first time opening numbers

[BillyG]

I bought a home with a pool and just had it opened for the first time. I found this site and cant wait to get started. The water is very clean and nice and blue to start. The previous owner had a frog and it appears that the CYA is higher than i would want, maybe from using that frog? But with the numbers that I have (listed below) is a slam even needed if it isnt green? Also the CH seems to be high. Do I need to worry about that with a vinyl pool? I put a pic of the water below as well. Any assistance with where to start would be a big help. Thanks guys!

CYA - 70
PH - 7.6
FC - 21 (I had a company come and open the pool and they added a bunch of chlorine)
CC - 0
TA - 200
CH - 570

 

[Richard320]

That doesn't look too bad. If you see no algae patches, you probably don't need to SLAM.

70 CYA is manageable, but lower is easier. It'll come down some due to splashout and backwashing. Just make sure you maintain adequate FC for that CYA

570 CH is easily manageable. Low CH is no problem for the vinyl, but high CH can still cause scaling. When you plug numbers into poolmath, take a look at CSI. That will tell you if you're at risk of scale or not. You'll probably want to keep pH at the lower end of the scale to lower TA and prevent scale formation. If you test your fill water, that'll tell you if water replacement is even feasible. If the well is spitting out 400 CH water, replacing it all will still leave you above ideal!


Yes, lose the pool frog or leave it empty.

 

[BillyG]

Thanks for the quick response this place is great! The poolmath gave me a csi of .34 and it says potential for scaling. The box says .6 is where its a problem. I checked the well water and its around 500, so that doesnt seem like a valid option!

 

[Richard320]

Thanks for the quick response this place is great! The poolmath gave me a csi of .34 and it says potential for scaling. The box says .6 is where its a problem. I checked the well water and its around 500, so that doesnt seem like a valid option!

Try it again with TA down to below 100. CSI will go waaaaay down. Just keep lowering pH to 7.2 whenever it hits 7.8 and the TA will come down pretty quick. As TA drops, you'll see the amount of acid needed lower and how long between doses grow.

 

[BillyG]

I lowered the PH to 7.2 and that brought the TA down to 170. That brings the CSI level from poolmath to -0.13. I am going to try to find a way to aerate to bring the PH up a little but I dont have "eyeball" returns, its a slotted return (aqua-genie combined skimmer and return) with a face plate that directs to water downwards. I think i can flip the plate for a bit to direct the returned water towards the surface and see if that helps.

Its funny as I read through peoples posts that the advice given nearly 100% of the time works. Im a firm believer. Im very thankful I found this site. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Richard320]

I lowered the PH to 7.2 and that brought the TA down to 170. That brings the CSI level from poolmath to -0.13. I am going to try to find a way to aerate to bring the PH up a little but I dont have "eyeball" returns, its a slotted return (aqua-genie combined skimmer and return) with a face plate that directs to water downwards. I think i can flip the plate for a bit to direct the returned water towards the surface and see if that helps.

Its funny as I read through peoples posts that the advice given nearly 100% of the time works. Im a firm believer. Im very thankful I found this site. Thanks again for the help.

No need to force the issue. pH will rise soon enough on its own.