Arizona Heat vs. Liquid Chlorine

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Z

Zepol

0
Apr 21, 2009
11
Phoenix AZ
OK....First off I want to really thank you guys for gathering all the content, hosting, as well as taking time to monitor and admin this site. I have been using the Pool Calculator and attempting to perfect the BBB method in my pool for about 1 month. Now to my issue/question....I have been using what I believe to be WAAAAAAY too much liquid chlorine in order to keep my FC at a decent level. For instance my numbers 3 days ago were. These numbers are pretty indicative of my pool on a regular since starting BBB.

Wed.
FC - 0.5 (If even that much. It wasn't as pink as the .5 - 1 color on the test kit)
PH - 8
TA - 150
CH - 375 (I have dumped my entire water out and learned the hard way that AZ has hard wather)
CYA - < 30 (I don't really know what this number is I just know that I can pour the solution all the way to the top of the test kit and still see the black dot pretty clearly. When I first started BBB a little over a month ago my CYA was EXTREMELY HIGH much more than 100)

I didn't see anything on the calculator that says which numbers are the priority to get under control first so for the first 3 weeks or so of trying to follow BBB I just dumped the said chemicals, drained water and did whatever the calculator told me to do all at the same time. Now I'm starting to realize that wasn't the right way to do it. I assumed getting the chlorine level up was the priority and just from the 3 weeks experience that I have with my pool (Adding the suggested "Pool Calc" chlorine amount and next day testing to find my chlorine levels to be low) on top of seeing the bottom of my pool had a thin layer of algae starting I decided to dump in 384 oz's of clorox instead of the 152 oz's suggested by PC

Thurs. Morning

FC - 5 (whoohoo no "." in front of my FC number!)
PH - 8
TA - 175
CH - 375
CYA - < 30

This felt great! A crystal clear pool with some actual chlorine in it! I read somewhere on another site yesterday that my priority should be getting the TA under control. (If this is not right please let me know.) With this being said I attacked the TA yesterday dumping the correct amount of Dry Acid into the pool which brought my PH down to about 7.2 last night. Then I airated my pool for about 15 hours.

Thurs Night

PH - 7.2 (I only tested the PH to see if I got that number down to the right number)

Fri Morn

FC - 0.5 UGGGGH!
PH - 7.6
TA - 150 (Still freaking high :hammer: )
CH - 375
CYA - < 30

This mornings numbers brought me out of my shell and I decided instead of banging my head against a wall to write you guys. HELP! Thanks

DL
 
what test kit are you using? I put over a gallon a muriatic acid in my pool when ph was 7.6 or so and it brought it down to 7.2 and brought TA down 40 points (200 to 160). perhaps a dry acid difference? no idea. looks like you're losing chlorine to sunlight. you need cya.
 
I imagine that your pool gets lots of direct sun and heat. This, along with whatever organics are continuing to hide out in your pool will consume your FC fairly quickly. Begin the process of raising your CYA level to between 30 and 50 ppm. Yes, too high of a CYA like you had before is a problem. But now you don't have enough.

With the hard water there in AZ, you have your work cut out for you to prevent calcium scaling. A CH of 375 ppm isn't horrible, but you know all to well that it is going to continue to rise over time and every time that you top off the pool with tap water. This brings me to pH control.

Your TA is high and this will make keeping your pH between 7.2 and 7.8 a tough job for you. Lowering TA is a slower process than making other chemical corrections. You accomplish this by lower your pH to 7.0, aerating to bring the pH back up, checking the TA, and repeating the process until you get the TA where you want it. It can take many days to get it done and you have to be patient as it goes.

Your priorities are to make sure you always have enough FC to be sanitary and to keep that pH within 7.2 and 7.8. Never let the pH go above 7.8, especially in your neck of the woods with that hard water. The CYA will help you keep more of your FC. You'll still burn off lots of FC anyway because of your environment, but it will help. Getting your TA under control will help with the pH swings. And once you get your TA where you want it, you can consider borate addition to your pool for a secondary protective buffer for your pH.
 
The test kit that I am using is not the TF-100. When I discovered this site I literally had 3 days to whip my pool in shape so I bought the other test kit that was compared/recommended on this site from a leslies pool store since I could buy it that day and get going.

I imagine that your pool gets lots of direct sun and heat. This, along with whatever organics are continuing to hide out in your pool will consume your FC fairly quickly. Begin the process of raising your CYA level to between 30 and 50 ppm. Yes, too high of a CYA like you had before is a problem. But now you don't have enough.
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Yes my pool gets lots of direct sun and heat as there is no trees or anything blocking the harsh arizona sun. I'm wondering if I have organic material trapped in my sand as I believe my sand has channeled base on another question and answer that I posed yesterday.http://www.troublefreepool.com/help-vacuuming-issue-t12471.html What is the recommended method of raising my CYA level? Should I buy traditional shock or is there something else I should buy?

Your TA is high and this will make keeping your pH between 7.2 and 7.8 a tough job for you. Lowering TA is a slower process than making other chemical corrections. You accomplish this by lower your pH to 7.0, aerating to bring the pH back up, checking the TA, and repeating the process until you get the TA where you want it. It can take many days to get it done and you have to be patient as it goes.
Click to expand...

Should I use more acid and keep lowering my PH down to 7.2 daily and bringing it back up daily until my TA gets down to where it needs to be or should I keep the PH down at 7.0-7.2 for a couple of days and then bring the PH up when the TA gets where I need it to be?

Your priorities are to make sure you always have enough FC to be sanitary and to keep that pH within 7.2 and 7.8. Never let the pH go above 7.8, especially in your neck of the woods with that hard water. The CYA will help you keep more of your FC. You'll still burn off lots of FC anyway because of your environment, but it will help. Getting your TA under control will help with the pH swings. And once you get your TA where you want it, you can consider borate addition to your pool for a secondary protective buffer for your pH.
Click to expand...

Once I get the TA where I need it to be what product/s should I use as a borate for a secondary buffer for my PH? Thanks a bunch and sorry for the million questions. I just wanna make sure I understand and get this right so that I don't need to keep asking questions in the future!
 
Hey, Zep,

I just skimmed this thread but I think your original post/problem is your excessive use of chlorine.

< 30 (I don't really know what this number is I just know that I can pour the solution all the way to the top of the test kit and still see the black dot pretty clearly. When I first started BBB a little over a month ago my CYA was EXTREMELY HIGH much more than 100)
Click to expand...

That is the problem. when you drained, your CYA went down the drain, too. CYA protects chlorine from the sun and you have next to none in your pool. Buy enough CYA (stabilizer) to bring that test up to around 50ppm and you will see a huge drop in your FC cunsumption.

Pool School is the place where you can read more detail
 
The instructions for lowering TA are in an article in Pool School.

You add Muratic Acid to lower both the PH and TA. Target your PH for 7.0-7.2. This will also lower the TA. Start Aerating the water (the more bubbles the faster the process) to raise the PH back up to 7.8. Then repeat the Acid addition, which again will lower the PH to 7.0-7.2 and will also lower the TA some more. You repeat the process until both the PH and TA are at the recommended levels.

You must test between acid additions, so that you have the correct muratic acid dose and you are keeping and eye on the PH and TA levels. You don't want the PH to go below 7.0 and you don't want it to go above 7.8. It can be time consuming but once you understand the process it's pretty straightforward.
 
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