Getting ready for Spring... chemistry is all over the place. Please help

[DrThop]

I have a 15000 gal in-ground plaster pool. currently is covered with a leaf cover so it doesn't get a whole lot of sunshine. Plus, near Houston we are not going to get much sun in the next few days.

I just tested the water and here is what I got.

PH 8.2+
FC 5
CC .25
TC 5.25
CH 225
TA 100
CYA <20

I am going to put some Muriatic acid tonight to bring the PH down a bit before I start SLAMing, should I raise the CYA before starting to SLAM? As I said, the pool is currently covered with a leaf cover (on top of a Catch-a-kid safety net), t offers a great deal of shade.

any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,


DrThop

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi DrThop

Bring your CYA up to about 30 and your pH down to about 7.2 if you are going to SLAM.


I have a question though.

Why are you slamming? Your CC is fine. Do you have algae growing? You didnt mention that. The only reason to SLAM is if you fail the 3 criteria for it.
1 Visible algae
2 CC above .5
3. OCLT more than .5

If you dont have any visible algae, then just do an overnight chlorine loss test and if the loss is less than .5, then no need to slam.

You might need to run the filter for a couple days if the water is really dirty and maybe vacuum, but shouldn't be all that hard for you to get up and running.

Your CH could stand a slight bump but I dont see it as a problem where it is. TA is fine.

 

[DrThop]

Hi Dave,

The water is very cloudy, and I do have some algae, but you are right, I'll check in the morning and see if the chlorine loss is greater than 0.5. I just added the Muriatic Acid to adjust the pH.

thanks for the advice.

best.

DrThop

 

[JamesW]

Cloudy with algae means that a full SLAM is indicated. The OCLT will almost definitely fail due to the algae.