At what point do I add Polyquat 60?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
DeanP66

DeanP66

0
Mar 26, 2014
1,230
San Jose, CA
I'm about to do my first ever Ascorbic Acid treatment. I'm just waiting for my Metal Magic sequestrant to arrive. I know I need to drop the pH down to 7.2 and let the FC drop near 0 before adding the AA. I don't want to risk an algae bloom when I drop my FC, so I need to know at what point do I add the Polyquat 60 to the water.
 
That's an option, but I just figured I'd attack them now that they're fresh (less than a month old) in the hopes that they come off easier. Plus it bugs the heck out of me to look at them everyday. It's quite mild here in San Jose this week. Mid to late 70's all week and my water is only around 72-74 ish.
 
Here's an update: Well, I finished the AA treatment a couple of days ago and am quite pleased with the results. I ended up adding around 6.5 LBs of AA to my pool and then followed it up with 2 quarts of Metal Magic sequestrant. I know that's a high amount of AA, but I didn't quite zero out my FC because I couldn't wait any longer. It was still around 2 PPM when I started so I'm sure some of the AA neutralized the remainder of the FC before actually going to work on the stains.

After the treatment, I raised my pH back up to 7.2 by adding around half a box of Borax that I had on hand and then aerating the pool for the rest. I didn't want to use washing soda because I didn't want my TA to climb back up. It's holding steady at 60. When I started adding chlorine, I limited it to 2 PPM at a time. When I'd test an hour later, it was all gone, so I'd add 2 PPM more. I did this many times until I finally started to see my FC start to hold some during the tests. I've put over 6 gallons in so far in the two days (over 30 PPM for my pool) and it's finally leveled off.

Before treatment:








After treatment:




 
  • Like
Reactions: Tena
So I noticed that as my FC began to hold some after I added it back in after stain treatment, it really was disappearing very, very quickly. I would re-dose it a lot to get it back up to a good range, sometimes multiple times a day. I decided to retest my CYA and was very surprised when I could faintly see the dot even when the water was filled up to the 30 level on the tester. I've been at 50 all spring and summer since my refill in March, and I was only losing around 2 PPM of FC per day for the last month or so with temps in the high 70's to high 80's.

Is it possible that the Ascorbic Acid somehow lowered my CYA? I just don't see how it could have possibly dropped so drastically in 10 days. I went ahead and added more CYA powder to raise it back up near 50. We'll see how the FC reacts to the additional CYA.

Also, does anyone have any idea how long I can go before I add more sequestrant (MM) as a maintenance dose? I don't want to waste the MM, but I also don't want those stains to show their ugly head again.
 
Hi Dean. First off, nice job on coming out of the AA treatment...sounds like you did it just right.

Secondly, you are about the fourth poster I've come across this year reporting diminished cya after a treatment. I will try to see if there's any info out there about that...I hadn't noticed that back when I still did AA treatments.

With respect to when to do maintenance doses, you could follow mfg instructions that call for 6 oz per 10k per month with "trace" amounts of metal n source water, or 16 oz per 10k per month if you water source has a concentration of 2-3 ppm metals. An alternative is to watch fir any slight yellowing on your steps if you have white fiberglass...in my experience, that lifts quickly with a MM top up.
 
Thanks Swampwoman, I'm glad I got the "stains" expert to respond. I had a little scare two days after I started adding chlorine back to the pool. Pool was nice all day with FC around 7 PPM, and when I came back home around 5 hours later after midnight, I was dismayed to see a very cloudy pool.:pale:

After adding a gallon and a half of chlorine, and constantly adding smaller doses 3 or 4 times a day, the pool cleared up. However, it was then that I discovered the low CYA issue. I went through an awful lot of chlorine. Once I passed an OCLT test for two straight nights, I figured it had to be my CYA level. The pool looks exactly like it did after I acid washed it in March.:party:
 
Just an update: Pool is still looking good. No signs of stains returning. I added a maintenance dose (16 oz) of Metal Magic the other day. I'll try and keep a schedule to see if once a month is enough and if 16 oz is enough. My FC consumption has stabilized again to around 2-3 PPM a day and it's been very hot here recently.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I'm getting close to a whole month since I've added the maintenance dose of Metal Magic (16 oz) and the pool is still looking good. It looks like I'll be able to get 2 full months out of a single quart which makes me happy. I also like the fact that the MM drops my pH around .4 with each dosage. That will save me a little money on Muriatic acid.:D



My next job is to get rid of the tree that's causing all that shade on my pool. My deep end is under shade from about noon to 4 pm. That's prime swimming hours. I'm having this monstrosity removed next weekend.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Tena
Further update: So it looks like I can get by with around 16 ounces of Metal Magic per month. This is the second straight month that I've added that amount and the pool continues to look great.

I also had the huge tree removed which caused me nothing but grief with all the pine needles that would end up in the pool as well as the little acorn shaped buds that it grew. Those were the bane of my existence. Now there's hardly anything in the water to fish out which makes me very, very happy. The tree had also become like a second home for a bunch of crows that were perched there all summer. They would leave me plenty of nasty surprises in my pool, especially after I had just finished vacuuming it.:hammer:

Here's a comparison shot of before and after:





I also tested an outside faucet that is piped in line with my kitchen sink water and discovered that the water coming from it is soft water. I will be filling my pool with this faucet from now on. My CH is around 450 and I don't want it to get any higher.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply