Bixby, OK water chemistry

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I think you are ok on CSI. I prefer 0 to -0.3 myself anyway. Especially in our region where our water has much more tendency to scale than to etch. You have plenty of chlorine in the where so I think risk of etching is very low.

Don't worry too much about rain and minor fluctuations in cya, CH and TA. Tests within 10 or 20 of prior tests are fine. Always round up on CYA to the next 10. And if in doubt keep FC 1 or 2 ppm higher. More FC is always better than skirting too close to minimum. Especially with lots of swimming.

Good job working those numbers! :thumleft:
 
pooldv said:
I think you are ok on CSI. I prefer 0 to -0.3 myself anyway. Especially in our region where our water has much more tendency to scale than to etch. You have plenty of chlorine in the where so I think risk of etching is very low.

Don't worry too much about rain and minor fluctuations in cya, CH and TA. Tests within 10 or 20 of prior tests are fine. Always round up on CYA to the next 10. And if in doubt keep FC 1 or 2 ppm higher. More FC is always better than skirting too close to minimum. Especially with lots of swimming.

Good job working those numbers! :thumleft:
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Thank you! Being a very detail-oriented person, these numbers have been a little stressful. I have this drive of feeling like I need to get it very precise ;)

I feel better now that you gave me the thumbs up :)
 
My pH and FC have held the same for 2 weeks (pH 7.8-8.0 and FC 7.5-7), SWG has been off all this time. Does this seem right? It has gotten very cold here and the water got down to about 34. Today it was about70 degrees outside, water was about 53 and we had some rain yesterday. I really expected to have to add some bleach today but there's been no change....
 
That's great to hear, Denise. It's always helpful to post a full set of test results, and you can use your last result for the tests that are done less often.

FC 7.5
pH 7.8
TA ?
CH ?
CYA ?
Salt ?

There's a good chance that pH around 7.8 will be fine. FC is depleted very slowly in winter (sun low in the sky, cold water, little organic load). Mine can go around 3 weeks to a month without needing anything in winter. Everything seems to be in slow motion!
 
needsajet said:
That's great to hear, Denise. It's always helpful to post a full set of test results, and you can use your last result for the tests that are done less often.

FC 7.5
pH 7.8
TA ?
CH ?
CYA ?
Salt ?

There's a good chance that pH around 7.8 will be fine. FC is depleted very slowly in winter (sun low in the sky, cold water, little organic load). Mine can go around 3 weeks to a month without needing anything in winter. Everything seems to be in slow motion!
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Last full results were a couple weeks ago but they have been stable as well:

TA 90
CH 425-450
CYA 60
Salt 3000-3200

pooldv said:
Yes, looks good. Winter pool maintenance is pretty easy once the leaves stop.
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That's good to know! My bleach is getting old waiting to be used!!
If my neighbors' trees would ever quit dropping trash, the pool will be super easy.

It was so beautiful outside yesterday, I actually took the time to brush everything except the bottom. I let WALL-E do that part :)
 
Hi pool-friends! I need some advice...

We have had some rain on and off the last couple of weeks. I have had to remove some water from the pool to keep it at a good level (our overflow does not seem to work at all, go figure). We have also had a TON of leaves we have been cleaning out of the skimmers and from the top and bottom of the pool.
Woth this, I have continued to test and never had my FC less than 5-5.5. This was a drift down from 7-9 where I feel more comfortable keeping it. My CYA had consistently been about 60. Yesterday's test looked like 40. So, I'm in the process of increasing it to 60.
Since the rain, etc, over the last few days I have started having a very distinct CC, when I never really did previously. Although not a lot, it's .5-1, it worries me.
We are supposed to get some heavy rain this evening. In advance of this I have taken a bit more water out of the pool, and increased my FC from 7 to 9. My CYA is S L O W L Y dissolving and I have my pump running. I have the pool cleared of leaves and the spa is next. I haven't brushed since 12/27. I can see on the steps and tanning ledge that it needs it but (just being honest) I am sick and don't have much energy to brush...

I'm concerned about getting an algae bloom. I don't even know what algae in a pool looks like and had hoped to never find out.

Do you think I'm being paranoid or are my concerns valid?

If the CC is still from the rain and the trash blowing in, how long does it usually take to get that straightened out?

In this cold water (50deg), the CYA is taking forever to dissolve. I have spent some time on and off squeezing the sock but that seems to just be leaving a pile of undissolved powder. Any tips?

Also, I have never brushed the inside top (basket area) of my skimmers, only the tiled area skimmer entry. Is this something that should be brushed/cleaned? It just never occurred to me. If so, what do you use?

Some days I feel like I have a handle on this whole pool management and other days I feel very anxious about it all.

Any advice would be appreciated.

A recap of my current standings:

Yesterday:

pH 7.8
FC 7
CC .5-1
CYA 40

added MA, bleach and stabilizer

Today:

pH 7.5
FC 9
CC .5-1
CYA still dissolving

did not test TA and CH as I did them a couple weeks ago and they were fine

With more rain coming, is there something else I need to do? Water looks pretty good but it's so cloudy outside I can't tell if it's dull looking or not.
 
Update- I scrubbed out the inside of the skimmers(brrrr!) and I'm pretty sure there is black algae growing on my tanning ledge waterline tile. Ugh.
Im trying to get the CYA to finish dissolving so I can begin slam. I brushed as much as I could physically do and it is starting to rain. Guess I'll have to pick it up tomorrow.

In the meantime, do I raise the FC to the 40 CYA or just leave it at the 9 and do it tomorrow?
 

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That CC does say there might be something going on. I am betting it is all of the stuff from the rain and leaves and junk.

I would push your FC to SLAM level over night to see if you can nip it in the bud. I would also do a OCLT :

Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

This will give another picture of how your water is doing.

I really like the fact you could tell something was going on! Got to love a good test kit and a smart PO!

Now helper hat off!

NINI!!!! I have missed you!!!! I am sorry to hear you are not feeling well! How is everyone else?? How are the Grands????

:hug:

Kim:kim:
 
I was typing while you were typing. I think you should start the SLAM now. Good job brushing the skimmer area..burrr for sure!

You can put a chlorine tablet/puck on the black algae and see what it does. I hope it is not black algae :(
 
Seems to me like you might be a bit paranoid. Algae really doesnt grow much in cold water, 50s and below. A little CC from leaves and tree debris isn't all that alarming or surprising. It is totally normal to lose 3-5 ppm CYA per month and it seems to accelerate a bit in winter sometimes. Of course, it never hurts to increase FC and brush. I would probably not be too inclined to raise CYA during winter unless you just want to. I usually wait until spring and do it all at once in march/april. It always needs more.
 
Denise,

Just checking here, did you let the water sample come up to room temperature before testing CYA? The water sample needs to be above 68F for the test to work right. If the sample is cold, the reaction doesn't quite work as well and you can get a false low CYA reading because of it.

CC's below 1ppm are fine. You can get CCs for lots of reason and algae is just one of them. As Danny said, algae doesn't grow much in cold water; below 60F and the growth rates of most algae species plummet to negligible levels. So I doubt you really need to SLAM.

Matt
 
pooldv said:
Seems to me like you might be a bit paranoid. Algae really doesnt grow much in cold water, 50s and below. A little CC from leaves and tree debris isn't all that alarming or surprising. It is totally normal to lose 3-5 ppm CYA per month and it seems to accelerate a bit in winter sometimes. Of course, it never hurts to increase FC and brush. I would probably not be too inclined to raise CYA during winter unless you just want to. I usually wait until spring and do it all at once in march/april. It always needs more.
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Hi Danny! I am a bit paranoid (I blame my stressful build experience) and I did discover a blackish sticky film on my tanning ledge tiles and possibly on some of the rest of the waterline, as well as some green powdery stuff in the skimmers.
I wish I had waited to add the CYA but I thought I needed to jump on it when it was so low. I really have been careful about my FC levels, so this algae bloom is catching me off guard. I have been thinking the water LOOKS clear but it doesn't sparkle. I have since read more on black algae and it sounds like that's what this is...funny I never had the dramatic drop in FC.
I'll post a picture of the film on the tile tomorrow when I have some daylight.

kimkats said:
I would shoot for the CYA of 40 since yours is dissolving so slow.

Kim:kim:
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I already went out there and got it to finish dissolving so I went with the 60. So target was 28. Guess my measuring was off because I ended up at FC 31 CC 0

Is it a problem if I overshot the FC target a little?

Pump is running. I'll recheck it in the morning and start scrubbing tile.

JoyfulNoise said:
Denise,

Just checking here, did you let the water sample come up to room temperature before testing CYA? The water sample needs to be above 68F for the test to work right. If the sample is cold, the reaction doesn't quite work as well and you can get a false low CYA reading because of it.

CC's below 1ppm are fine. You can get CCs for lots of reason and algae is just one of them. As Danny said, algae doesn't grow much in cold water; below 60F and the growth rates of most algae species plummet to negligible levels. So I doubt you really need to SLAM.

Matt
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Hi Matt! Previously I had not warmed up my water but then I read a thread with that very topic discussed. Makes perfect sense about the precipitate not being in solution when it's cold. Those particles don't like to move. So, I did let it warm up to room temp.
Does that hold true for the other tests, as well?
BTW- how's your baby girl doing? She must be getting into everything by now!
 
Hi! The black goo is probably some residual oils, suntan lotion, etc made a bit gooi-er by colder water. The green dusty stuff is probably some pollen or wind blown stuff. I've hd some of that in my skimmers the last week or so also. I find that sparkle vs dull water can be impacted by FC and also by pH/TA.

Did you read this and look at the pics? Pool School - Black Algae I'd still bet a couple of bucks that you don't have algae.
 

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