Newbie pool owner... want to learn how to maintain my pool. Need advice

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R

Rich G

Well-known member
Apr 7, 2018
110
WPB, FL
Good afternoon all,
i recently had a pool built at my house and am trying to figure out the proper way to maintain it.

I just started testing water myself. Last week I took my water in and the pool store told me to put 4lb of stabilizer in (10000 gallon pool). My water was crystal clear before that.

A few days later I decided to go swimming and put my automatic vacuum cleaner in. While I was hooking it up I shut off the main drain and opened the dedicated vacuum port... after swimming for a bit I noticed the water went from crystal clear to so cloudy I couldn’t see 6 inches in front of me...

I tested my water and got decent levels for everything CL 2.5 PH 7.6 But my TA is off the charts.. it took 20drops and never changed from blue, it basically became clear from so many drops so I stopped..

So my thought process was I could afford to drop the PH a bit figuring it would lower TA as well, I dumped in about half a gallon of acid and ran the pump for 2 hours at 3000 rpm it sat for 12 hours overnight and this morning I ran it for 4 hours at 3450 rpm

I then took my filter out and cleaned it (it was nasty even though I cleaned it like a week ago)

i checked the ater again this afternoon and the readings were about the same
PH was 7.5 and TA was 230 PPM


My dilemma is everything I read said to add acid to lower the TA, but if I do that won’t I also lower my PH to a bad level ? Did I put too much stabilizer in and is that the problem?

fwiw I have a pentair vs pump, pentair cartridge filter, and a zodiac mx6 vacuum

i currently have the main drain shut off, the skimmer abou halfway and the vacuum port open full
my pump settings are stock so it’s like
2 hours @ 3450, 10 hours @ 1700, 2 hours @ 3000 if I remember correctly

I am checking with a poolmaster 5way kit I purchase from amazon

any advice is appreciated!
Thanks
Rich
 
Rich could you fill in your signature line with all the pool information like you see in mine and others so people can better advise you. I can say right off the bat that you’re running your pump way to long for a 10,000 gallon pool, but I’ll wait till you post all the info needed.

~Rob
 
Rich, your biggest mistake was going to the pool store and listening to their advice. You'd think that the "professionals" would know better, but as is often the case, they don't. Their testing is at best unreliable. We recommend you do your own testing with a quality test kit that has all the tests. Yours is ok, but is incomplete. I don't think it has a stabilizer test, and it surely doesn't have the FAS-DPD chlorine test which is much more reliable and accurate than the chlorine tests that everyone else uses. I recommend you pick up either the TF-100 or the Taylor K2006C test kit. They both have all the tests you need and are very accurate.

Once you run the tests, I bet you'll find that your stabilizer level is very high (over 100) and with your FC at 2.5, it's not surprising that your water turned cloudy. It could be the beginning of an algae outbreak. TFPC is all about maintaining the FC/CYA relationship. Your FC is probably way too low for the amount of stabilizer that's in your pool. Adding more probably didn't help. We don't know for sure because we can't trust the pool store's test. It's the one they mess up the most.

To clear up that pool, you'll have to do what we call a SLAM. You'll need to raise your FC to shock level (based on your stabilizer level) and maintain it there by testing and redosing with liquid chlorine. The more often you do it, the quicker the pool will clear up. Your kit's chlorine test won't work for this. You need the one that comes in the two kits I mentioned above. Without it, you'll be just guessing.
 
Rich,

Welcome to TFP... A great place to find the answers to all your "Richey Rich" pool maintenance questions... :shark:

Notice how all this started when you went to the pool $store??? Don't go there any more... :p

We operate on accurate test data so that we know before hand what is going to happen when we add something to our pools... The only way to get accurate test data is to use an accurate test kit.. Either the TF-100 or a Taylor K-2006C (and yes the 'C' is important... )

I suspect you just dumped the CYA into your skimmer or spread it out over the pool... All this does is make a mess and it just collect in your filter where it slowly dissolves... Since you cleaned your filter right after you added the CYA, no telling how much actually got into the water... :(

You keep saying your numbers are "decent" but the problem is you really can't tell my looking at only some of them... Pool chemicals interact with one another, so you need to know all of the following chemical levels before making any changes...

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Without knowing what your CYA is you have no way to tell what your FC level should really be... I can tell you though, I doubt it will be 2.5...

While your TA might be 230, that is almost twice what we see from most people so I am very suspect of the number..

I suggest you read this link and see what we are all about .... TFPC for Beginners old comments

We would love to get you pointed in the right direction, invest in a decent test kit and just keep asking question..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Follow up from my original post with actual results from Taylor Kit

I just wanted to share my results and ask for suggestions.

Overall, my water looks pretty good visually

FC = 14
CC = .4
PH = 7.9ish
Acid demand = 4 drops
TA = 170ppm
Calcium Hardness = 80ppm
CYA = 95ish


thanks all

Rich

Moderator comment: Threads merged together
 
Re: Follow up from my original post with actual results from Taylor Kit

Rich, the first number that concerns me is your CYA. Anything that high is very difficult to read accurately. At least you are compensating with a higher FC for now. You might consider doing the diluted CYA test as seen on the TFP Pool School - CYA page, starting at Step 8. It would be good to validate to make sure. I don't see a SWG in your equipment list, so ideally this time of year your CYA could be a bit lower - closer to around 50 or so +/- 10 ppm. Your CH is very low. The Pool School - Recommended Levels page lists a minimum CH of 250, so I'd work on that for the health of your plaster. Your TA is a bit elevated which my be allowing your pH to climb. Normally I would recommend lowering that, but since your CH is so low, work on that first. Once you get the CH adjusted back up, then you can look at lowering the TA a bit and keeping the pH more in the mid-7 range. Remember while the CYA and FC work together to sanitize and keep the water algae-free, the pH, TA and CH work together to prevent the water from being too acidic (corrosion) or too hard (scale).

So I'd start looking at the CYA and CH first. Actually the CYA first because if you decide to drain some water to lower the CYA, you don't want to waste chemicals on anything else. SO do the CYA first then adjust the others. Hope that helps.

Gee, I felt like I rambled. So here's the cliff-notes version:
1. Validate CYA and/or lower a bit
2. Increase CH
3. Adjust pH to mid-7
4. Lower TA down to about 90 or so
 
Re: Follow up from my original post with actual results from Taylor Kit

Remember that if the FC is above 10, the pH test will read falsely high.

Let the FC drift down some, recheck pH and CYA and fix those as above. Definitely get some CH in there to protect that expensive finish. TA will come down as you maintain pH. Just had the thought: if this is a brand new test kit, you may have static buildup on the R-009 which makes the drops smaller and thus the reading higher. Wipe the tip with a damp paper towel between drops for a couple days.
 
Thanks guys.. to confirm I do have a SWG.. I am going to perform the CYA test again because I feel I didn’t do it properly... I wasn’t sure how gone the black should be and if I recall it was vaguely still there. From what I read the best way to lower the CYa is to drain some water, approximately how much water should I drain?

also, as far as the chlorine levels I feel like I have no control over that since I have a SWG but I could be wrong.
 

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From what I read the best way to lower the CYa is to drain some water, approximately how much water should I drain?
Click to expand...
Fortunately for us we can use simple math on this one. :) For example, if your CYA was 100 and you wanted it down to 50, you would exchange 50% of your water. Or, you can enter your NOW and TARGET numbers in the Poolmath Calculator and it will do the work for you. :)
With a SWG, you control your FC production by the SWG percentage settings and/or pump run time. By adjusting one or both of those, you manipulate your FC production.
Pool School - Salt Water Chlorine Generators
Pool School - Determine Pump Run Time
 
Re: Follow up from my original post with actual results from Taylor Kit

Okay so I went and repeat some tests

CH = 80
CYA = I took it three times and got 70 each time following the directions on this site
FC = 14
CC = .4
 
70 is a good level with a SWG. Now you just have to adjust the run time or the swg output percentage. Let the FC drop until it's near your target range of FC 5. Then play with the SWG's settings until you find the sweet spot where you arent losing much FC daily. The SWG chlorine output is slow and steady so you shouldn't be losing a whole lot from day to day at all.

Definitely get some calcium in the pool to bring up your CH to protect your surface.
 
Thanks for the help guys. I just purchased 10lb of calcium increaser but one thing I want to mention before I put it in.
when I ran the CH test the test says “the color should go red” but when I ran it the color barely went pink, so it didn’t take it much to go to clear. Does that just mean I had low CH and it’ssafe to put the increaser in?
 
Rich G said:
Thanks for the help guys. I just purchased 10lb of calcium increaser but one thing I want to mention before I put it in.
when I ran the CH test the test says “the color should go red” but when I ran it the color barely went pink, so it didn’t take it much to go to clear. Does that just mean I had low CH and it’ssafe to put the increaser in?
Click to expand...
Yes. And when amy test is supposed to go red, they really mean pink.
 
Well it looks like I am going in the right direction.
At 5PM last night I reduced my SWG from 65 to 57 and put in 10lbs of the home depot calcium hardness increaser

My results as of 11:30am

FC 12.5
CC .5
PH > 8
Acid Demand 17 Drops
TA 160
CH 170
CYA 80

My plan is to get another 10lbs of increaser and put in some acid to lower the PH
 
Well I’m getting close guys, still struggling with high FC, PH and TA but I’m closer

i reduced my SWG from 65 to 45 so I may need to go down some more

my plan tomorrow is to add another few lbs of calcium hardness increaser and maybe a half gallon of acid and open up the aerator jets to try and bring up the PH from the acid.

FC 11.6
CC 0
PH 8ish
TA 130
CH 280
CYA 60

That being said, the pool is crystal clear
5C8AC9B8-802E-4DB5-B230-126FD10723B7.jpg
7D17857E-70F3-47E5-8696-382C9A13E45C.jpg
 

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