New to this, just emptied and filled my pool with city water

Jump to latest Follow Reply
lmigoni

lmigoni

0
May 10, 2016
17
Oro Valley, Arizona
After checking my pool water and finding extremely high CYA levels I decided to just start from zero with new city water.

5/6/20165/10/2016
FC (Cl-Br)03 - 6
TC03 - 6
CC00
pH87.4~7.5
Acid Demand2NA
Base DemandNANA
Total Alkalinity (ppm)140120
Calcium Hardness (ppm)90110
Cyanuric Acid00


This is what I have as of today. I added some Muriatic acid on May 6th to lower the pH and Alkalinity levels.

I also added some shock to the pool since I started to see signs of algae on the bottom of the pool.

What should I do next?
Can I start adding Cyanuric Acid (staibilizer) or should I get the Calcium Hardness under control. I also feel inclined to add bleach so that I may begin to increase the chlorine levels.
 
What is in the "Shock" stuff you used? It may have CYA in it, and you'll need to use the Pool Math calculator to see what effect it will have on your pool.

Is the FC still zero and you still have algae? If so, you need to SLAM the pool water. I'd address the CH issue first though. And, get the pH in line.
 
I would get your CH and CYA addressed asap. just go to pool math and it will tell you how much to add. i would just go for CYA of 30 for now, as the summer goes on you can always increase it as needed. i would just buy some granular stabilizer since you are at 0. you can always use the bagged shocked later in the season to help increase your CYA if desired.

but yes, with a plaster pool, get the CH up.

If you have algae, you need to SLAM asap. get it done now and dont let it get going too far. get the stabilizer to 30 by adding CYA and start your SLAM. lower your pH to 7.2 before you start. once you start, you cant test pH until you are done
 
Also please add a state to your location as some of our advice will vary depending on the region you live in, for example AZ is prone to high CH fill water and high evaporation rate and low rainfall which concentrates CH over time, you are very lucky to have a low CH fill water source. You are also in a prime sunbelt location so we would tend to suggest running your CYA towards the upper part of the suggested range, say 50 ppm with manual chlorination.
 
Oro Valley is just a hair north of Tucson.

High CH, high evap rate, low rain, fill Ph around 7.8, 175 CH, .5 FC.

If your pool isn't covered, step one is to get CYA up to 50 30 (jblizzle has a point about leaving it a bit low to SLAM). I'm slowly working mine up after a nearly complete water replacement last weekend to avoid a 4 ppm FC burn off daily. While you're doing that, since you already have an algae problem, work hard to get that FC up to at least retard growth.
 
I am just south of oro valley.

I would leave the CH and keep the pH on the high side. You will add around 150ppm of CH to your pool yearly just due to evaporation. I am over 500ppm now and started with 130ppm.

If you see algae, you need to slam. Add 30ppm of CYA, slam until you pass the 3 criteria to stop, then raise the CYA to 50ppm and maintain adequate FC from there on out.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I now have my pH down to 7.2 and I added 5 lbs.s of Calcium Chloride. I started with 90 ppm of CH and now I am up to 150 CH. From what I understand here in Arizona the CH will only go up as the water evaporates over time so I am not sure if I want to add more Calcium as of right now.
I also added about 2 lbs. of stabilizer and I am adding more now. I will check the CYA level tonight with the hope that I can start my SLAM.

- - - Updated - - -

One more question, after I do my SLAM, how long does it typically take for the FC levels to come down and for the pool to be in a swimmable condition?
 
dont worry about checking your CYA, it wont show up in the tests for up to a week. once its fully dissolved (you can speed it up by squeezing the bag), its in there and you base your SLAM FC values on the new CYA level (old plus whatever you added).

second question, you can swim with your FC up to SLAM level. it will take a while to drop your FC since the water will be so clean and void of any algae to break it down. Count on 2 ppm per day at this time of year i bet. but i swam once it dropped below the SLAM level and it was fine.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
are you referring to the ones at the bottom right of the picture, basically in the foreground in front of the pump? its not connected to the return from the pool to the pump, right? could it be electrical to lights, etc?

as far as the returns go, only real way to figure it out is to close one completely. if your pool is still skimming, the one you close was the main drain. and vice versa. then label them on the pipes with magic marker
 
Open the 2 Jandy valves after the filter (one at a time) and see what they do ;)

No idea what the big-to-small pipe loops are for.

FYI, your "Pool Pump" label is point a motor, the pump is what the motor is attached to.

- - - Updated - - -

DaninFLA said:
as far as the returns go, only real way to figure it out is to close one completely. if your pool is still skimming, the one you close was the main drain. and vice versa. then label them on the pipes with magic marker
Click to expand...
You are mixing things up. There is only 1 suction line. The valves are on the returns.
 
There is one skimmer and a drain at the bottom. There are actually three "drains" at the bottom of the pool not sure if they are all connected but one is a leaf trapper and the others look just like normal drains.

For the return lines I have played with every Open/Close combination of valves but I can't get one side of the return lines to flow. Not sure if there is some blockage somewhere or if I am just missing something in terms of opening and closing the valves correctly.
 
Pool water is looking clean and clear, I am currently holding the Chlorine level at 10 while I continue to add some CYA and wait for the total CYA level to be raised to 30.

IMG_8871.jpg

Do I need to add clarifier to the water in order to trap all of the smaller particles floating around or is that just a matter of personal preference?
 
Thanks for the tip, I just ordered the FAS-DPD Chlorine Test. I will continue to add CYA to increase the level, as of right now I have added about 4 lbs of stabilizer which according to the packaging they recommend to add 1 Lb. for every 3000 to 4000 gallons. I did not test CYA this morning because I understand it can take days for it to show up in the readings.

Because I continue to add CYA, how often should I be checking it and how long should I wait for it to show a stable reading?
 
How are you adding it?
We recommend putting it in a sock and hanging it in front of a return jet or setting it in the skimmer.

Once it is out of the sock, it should show up on the test.

You should start using PoolMath to do the calculations for you.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply