Water Test Readings...When to Worry

[New to Chlorine]

I switched over from using Baquacil to Chlorine last year. My pool has looked great with no problems (after the change over was complete). BUT all last year and now beginning this year with opening to pool my CYA, TA, and Ph reading seems off compared to what I see on TFP. Here are my readings from this morning. I'm wondering if I should be concerned??? I battled it all last year (drained water levels/refilled twice) and could never get the readings where they should be but my pool looked great and still does. My water is very clear, pressure is good.
FC- 8 (I add 1/2 gallon of 8.25 bleach each evening, so this is a little high because I just added last night and took sample early this morning.)
CC-0
PH- 8(not sure how to put this....I had to add 2 drops of the Acid Demand to get it down to 7.6)
TA-130
CYA-60
I hope this is enough information for you to help me. I love the ease of using the chlorine method but can't relax and enjoy my pool because of my readings and not knowing what to do to achieve the correct readings according to your site. I did read somewhere here not to chase numbers just for the sake of chasing numbers????
Thanks for any information you can provide.

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

All you need is some acid. Your pH is going to keep rising because your fill water has high TA. The good news is, when you add acid to lower pH, you also lower TA a little. So each time you add acid, the pH will stay down a little longer each time and the amount of acid you need to adjust pH will also go down.

Instead of targeting 7.4, shoot for 7.2 on the pH. The TA will go down faster that way and it will buy you some more time before the next adjustment.

If you're really lucky, you'll hit the sweet spot where the pH will stay put for a week or more at a time.

 

[New to Chlorine]

Thanks for your help. I've been trying to figure out how to post a thread since last year, glad I finally figured it out. Now for a new question...I put my figures in Pool Math and it gives different % for Muriatic Acid. I went to Walmart this morning and purchased "Klean Strip" Muriatic Acid, but I could not find a % listed anywhere. Is this the correct stuff and, if so how do I know how much to add?

 

[Richard320]

Thanks for your help. I've been trying to figure out how to post a thread since last year, glad I finally figured it out. Now for a new question...I put my figures in Pool Math and it gives different % for Muriatic Acid. I went to Walmart this morning and purchased "Klean Strip" Muriatic Acid, but I could not find a % listed anywhere. Is this the correct stuff and, if so how do I know how much to add?

If it says anything like "safe" or "low-fuming" it's the half strength stuff.

There may be an archaic measurement somewhere that says 20 Baume. That's the 31.45% stuff.

When in doubt, treat it as the strong stuff. You can always add more tomorrow if you missed the target.

 

[New to Chlorine]

Ok, please have patience with me!! I added 128 oz. of the "Green Klean Strip" Muriatic Acid this a.m. (I did some more searching on TFP and found how others had adjusted using the same stuff!!) Pool Math said to add 151 oz. but I only had one bottle of 128 oz., so added it all! It did the trick to lower my PH to 7.2.
Here are my readings from the a.m. after adding it:

FC=6
CC-0
PH=7.2
TA=150
CYA=50
Should I do anything else to lower my TA??
Also, just wondering how often should I backwash? My gauge remains the same unless the pool gets really dirty, after I vacuum. I'm just wondering, because with Baquicail I had to backwash ALOT!!! Love not having to do this, but want to make sure there is no reason unless the gauge raises.

 

[Richard320]

No, don't worry about TA. As it says in Pool School - Lower Total Alkalinity

There are two reasons to lower your total alkalinity (TA) right away, because you want to slow down the rate that the PH rises, or if high TA is contributing to a high calcium saturation index (CSI) which puts you at risk of calcium scaling. You shouldn't lower TA just to reach a target number.

emphasis added.

If your gauge works, you just note the pressure immediately after a full cleaning and wait until either a) Pressure rises 25% or b) there is a noticeable decrease in flow. If the pool is clear and you use skimmer socks/net to strain out the big surface stuff, you could well go a whole season without backwashing.

 

[New to Chlorine]

By the way I love this site!! It has helped me tremendously, and I have learned SOOOO much!! I have told several people about it!! I just want to make sure I understand. I have added acid twice now since my last post to reduce my PH to 7.2. I have got myself confused....is this where I should keep it? My TA has went down some. My chlorine level does fine. I have my return pointed toward to top of the pool for some aeration, should I do something else to aerate more? Or will my TA be okay if I keep my PH at 7.2.
My readings this a.m. were: 5.5 FC, 0 CC, 7.2 Ph, 120 TA, 50 CYA.

 

[PoolingInKC]

I looked at the differences between the Klean Strip and Klean Strip Green.
Pretty sure that Klean Strip is 31.45% (20 baume) and Klean Strip Green is 20% (13 baume).
I got the 20% stuff by accident at Lowes one time and until I got to this site never knew why it took more to lower the PH/TA.

 

[jagger2005]

First, welcome to TFP.

When considering PH, think of it more as a range rather than a hard set value. So you lowered it down to 7.2. Try to measure it every day so that you can tell how much it creeps up. If it goes up to 7.8 in a day or two, then you know it is moving pretty fast. So lower back down to 7.2.

Eventually, what you will notice is it will start taking longer and longer to reach 7.8. Once, you can go about a week with out adding any MA, you are really close to getting to the sweet spot for the TA - I rarely check the TA because the goal is really to try and get the pH stabilized. At that point is when I start lowering it 7.5 and then see how long it takes to get to 7.8. Once you are rarely adding or only adding a little, this is when I like to measure the TA to see what that sweet spot really is.

I hope that makes a little sense - from my experience

 

[New to Chlorine]

Yes, I think understand what you are saying. Thanks for the explanation that's what I needed to know!