BBB method in Sacramento area

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OV green pool

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Jul 28, 2017
13
Orangevale, CA
I have been making a lot of mistakes in taking over my own pool maintenance and wanted to try the BBB method. Does anyone have a "prescription" to follow of amounts of each chemical they use for a 10,000 gallon pool in California for the BBB method? I have a test kit and will be testing the pool, but wanted to see what amount others use to start off. Any help will be appreciated.
 
Every pool is unique, so there is no set amount of any chemicals to add.

To be honest, we refrain form using the"BBB" moniker anymore as most pools never (or seldom) need the last two "B"'s. Folks heard BBB and ran out and stocked up on Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda, generally unnecessarily. Most pools, once stabilized only need chlorine and muratic acid.

Please edit your signature and add the following information so we can better frame our answers to you.


  • List what test kit you use to test your water
  • The size of your pool in gallons
  • If your pool is an AG (above ground) or IG (in ground)
  • If it's IG, tell us if it's vinyl, plaster/pebble, or fiberglass
  • The type filter you have (sand, DE, cartridge)
  • If you know, tell us the make and model of your pump and filter.
  • List any other equipment you have: SWG, second pump, etc.
  • Please mention if you fill the pool from a well or are currently on water restrictions

Information in your signature will show up each time you post and it makes advice more accurate as we know what equipment we are dealing with.
 
To be honest, we refrain form using the"BBB" moniker anymore as most pools never (or seldom) need the last two "B"'s. Folks heard BBB and ran out and stocked up on Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda, generally unnecessarily. Most pools, once stabilized only need chlorine and muratic acid.
Click to expand...

Tim:

Wow, you hit this one on the hose. I have "alkalinity up" 25 lbs. form the pool store (4 years ago) and the bucket has never been opened. Occasionally, I do use borax in the beginning of the season (because I pump the old rain/snow water) from cover down to lower TA. If city water was used, I would never need borax, but acid. The solar cover does lower PH, but I have been using the fountains. Two of them on opposite sides in hours crank up PH when necessary, without affecting anything else. Stabilizer and chlorine (that is it). I do however use tablets (maybe 10 of them a few times per year to raise CYA), but no more.

Of course, PolyQuat 60 for closing here in NJ.
 
tim5055 said:
To be honest, we refrain form using the"BBB" moniker anymore as most pools never (or seldom) need the last two "B"'s. Folks heard BBB and ran out and stocked up on Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda, generally unnecessarily. Most pools, once stabilized only need chlorine and muratic acid.
Click to expand...

Not quite true in my case. 2016 season, when I opened my pool, the PH kept continually dropping, so I went out and bought a 12 lb bag of baking soda. After two, 5 ppm adjustments using a total of 16 fluid ounces, I've not adjusted PH or TA since. However, just last week I needed an antacid and we were out of Rolaids; it suddenly dawned on me that we had something that could help; one teaspoon from that 11 pound bag worked really well :cool:

I agree with tim5055. The BBB moniker makes it seem as though the main difference between our method and traditional methods is that we buy cheaper grocery store and hardware products instead of more expensive pool store chemicals. But really, one could buy the more expensive products from the pool store, e.g. PH+, PH-, TA+, TA-, liquid chlorine and still follow TFP perfectly. The important differences are: with TFP, we correlate and adjust FC levels based on CYA levels; more precisely set and maintain CYA levels; use fewer and less problematic chemicals to maintain pools, especially those that are used for sanitizing; and how thoroughly and how often we shock/SLAM our pools. Traditionalist shock on a weekly routine to make up for their poor management system, and we SLAM only in the event of an unsanitary pool condition, and when we do SLAM, we don't just shock and forget and hope it goes away; we SLAM the door on organic matter and then go back to a more simple, daily routine!

P.S. I am a "bronze" supporter. How do I get the moniker to show up with my posts?
 
Wow! Thank you all for responding and I apologize about respond so late. I logged in and couldn't see any response initially and now I see all these helpful responses.
Long story short, I took a pool sample in and they tested it and said my conditioner is 175 ppm and they said you have to drain your pool. So, since my pool has a small crack(not leaking), I was hesitant and decided to partially drain the pool and keep some wait on the bottom with the crack in the pool.
I have filled the pool back up and will test tonight. I have a pool test kit that is around 5 years old, not sure the brand, but it tests for chlorine, alkalinity, bromine, acid and ph levels.
 
Mistakes, a whole bunch. The pool supply store told me I was using too many pucks and that was the cause of the high conditioner levels. I use to go to Leslie's but they would sell me everything in the store and I would keep coming back. Prior to that, I have been chasing chemicals and always running down to the pool store to fix the issues and could never same to get on a consistent maintenance plan. I used to have the pool maintained professionally, but they seemed to have trouble keeping it clean and clear and pool man gave up on the pool. I thought about giving up on the pool with the headache and costs, but I realize I need to step up to the plate and get a handle on it.
 
Time for your own big pool test kit! Order the TF100 with SpeedStir. You will be glad you did. Will save you money and stop the trips to the pool store for questionable test results.

Take care.
 

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My batteries have been in since beginning of 2014. Use speed stir on average once a week for 5 months. First year a little longer. I could not live without the speed stir either. It would be neat if Taylor made all the tests like the CYA and the K-1000 kit. Drops and shake by hand.
 
I tested the pool with the current kit, Clear Pool and it didn't show any chlorine(test vial was clear) in the pool and the other tests gave me colors(PH test came back yellow) that didn't match with anything on the scale. I'm assuming the agents are too old to use and I will wait for the new TF-100 and speedstir to be here in 5 days, After draining the pool halfway on Sunday, I put in 1 pound of shock, one gallon of chlorine, one trichlor puck in the floater in the pool to bring everything back up. Should I do anything at this point or just wait for the new kit to show up? Thank you for the help
 
My suggestion would be to not use any more powdered or tablet forms of chlorine until you know your water chemistry and know what adding those will do to your water chemistry.

You can add 1/2 gallon of bleach a day until you get your kit.

Take care
 

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