We bought a new house last year with an in ground concrete pool (20,000) and constantly struggled all last year to keep any chlorine in it. Took the water multiple times a week to the pool store for testing and help and they continually told us our phosphates were too high (1,000 and above) and that was our issue. Week after week, we spend a fortune on phosphate removers, dealt with the constant clean up from them, back washed and then we were constantly paying to truck in more water from back washing so much because the filter would get clogged after the phosfree. Every week the pool store would still say our phosphates were too high, that was our issue and this continues until we closed the pool with very little time spent actually swimming. So, needless to say it wasn't what I thought the summer was going to be. We researched a bit and thought this summer would be better. It was ok for the first few weeks we opened, water was crystal clear, leveled were ok, then we started to have trouble holding chlorine again. After reading a bunch of these forums (thanks especially to chemgeek!!!) we realized that our cya has always been in the 100-200 range so we were never adding enough to begin with or shocking to the correct level. We have partially drained the pool once, which brought our cya from 141-124, plan on doing another partial drain however our water table is so high here, even that little drain caused the pool to pop out of the ground 1/4 of an inch ?. We are hoping that we can get it down to the 80-100 level which I understand is still too high but it's better than we are at. Our biggest problem was, we bought all the chemicals off the old owner and both the pucks and the shock had cya in it. So for now we aren't using either, got liquid chlorine, and slamed finally to the appropriate level to stop losing everything overnight. I guess my question now is how to I properly maintain the chlorine levels (13.6 fc until we can drain and truck in some more water) thought the day (our pool gets full sun all day) without using pucks? Should we start out the day high and then add even night? Once again, totally new to this pool thing and just would like to be able to use it this year while keeping my little ones safe. Thanks in advance!!!
Newbie pool owner with chlorine problems and questions
- Thread starter Jeannaharrison
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!!
My first question is how are you coming up with your numbers? CYA numbers like "from 141-124" are not numbers you would get from one of our recommended test kits?
My first question is how are you coming up with your numbers? CYA numbers like "from 141-124" are not numbers you would get from one of our recommended test kits?
Those have come from our local pool store. We ordered the Taylor k-2005 at the beginning of this season to test better; however we just ordered the 2006 because that's what we need? Our current cya home test only tells us it's over 100. So both of those number came from the pool store a test. Both of which he said were perfectly acceptable, even used the words 'ideal range for cya' and once again tried to pressure me into buys some more phosphate removers ��
Yea, I figured as much......
I wish you had posted sooner, you really don't need to buy an entire K-2006. Only the chlorine test is different between what you have and the 2006 and it can be purchased individually.
So, on to my story. I purchased my home much like yourselves from an owner who used tabs and shock. When I took over the pool it was beautifully clear but had CYA in the 250ish range. I also have a very high water table, so much so that when we get a good rain the water flows up through the cracks in the driveway, not down. I took my time and kept the FC where it needed to be for my CYA. As none of our charts go as high as you need you need to understand that the absolute minimum your FC can be is 7.5% of the CYA. So for now your CYA is 150, so your FC should always be 11.25 or higher. Well, we can't measure the .25 so we will say 12. i would probably say to target 15 for now and see how it drops during the daytime.
Please tell me the water is clear and has no algae......
I wish you had posted sooner, you really don't need to buy an entire K-2006. Only the chlorine test is different between what you have and the 2006 and it can be purchased individually.
So, on to my story. I purchased my home much like yourselves from an owner who used tabs and shock. When I took over the pool it was beautifully clear but had CYA in the 250ish range. I also have a very high water table, so much so that when we get a good rain the water flows up through the cracks in the driveway, not down. I took my time and kept the FC where it needed to be for my CYA. As none of our charts go as high as you need you need to understand that the absolute minimum your FC can be is 7.5% of the CYA. So for now your CYA is 150, so your FC should always be 11.25 or higher. Well, we can't measure the .25 so we will say 12. i would probably say to target 15 for now and see how it drops during the daytime.
Please tell me the water is clear and has no algae......
I have considered the high water table/water change problem.
1) Obtain a HUGE tarp (something like this 40'x60' tarp or another that's appropriate for your pool size).
2) Stretch the tarp over the pool so that the all 4 edges are above the waterline. You could attach floats/pool noodles to make sure the edges do not drop into the water.
3) Fill the tarp with fresh water while running the pump to dump to waste and/or allowing the pool to overflow. Be careful that the tarp edges remain above the waterline.
4) When you have enough water removed from the pool, you will have an equal amount of fresh water in the tarp. Now drop the tarp edges into the water to allow the old and new water to mix.
5) Slide the tarp out of the water.
If you have too much water in the tarp, it will have too much pressure to remove it. In this case, pump the water out of the tarp and into the pool until you can remove it.
This method will isolate the new water from the old water without removing any weight from your pool. You could technically replace all the water from your pool without ever dropping the water level.
1) Obtain a HUGE tarp (something like this 40'x60' tarp or another that's appropriate for your pool size).
2) Stretch the tarp over the pool so that the all 4 edges are above the waterline. You could attach floats/pool noodles to make sure the edges do not drop into the water.
3) Fill the tarp with fresh water while running the pump to dump to waste and/or allowing the pool to overflow. Be careful that the tarp edges remain above the waterline.
4) When you have enough water removed from the pool, you will have an equal amount of fresh water in the tarp. Now drop the tarp edges into the water to allow the old and new water to mix.
5) Slide the tarp out of the water.
If you have too much water in the tarp, it will have too much pressure to remove it. In this case, pump the water out of the tarp and into the pool until you can remove it.
This method will isolate the new water from the old water without removing any weight from your pool. You could technically replace all the water from your pool without ever dropping the water level.
Sorry Davejavu, but you can't claim naming rights for an idea that goes back at least 8 years: Draining pool using pump?I have considered the high water table/water change problem. My suggestion is to use the Latka method of water replacement (my invention so I get to name it, right?).
Sorry...I thought this post refers to draining the deep end while filling the shallow end. Doesn't quite describe my plan.
Nope, look at the final post which is meant as a joke. The tarp method has been discussed for many years.
Thanks so much guys!!! The tarp sounds like a great way for us to get our cya down lower! Our pool has been crystal clear, but haven't been able to hold any chlorine overnight, until recently when we found the charts with cya/chlorine and we realized we hadn't ever shocked anywhere near what we should have been. Guess my only looming question is how do you chlorinate without using pucks? Do you test every morning, start high knowing you'll lose some in the day? Or test at the end of the day? Or add a little as during the day? Reason I'm concerned is we have 2 little ones, both 2 and under, so swim diapers and a good bit of play dates with other kids in swim diapers as well. Even though I try to really make sure we are changing them often in case of #2's the bacteria is kind of unavoidable. So I would imagine we are going to burn through more chlorine than the average swimmer. Not to mention the constant sun all day.