Water Balance Advice For My Situation

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dclynds

dclynds

0
Apr 29, 2016
91
Houston, TX
Pool Size
17500
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi All,

I've never posted about my water test results before, but the pH is starting to drift higher and the TA is drifting lower. I haven't used chlorine tabs in almost 3 weeks as I've been reducing chlorine and CYA levels ever since firing the pool man. All I've been using after an initial non-Cl shock 3 weeks ago has been 65% chlorine shock broadcast into my pool every other day to get the FC level to 2.0. I've also been adding 2 capfuls of Leslie's Perfect Weekly every Thursday. Can I please get some advice on how best to treat my water as pH goes up and TA goes down (seems kinda counterintuitive to me)? Let me know what additional information you need.

5/17 Quick Results (today)
FC = 2.0
pH = 7.8
TA = 60

5/11 Full Results
FC = 1.0
pH = 7.4
TA = 80
CH = 230
CYA = 58
Phosphates = 100

5/5 Full Results
FC = 3.0
pH = 7.4
TA = 80
CH = 240
CYA = 90
Phosphates = 300

4/30 Full Results
FC = 10.0
pH = 7.5
TA = 120
CH = 200
CYA = 80
Phosphates = 400

Thanks.
 
pooldv said:
Chlorine level is set based on the CYA level and the Chlorine CYA Chart. Always keep it at target level. Letting FC drop below minimum leaves your pool unsanitary and algae will start to grow.
Click to expand...

Agree. Do you have a test kit or are you going to pool store?
 
pooldv said:
PH at 7.8 and TA at 60 is great.

Chlorine level is set based on the CYA level and the Chlorine CYA Chart. Always keep it at target level. Letting FC drop below minimum leaves your pool unsanitary and algae will start to grow.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'm definitely learning something here. Forgive my newb-ish-ness. As I mentioned in my first post, I've only been adding chlorine via shock and have not had tabs in my pool for 3 weeks (I'm getting some today, though). Every other day, I have been testing the FC and using the Pool Pal app to bring the FC level in my 19K gal pool to 2.0 with 65% shock. For instance, the other day when my FC was 1.0, I added 4.0 oz of shock to achieve the Goal of FC=2.0. According to the Chlorine CYA Chart, "Shock FC" for CYA levels between 40-50 (where my pool is currently) is 16-20. Am I interpreting the table correctly that I should have my "Goal FC" set to 16.0-20.0 in my Pool Pal app and not 2.0 since I am only adding chlorine by way of shock? According to PoolCalculator, if I set my Goal FC to 18, this means I need to add 4.2 lbs of 65% shock to my pool. Is that correct?
 
Have you found pool school yet? TFP does not recommend the use of solid forms of chlorine (pucks/powders). All solid forms of chlorine add something else to the water too, usually CYA or CH. Liquid chlorine (aka liquid shock, aka bleach) or a saltwater generator are the preferred chlorinating methods.
 

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I see the light bulb turning on! :)

Read this, Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Use generic bleach 8.25% to add chlorine to your pool or liquid chlorine 10%-12%, same thing, just stronger.

Here is how to read the CYA chart
Find your CYA level, done (although pool stores are often pretty bad at that one)
Always keep your FC above minimum to keep your pool sanitized and algae free
Target is a recommended level to aim for daily
Shock level is used to kill algae following this process, Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain

It is safe to swim when FC is between minimum and shock level for your CYA. FC levels below minimum leaves your pool unsanitary with increased risk of person to person disease transmission.

When you are ready for more school start here, Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
 
pooldv said:
I see the light bulb turning on! :)

Read this, Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Use generic bleach 8.25% to add chlorine to your pool or liquid chlorine 10%-12%, same thing, just stronger.

Here is how to read the CYA chart
Find your CYA level, done (although pool stores are often pretty bad at that one)
Always keep your FC above minimum to keep your pool sanitized and algae free
Target is a recommended level to aim for daily
Shock level is used to kill algae following this process, Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain

It is safe to swim when FC is between minimum and shock level for your CYA. FC levels below minimum leaves your pool unsanitary with increased risk of person to person disease transmission.

When you are ready for more school start here, Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Click to expand...
Thank you! I've now spent almost $200 on a 50lb bucket of cal-hypo and a 15lb bucket of tri-chlor pucks. Should I keep these even if I switched to the bleach method or should I try to sell them? What if I went out of town for a week and would not be able to care for the pool daily. Would pucks be a good thing to use in that case?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
Sure, plenty of folks here use pucks when they are on vaca. The cal-hyp will add about 150 ppm CH to your pool. It looks like you have room to add that much. Your CH could use a boost.
 
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