Trying to tweak numbers

[hillerji]

Hi all,

I've been trying to 'zone in' with my test numbers. The obvious thing is that when I really hit the pool with the bleach it really cleans and clears it up. Now I know the trick is getting the CYA to buffer the bleach and that's where I seem to be falling down. I took it up to shock level over the weekend and did an overnight loss test and it seemed to hold OK. My test this a.m. showed virtually no FC so I added 80 oz. (5pt) of bleach and got

FC 1.5
CC .5
T/A 110
CYA ~38
pH is low <7.2

I added Borax ~ 3# to help the pH. What should I really focus on so that I can get to just adding daily small doses of bleach vs. having to hit it in 'shock' mode.

Tx so much,

JH

 

[PaulR]

With CYA ~40, the Chlorine/CYA chart shows you want to target FC 5 (minimum 3) so your FC is still too low.

80 oz of 6% bleach in 23k gallons is not quite 2ppm FC. That seems like a typical daily amount. You probably will find yourself using 1 small (96oz) or 1/2 big (182 oz) jug per day, more or less. If that seems like too much, you could try raising your CYA to 50 and you'd lose less per day (but must maintain higher levels).
--paulr

 

[zea3]

Try bringing the CYA up to about 50, especially if your pool gets a lot of direct sunlight. Do you test every evening? If you test every evening and plug the numbers into the pool calculator it should tell you how much you need for daily use. My pool has a high CYA (90- yes I know I need to drain & re-fill but we are in drought conditions so it will have to wait.) but it still only needs a few cups to maintain its recommended chlorine level if I test and add chlorine every night.

 

[hillerji]

Thanks Paul and Zea,

Will give it a shot and see if I can stabilize it out. I'll report back my progress..

JH