General strategy for maintaining FC level (Daily routine?)

[FailedChemistry]

Hey everybody, just a simple generalized question about the way you approach FC levels on a daily basis.

With my CYA level at 40, pool math recommends FC range between 3 and 7.
So i try to keep it at 5.

I test my water every morning before the sun hits the pool.
Get up, go out and test, and the FC is usually 4 ppm. So i add enough bleach to bring it up to 5, then walk away.
Next morning, test - usually a 4, add bleach to get to 5... rinse and repeat daily. I've been doing this for about 3 years since i started coming here to TroubleFreePools.

But this morning, i had a weird thought—and maybe this is a silly question, but is this the right approach, or is that daily dip to 4 ppm a problem?

If my target is 5 ppm, should i instead be adding enough bleach to bring the pool up to 6 ppm before the sun hits it, knowing that throughout the day it'll drop into my target level?

I guess my question is this:
Do you guys overshoot your target FC level knowing that it will drop back down into your target FC level, or do you just hit your target FC level in the morning, and just let nature do whatever it's gonna do the rest of the day?

 

[Philo]

Before the SWG, I brought the FC to the top of the target or a little more and added chlorine every other day (I'm told I'm lazy....)

It was always clean and never green.

 

[Fingaling]

3 is your minimum, so as long as what you do keeps it above 3 you're good.

Id just remember to maybe dose to 6 or 7 if youre going to have heavy use, or a wind storm is going to blow stuff in or anything like that.

If you decide to go up to 6, youll use marginally more chlorine overall, but youll also have an extra reserve.

 

[LFrankow]

On a chlorine/bleach pool your target is 5-7, myself I would shoot for 6 or 7
On my pool target is 5 being swg with 70 cya, I like to keep it at 6-6.5, and when the 6 grandkids show up next week, I will have it at 7.
A little more doesn't hurt anything, a little less can cause a great big mess

 

[SUNOFTHEBEACH]

I check and add at sunset with the thought that I have a full 12 hours with out the sun stealing my chlorine.

If you add it in the morning, the sun starts degrading it right away.

 

[s_vidden]

I check and add at sunset with the thought that I have a full 12 hours with out the sun stealing my chlorine.

If you add it in the morning, the sun starts degrading it right away.

I also add my chlorine in the evening. Usually at dusk.

 

[Oly]

I also add my chlorine in the evening. Usually at dusk.

Me three, I dose in the evening also then check FC before the sun is up.

 

[FailedChemistry]

Ok, interesting… i got confused i guess. I thought my range was 3–7.

On a chlorine/bleach pool your target is 5-7, myself I would shoot for 6 or 7
On my pool target is 5 being swg with 70 cya, I like to keep it at 6-6.5…

The (OTO) daily tester only indicates up to 5.
Does that mean you're using the FAS/DPD test every day?

 

[Akathisia]

Ok, interesting…
Does that mean you're using the FAS/DPD test every day?

FAS/DPD is all I ever use, but the Sample Sizer and SpeedStir make quick work of it. Time is money and knowing my pool is going to be crystal clear is worth the invesrment.

TFTestkits.net
TFTestkits.net
TFTestkits.net

 

[Holydoc]

My pool has CYA = 60ppm. So my FC range is 7-9ppm. I like to stay within that range so each night I test the pool. For a typical day, the pool is usually at 6ppm which is between the bare minimal and the lowest point in the range. I will then add enough Chlorine to raise my pool to fc = 9ppm to the top of the range (74 oz of 10% chlorine). That way my pool can sit all night with the highest concentration for my range in case there are any baddies in the water to fight.

So with my pool losing between 2-4ppm per day (in my case 3ppm) I:

• Test at night to ensure my pool never dropped below minimum
• Add Chlorine to raise to upper portion of range to allow it to fight any baddies in water

This allows me to see a pattern as well. If for some reason my pool drops below 6ppm, then I start monitoring for possible algae growth, lots of wind, rain, or anything else that may have caused this. Once, I was losing more than normal just to discover that it had been raining so much that month that my CYA had got diluted by 10ppm due to draining the rain water.

Also by learning how your pool acts on a daily basis, I can let my spouse know how much chlorine to add a day without testing, tell a neighbor how much to add daily if we go on a trip, or even skip a few days of testing because I know how much chlorine I should be adding.

 

[sccm_sysadmin]

I keep my pool around 40ppm for CYA.

After a few months of experimenting with it, I've determined my pool 'eats' about a half-gallon of 10% chlorine per day to keep my levels in line.

Usually I keep the levels up high enough that I can dose it every other day, or even every 3rd day, and so far I haven't had any issues with that. While I'm sure it isn't "optimal", it's working for now. I have a pretty low chlorine load for now since we don't us the pool that often.