise my TA a bit.
 
Agent99,

French Grey Pebble Tec. My wife has mentioned on several occasions now she wished we had used Pebble Sheen since the "rougher" surface will pick her bath suit when she sits on the sun shelf. My wife buys a few new bathing suits each season so I did not see the issue since now she would have a better reason to buy more since the older ones would be "picked". The acid add has not been too much. About 3-7 ounces every couple of days. I usually head to work around 5:30am so I'm going to wait until weekend to check and verify about my overnight chlorine loss.
 
Just got home and tested my water again. The FC loss was not bad at all based on my numbers I only needed to add 34 ounces of bleach to bring my number back to where I started yesterday evening. I was using 4ppm but I'm now bumping that up to 5ppm.

Here are my numbers:

FC: 2.8
pH: 7.5
CYA: 50
 

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pabear is that 6 for CYA or FC? If FC I agree and will add more bleach to bring it to 6pm of FC and maintain it there. If you really meant CYA then I am confused since in thought it should be around 40-50.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
Perfect thanks. Since I'm still learning I want to be sure to follow the experts. I will bump up to 6ppm starting this evening and keep it there.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
 
Update and FC question

Here are my numbers:

FC - 7ppm
pH - 7.4 to 7.6
TA - 90
CH - 250
CYA - 60

The pool water is extremely clear, so clear in fact that standing on edge of the pool in the deep end I can see individual specs of my PebbleTec and phillips screw heads on the filter cover. I have full sun starting at 9am and lasts until 8pm. I checked the OCLT and have no issues no to very little CC, I add 1 drop to be sure it is clear (I use the 10 ml test). I also run my filter (cartridge) from 9am to 8pm at 2400 RPM. I brush my pool about twice a week and have very little organic material in my vacuum or skimmer baskets. I test FC and pH every day with my Taylor 2006.

I lose about 3.5 to 4.5 ppm of FC every day. What is frustrating is that most people are losing 2 ppm or maybe in the extreme 3 ppm a day. It has been real hot in Houston and pool water has been around 90 degrees maybe a degree or two more.

I know every pool is different but the amount of FC loss seems excessive given other people's experience. Should I raise my CYA (but that could bring other issues) or just keep going?

My pool water looks great. My wife says I'm just looking for problems when none are there. In my last house I had a pool chemical service only and I never had to test and the pool looked good. I now know they were just dumping in a higher concentration of bleach raising FC probably to shock levels and then letting it drift down before the next weekly service. I never had an alage problem and it only cost about $70. At this rate I will be adding a 121 ounces + every day and the cost will be almost $100 a month just in bleach. The cost is not the issue but the convenience of not lugging jugs of bleach around does have a benefit.

Any insight or advice would be appreciated.
 
You are doing great! You have become a great example for TFP. As for your FC loss, you're not alone. I too have been battling that issue just a couples hours away from you. Absolutely blazing heat/sun all day on my pool. My CYA is also at 60, and the only reason I think I will leave it is because we may have another month of strong heat before things taper-off. Next year when we hit Jul/Aug, I may go to 70 as well. You're doing a fantastic job. Well done. :salut: Now just enjoy your water. :swim:
 
PAGirl, I'm confused. My CYA was 60 and at testing my FC was 7ppm. For this CYA the target is 7ppm with a minimum of 5ppm. When I test at 5:00pm, I'm getting a reading of 7.5ppm and then raise it up to 11.5 to 12.0ppm to account for the loss when I test the next day at 5:00pm. In short, I never go below 7ppm and absolutely not below 5.0 ppm. I will perform another OCLT on Thursday since I'm going out of town for a couple of days. I gave my wife instructions to add 121 8.25% of bleach daily and on day and then tomorrow (Wednesday) add an extra 30 ounces to the 121 ounces just to ensure it does not go under since my wife will not be testing while I'm away.
 
Espejo, I believe your targets are where they should be according to the Chlorine/CYA chart so great job on that. I also agree with Texas that since she is experiencing similar FC losses overnight, the cause is geographical, given that she lives fairly close to you. While we all follow the same plan to get that wonderfully clear water, some of us have greater or lesser demands due to our environments. I think you're doing an awesome job! Good swimming! :)
 
espejo said:
PAGirl, I'm confused. My CYA was 60 and at testing my FC was 7ppm. For this CYA the target is 7ppm with a minimum of 5ppm. When I test at 5:00pm, I'm getting a reading of 7.5ppm and then raise it up to 11.5 to 12.0ppm to account for the loss when I test the next day at 5:00pm. In short, I never go below 7ppm and absolutely not below 5.0 ppm. I will perform another OCLT on Thursday since I'm going out of town for a couple of days. I gave my wife instructions to add 121 8.25% of bleach daily and on day and then tomorrow (Wednesday) add an extra 30 ounces to the 121 ounces just to ensure it does not go under since my wife will not be testing while I'm away.
Click to expand...

Somehow I missed the previous post about the OCLT you already did. Sorry if I confused you!

You mentioned you were bumping from 2.8 to 5 earlier, which was low for your CYA.
 

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