New pool owner

[urriolagoitia]

Hello TFP! Built a new pool and spa last March, 2018. Pool is about 12,300 gallons, chlorine system.

List of equipment:

• Filter: Jandy 460 CART Filter
• Pump: Jandy 2.0 Variable speed
• Computer Center: PDA PS6 (pool/spa)
• Jandy PDA controller
• Aqualink Connectivity
• Heater: Jandy JXI400 Natural Gas Heater
• Cleaning System: Polaris 3900 Complete with booster pump
• 4 LED lights
• AquaStar Automatic Chlorinator

Pool plumbing and finish:

• 2 Skimmers
• 5 returns
• 2 Safety main drains
• Pebble pool finish (dark)

Water features:

• Two 18” waterfalls
• Spa spills into pool

Most recent chemistry:

• FC: 2.0
• CC: 0
• pH: 7.7 (having to add ~10 oz of muriatic acid daily to keep it in check)
• TA: 80
• CYA: 40
• CH: 400 (concerned about this high number)
• Borate: 80 (strips dont seem too accurate)

Now that I have reached a desired level on my CYA, I plan to only use bleach (waiting for last trichlor tab to dissolve).

Couple of questions:

• Regarding the pH creeping up on me between 0.10-0.15 per day, could this be due to the new plaster still curing? Too much aeration?
• CH mysteriously creeped up from 350 to 400 in about a month. I have not been using shock (cal-hypo) at all, maybe builder did initially. Maybe due to the new plaster and normal evaporation? I am a bit concerned about being on the high end of the range this soon.

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Glad to have joined TFP! Any comments or suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome to TFP! Yes, with a new (plaster) pool you can expect the pH to climb a little faster than normal for several months. Aeration will do it as well, so try to limit the accessories that cause aeration as much as you can. I would give your FC a quick boost with some bleach just to get it up to about 5 or so. Try to not let it drop below 3 now that your CYA is a little higher. The climb in CH could just be incidental to all the plaster work done when the pool was built unless you've added a lot of hard water in the past couple months. As long as you keep the pH under control around 7.4-7.6 you'll be okay for scale. When the pH hits 7.8, make sure to knock it down again and just keep an eye on it regularly. You look to have a very nice set-up there. Nice to have you join us.

 

[urriolagoitia]

Hello and welcome to TFP! Yes, with a new (plaster) pool you can expect the pH to climb a little faster than normal for several months. Aeration will do it as well, so try to limit the accessories that cause aeration as much as you can. I would give your FC a quick boost with some bleach just to get it up to about 5 or so. Try to not let it drop below 3 now that your CYA is a little higher. The climb in CH could just be incidental to all the plaster work done when the pool was built unless you've added a lot of hard water in the past couple months. As long as you keep the pH under control around 7.4-7.6 you'll be okay for scale. When the pH hits 7.8, make sure to knock it down again and just keep an eye on it regularly. You look to have a very nice set-up there. Nice to have you join us.

Thank you for the advice Texas Splash!! Much appreciated!

I will continue to work on that pH. If my CH # continues to drift up due to evaporation might consider partially draining the pool.

Cheers!

 

[urriolagoitia]

Hi Texas Splash, hope my message finds you well!

The following are my latest numbers (using Taylor K-2006C):

FC: 5.0
pH: 7.7
TA: 80
CH: 410 (up 10 in a week!)
CYA: 40
Salt: 1,200
Borates: 80

I am currently using only bleach, since hitting my CYA target.
The question I have for you, at what point would you be concerned about the high CH? It has to be coming from the new plaster. Tested the tap water and it has a CH of 150.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Texas Splash]

The question I have for you, at what point would you be concerned about the high CH?

Certainly we all get concerned when the CH gets higher & higher. But you can compensate by keeping the pH and TA a little lower. To see what I mean, enter your numbers in the Poolmath calculator, then experiment and lower the pH and TA to see how the "CSI" number changes. Look for the CSI row. You'll se what I mean.

 

[urriolagoitia]

Certainly we all get concerned when the CH gets higher & higher. But you can compensate by keeping the pH and TA a little lower. To see what I mean, enter your numbers in the Poolmath calculator, then experiment and lower the pH and TA to see how the "CSI" number changes. Look for the CSI row. You'll se what I mean.

Thank you Texas Splash. Will continue to monitor and will compensate by keeping the pH and TA lower. At what level of CH would you start to consider a partial drain?

Thanks!

 

[Texas Splash]

At what level of CH would you start to consider a partial drain?

We have members here who live in parts of the country where their CH exceed 1,000. They manage their water (CSI) with a lower pH and TA for as long as they can. Eventually, the Poolmath Calculator CSI level reaches a point where a drain or major water exchange simply is not avoidable. But they can go that high. You should be able to go quite a while, but consider all your options like capturing or funneling rain water to the pool, incorporating soft water into refills, and the CSI management. All of these techniques can help reduce the climbing rate of your CH.

 

[urriolagoitia]

We have members here who live in parts of the country where their CH exceed 1,000. They manage their water (CSI) with a lower pH and TA for as long as they can. Eventually, the Poolmath Calculator CSI level reaches a point where a drain or major water exchange simply is not avoidable. But they can go that high. You should be able to go quite a while, but consider all your options like capturing or funneling rain water to the pool, incorporating soft water into refills, and the CSI management. All of these techniques can help reduce the climbing rate of your CH.

Thank you the thorough explanation! Much appreciated!