Help! Thrown in the deep end...

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Is your water crystal clear without any haziness or fogginess? Was your CC less than 0.5? Just making sure you passed the 3 criteria for completing a SLAM.

You do not raise to mustard levels unless you have mustard algae. Mustard algae is rare. Post up photos if you think you have mustard algae.

If you are using your SWG you need to use the SWG/bottom portion of the chlorine CYA chart that shows Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

CYA 60, Min FC 3, Target 4, SLAM FC 24. Generally many of us keep the FC near target. Your lowest FC level of the day should never reach the minimum. FC 4 is just too close to FC 3, so try to target to keep your FC near 6 or 7. This will give you some wiggle room as you dial in your pools needs.

You generally do not want the SWG generating if you are using the spa only as the FC levels could get too high. I have a spa and I make sure to turn my SWG off when I use it. Mine is oversized for the pool and generally runs at 100%, so it can raise the FC in the spa to very high levels pretty quickly. If you use the spa for a long period of time, you can check your FC levels and if necessary bump up FC using bleach.

I close my pool, but use the spa long after pool season is over. I generally have the water circulate in both the pool and spa and maintain just like the summer. I turn the spa on when I intend to soak and when finished I reset the flow to circulate in both bodies of water. It is much easier to manage one large body of water, vs managing two bodies of water and one being very small. I have a very large gas heater, so it doesn't take long for the spa to heat up.

You'll probably find that you use less FC over the winter months. If the water gets too cold, the SWG will not generate chlorine and you will need to supplement with bleach/liquid chlorine.
 
Thank you to everybody for the useful information and responses. I'm still try to understand and wrangle my new pool into shape.

This week I have been trying to bring down the TA. Five gallons of MA later I am finally in the pH 7.0-7.2 range. I have been maintaining it in this range for a few days but I can't say I have seen any real change in the TA. It's seems to be staying at 130. I haven't been doing much to aerate it because I've been so busy. But just with the normal running of the pump etc. I thought it might start drifting down. Does it usually take a while for it to come down?

Other questions I have been wondering about:
I have a variable speed pump which is scheduled to run on high for a few hours and then low for a few each day. My question is, other than some basic circulation, does the low speed do anything? I've noticed that pool crawler (Hayward phoenix) doesn't run when the pump is on low. Also, the Intelichlor indicates Low flow and is not chlorinating the pool. I haven't been able to check but at least the heat should be able to be working in low mode right?

Finally, a really basic question, how do I drain water out of the pool? I made the mistake of overfilling the pool and the water level has been very slow to go down (which is a good thing usually!). But as a result we have a lot of flow between the pool and spa and cannot get the Spa temperature up. It wasn't a big deal the past week so I was just waiting for it to evaporate but then it actually rained here and we are having a party this weekend and want to use the spa. Anyway, other than backwashing the DE and having to re-charge it, is there any way to just drain water? I don't see any other outputs from the pump, heater, DE, system. Would the main drain in the bottom of the pool have another outlet? I realize that without seeing my setup this is probably a hard question to answer, but being new to pools and ignorant of how they work in general I thought I would ask if there is typically another way to get water out.

Thanks again!
-Steve
 
1. TA. What is the TA of your fill water? If you fill water has high TA, you'll have to aggressively increase PH by aerating and then adding acid to lower PH. You are also fighting PH rise due to the SWG which also increases your PH.

Have you read the tutorial? Pool School - Lower Total Alkalinity

Generally, PH will rise really fast until it reaches 7.6 and it might slow down. Test your PH daily, aerate to increase PH to 7.6 or even 7.8 then add acid to target a PH of 7.0 or 7.2. It could take a while to reduce your TA.

2. Pump speed. Most SWG will operate at lower speeds. What the pump speed on the low setting? Update your profile to say either Hayward Phoenix suction cleaner, a robot cleaner is a very different kind of cleaner. I would suspect that a suction cleaner would need the high setting to work unless you have a separate booster pump. I personally can't answer this question, but I'm sure someone will come along with the answer after you tell us your pump speed on the low setting. Are you backwashing when your pressure rises 25% above the clean pressure? Waiting too long to backwash can significantly reduce the flow of water which can cause the SWG and your suction cleaner to not work well.

3. Drain. Many filters have what is called a multiport valve that has several settings like, waste, backwash, rinse, filter, recirculate. The waste option will allow you to drain water without backwashing the DE filter. If you don't have one of these, your options are a) attempt to siphon the water using a garden hose, b) backwashing, c) renting or buying a small submersible pump. If you don't have a multiport valve, I would consider installing one when you have free time and $.
 
Thanks @Kcindc

1. Good question. I have no idea what the fill TA is but I will check tonight. I have read the tutorial which is why I dropped the pH to 7.0. I just didn't know how quickly the TA might come down. I haven't added any fill water since I dropped the pH but the TA has not dropped. I will try doing a couple of hours of using the booster pump and blower each night and see if that moves the TA lower.

2. I haven't played with the pump control yet so I don't know the speeds or how to look them up. I will have to look into it. What are the typical low/high speed settings? or does it depend on the size and HP of your pump? I think mine is a 2.2HP. I took apart the DE filter and cleaned it about 2 weeks ago. The previous owners/pool guy had not been maintaining the pool properly and it was in bad need of a cleaning. After cleaning it the pool filter pressures dropped from 38 to 10! I did see a significant improvement in the suction but the SWG and suction cleaner still do not work on the pump's low speed.

3. I do not have a multi-port, but one of those cylindrical pull and twist controls. I will try siphoning with a garden hose.
 
Progress....

1. Fill water chemistry:
pH >8.2
FC 0.5
CC 2.0
TC 2.5
CH 300
TA 150
Salt 400

I was able to aerate for a few hours last night and the TA dropped a little to 120. Looks like it will take a while....

2. The pump controls don't display speeds. Looks like it is factory set at low and high. I will have to google the manual from the model info to find the specs / speeds. Still wondering, what are the typical low and high speeds of pumps?

3. Siphoning seems to be working fine. Slow going but over the next few days I should be able to get it down.

Here is the pool motor info I found (looks like a replacement motor)
Century B2983T
Horse Power:1.5/.19
Amperes:SF 10.0/1.6
RPM:3450/1725
Voltage:230
Number of Speeds:2-2-VT
Motor Type:CXCP
Frame Size:Y56Y
Nema Suffix:Y
Service Factor:1.47
Phase:1
Enclosure:ODP
Bearings:BALL BRG
Ambient Temperature:50
Insulation Class:F
Rotation:CCWPE
Protector:THERMALLY PROTECTED
Agency Approvals:ULCSA
Duty Cycle:CONT
 
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