New Pool Owner with some questions

[157 Carriage]

Hi All,
Been lurking here for a while and have some questions. Im a new pool owner- bought a house with a pool and have been in the new place for about a week.
I used the TF-100 kit like everyone suggests and below are my results:

Cl- .5
Ph-7.2
CC-1
Ch -175ppm
TA - 80
CYA - 90

I know my CYA is high - the previous owner was using tablets. I guess my next step is to drop the water level by a foot, add lots of bleach??

I was trying to use the pool math calculator but was overwhelmed and confused by how much baking soda and bleach it was saying to add. I also don't know exactly how big my pool is. its 20x40 with a shallow and deep end and with diagonal corners. So I was assuming 35,000 gallons...

PLease help with next steps....want to make sure I am doing this right.

Thanks all!

Mike

 

[woodyp]

Welcome to the forum. Your TA is fine and your PH is at bottom end of acceptable range. Your FC is woefully low for your CYA is the problem. Your CC of 1 probably is an indicator of your need to do a SLAM process as out lined in Pool School. Assuming or ESTIMATING gallons based on pool size/how much is shallow/how much deep end and how deep it is. Big Difference. Give us good dimensions and we can help. does your pool have a liner? Please add a signature line to your profile listing all your pool specs like mine below.

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello Mike and welcome. Well, I used the calculator to try and estimate your pool. I came-up with about 30K based on an average depth of 5 ft. SO with that I got:
- A CYA of 90 (if you chose to leave it there) requires FC to be at 10ppm. So you need to increase that right away if you chose to stay with a CYA of 90.
- pH and TA are fine. No baking soda required right now.
- If this is a plaster pool, then the CH could be raised a bit to about 300 based on the Recommended Levels chart (in my sig).

But none of that matters if you chose to lower CYA first. If you do, then do a partial drain - maybe about 25% or so, then re-check CYA before adding anything.

Hope that helps.

 

[pooldv]

Did you change the settings for suggested goal levels at the bottom of poolmath?

Here are the Pool School - Recommended Levels

And a tutorial with nice instructions for Poolmath
Pool School - PoolMath

 

[157 Carriage]

Thanks for the responses -

here are a couple for factoids for you all. Its a vinyl pool with spill over hot tub. I don't know exact depths...I'll meaure that tonight when I get home.

here are a few pics:

So I think Im going to do a partial drain to get my CYA lower since I would have to add a lot of bleach to maintain the levels. Im a little apprehensive about doing it though because that is a lot of water to take our of a pool. Should I just drain it using the backwash hose from my filter? or use a separate pump? How far away from the pool should I drain it? Also I read online draining a vinyl pool should be done by a professional because it could potentially collapse from the weight of the dirt? I have tomorrow morning off from work to do this...I can imagine it should take more than 4 hours...right?

sorry for the numerous questions -im just a little stressed out about all of this. Also since I have posted originally I haven't done much to the water. I have the pump running 4 hours a day and its getting cloudier by the minute. Should I add bleach before I drain to avoid algea?

Thanks again for all of your help thus far. you guys are very helpful.

Mike



How long can I expect it to take. Also I have a

 

[pooldv]

You can pump from the deep end and fill on the shallow end. With vinyl pools leave at least a foot in the shallow end of the pool when doing partial drains.

Always maintain chlorine above the minimum level for your CYA to avoid algae and keep the pool sanitized. Chlorine CYA Chart