Paxination's Pool - Updated

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Re: How to lower TA

Just to reinforce what FPM said. You really have to pay attention to what we're saying if you want to maintain your pool to where people can actually swim in it.

At this point, you just need to pull the plug and drain the whole thing. If I'm counting correctly you've added more than 100ppm of chlorine and over 90ppm CYA in one day! Why in the world did you do that???
 
Re: How to lower TA

This is why...

Rule #2 for defeating algae
Shock your pool, see Shocking Your Pool for details. Try to do the first several cycles of testing FC and adding chlorine to shock level at hourly intervals, so you get a good start on killing the algae.

Shocking Your Pool
# Measure the FC level
# Add enough chlorine to bring FC up to shock level
# Repeat steps 1 and 2 as frequently as practical, as often as once per hour, and not less than twice a day, until:

1. CC is 0.5 or lower;
2. An overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less;
3. And, if you don't have a FAS-DPD test kit, the water is clear.

My water never cleared. I followed the directions. The dichlor I bought is aqua chems shock treatment. So adding shock to shock my pool is a bad idea? I mentioned it was a shock treatment.

But I am doing what suggested and starting fresh. My hole problem was because I didnt have enough salt in my pool to start with. I put in what my manufacturer suggested for my pool size. Didnt have test strips for the salt yet. Once I started to have algae I couldnt figure out why but started checking everything. Figured out my salt level was high enough to produce enough chlorine.

So that is why I DID THAT. I followed what was in pool school. My only other mistake was not getting the TF100 kit. I will next week as I have allready spent enough money now.

In one of my post I also asked for a step by step list of what I needed to do to get rid of the algae. I was told to continue the shock process until my FC holds over night or my CC .5 or less. Well my test doesnt work for high amounts of chlorine so I was going with the until water is clear method. And as I got home today its not. So starting from fresh. Preventive maintenance is always the best solution to your problem before you get one.
 
Re: How to lower TA

So just to make sure, my pool is filling up now. A bit late but its gonna take 6 hours at least, so I will set my alarm clock 30 mins early than that. I just read Beginners Guide for seasonal/Temp pools. Nothing is added till pump is running. So I will add the salt and CYA when I get up in the morning to turn the water off and start the pump. It will take 24 hours for both to dissolve. Should I shock the water 1 time with BLEACH or should I just add enough bleach to bring it to 3-5ppm? Guide says 6ppm if you want to jump straight in. But dont plan on skinny dipping. Hopefully my borate test strips will be here the comming week.

Now just to mention this and I cant even believe it but....

Have any of ya'll been to North Carolina? If you have spent any amount of time here in NC you would know about the infamous RED CLAY that is abundant here in the soil. I have not even seen brown soil unless it was BOUGHT from your local hardware store. At any rate when I was draining my pool I fount 2 small holes in my vinyl liner. I almost believe that I DID NOT have a algae problem. I might have HAD one at one time but I do believe that I DID kill it now. First off the liner was not slippery any more after my first initial scrubbing and shocking with bleach that first time sunday. Second the brown misty stuff that I talked about at the bottom of the pool accumulated around those holes, with the exception of an accumulation of it at the exact opposite of my pool. Might be a hole there too. I will check later. 3rd, I noticed yesterday that my water level had gone down. Today I noticed IT HAD gone down when my skimmer was sticking out.

So after getting a patch kit and fixing those 2 spots and maybe a third my pool is getting back up and hopefully it will be fine this time.

So if it wasnt algae causing my pool water to look cloudy, what was it? It was cloudy before I started shocking, maybe that was just the dead algae and I just needed to wait to see if it would clear up from the filter. But with my filter running 24/7 it never did. So in the end was the cloudiness caused from the chemical cesspool that I dumped into my pool? Cause I know I had to have put almost a 1000oz of bleach in my pool trying to kill THE DIRT in my pool....lol!

So wish me luck. Hope to get into it on mothers day!
 
Re: How to lower TA

I wish you good luck, but you should be able to get in to swim if you are careful about what you add to the pool.

In the Shock Your Pool instructions it also says the following where I emphasize one sentence by putting it in bold:

To shock, it is a huge help to have a FAS-DPD chlorine test. You also need to know your current CYA level, and then look up the corresponding FC shock level. You can use the The Chlorine/CYA Chart at Pool School to find the correct FC shock level for your CYA level. It is best to use bleach or liquid chlorine when shocking.
Click to expand...
Dichlor is not bleach or liquid chlorine. That's why you got the comments from other posters. For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Dichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 9 ppm. Such a product sold as a shock is probably the most irresponsible chlorine product sold today. Please do not be misled by labeling or by what some pool store people may say.
 
Re: How to lower TA

Well the main reason I got it as it said on the bag that it kills ALGAE as well. It was like Shock blue PLUS or something another. Instead of basic shocking it had an algacide(sp?) in it. I knew it increased CYA which at the time was fine as my CYA was apparently gone. But that could have been from the over doing on the shocking. Or maybe the CYA that it added to my pool was BEYOND my test kits limits and the chemicals just wouldnt react to each other?

Wont make that mistake again. So its suffice to say that the chemicals that this website suggest are your BEST and ONLY bet in pool care! Which most are basic home chemicals that are cheap to buy.

There was one question you left out. It will be 24 hours after adding my salt to my pool before my SWG can be turned on to produce chlorine. Should I go ahead and add some bleach to it to get it started so nothing starts growing in it. I am thinking it might be a good idea as my pool is under a Crud load of trees. Only free spot. So lots of junk gets in from the trees maybe? Not sure but I WILL WAIT till I get an answer!

And on another note. Its suppose to rain tomorrow (SAT) here. From what I have read you should SHOCK your pool after HEAVY rain fall. Is this correct? And I am assuming if I do it right after the rain fall that I should just be able to shock it just once and be done with it. And then just keep checking FC levels at 3-5ppm.
 
Re: How to lower TA

You do not need to shock just because of rain - that is pool store myth. :)
Daily, you must test the PH and FC. With those results, you enter them in the pool calculator and add the recommended amount of bleach (or acid, etc.) to maintain the recommended levels. Even if it rains, as long as you are ABOVE your "min" FC level - there is no reason to shock.

The only reason you need to shock is if your FC is not holding overnight, the CC is higher than .5, your water is green, cloudy, murky, etc.

The FAS-DPD is the single most important piece of pool equipment you can own. That is why we hype it so. It takes ALL of the guesswork out of your pool. You can purchase the test seperately, ala carte, if you like. Once you have it, you'll understand why we go on and on about it... :)

Yes, use bleach to maintain your FC levels until the SWG is operational and your other numbers are at the recommended levels, especially CYA.

Post back if anything is unclear.
 
Re: How to lower TA

Ok so pool is full! Added my salt and CYA and added enough bleach to get my FC going at 5ppm to start off with! After I get home from work 12 hours from now I will start testing every thing! And look for more holes! I know it was the vac head on my pools original maintenance kit! Every time I used it, it felt like it was always catching on something!

Good night!
 
Re: How to lower TA

So here we go with the numbers....
FC 3
CC 0
TC 3
CH n/a
PH 7.0
TA 100 (ouch)
And the water is still crystal clear! Gonna start up the SWG tonight.

So I have to aerate to get my ph up to 7.5 and then add acid to bring my pH and TA down. Repeat until my TA is less than 80.

Is it safe to get into with TA at 100? What is the minimum safety limit to get in with all of them?
 
Re: How to lower TA

TA of 100 isn't bad. You'll probably find that your pH drifts up and you'll add muratic acid which will bring your TA down along with your pH so eventually it'll balance out.

It safe to swim with a TA of 100. I'd adjust the pH up to at least 7.2 before you swim.
 

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Re: How to lower TA

TA at 100 really doesn't mean much, there is no safety issue at all when swimming in a pool with higher TA. As Bama stated, it just means the PH could drift up. But as you lower the PH and aerate, both the PH and TA will eventually be into range.

How do you plan to get the CYA level up?
 
Re: How to lower TA

Its added I just haven't tested as it takes at least a day to dissolve! Will test tomorrow!

My pH is 7.4 now and FC, CC and TC is unchanged!
 
Re: How to lower TA

Okay, right, you added on the 7th... today's the 8th... carry the two.... hey, that was just yesterday! And unless it was the liquid stuff, we do say to allow several days for it to dissolve. :oops:

So (ahem) how much CYA did you add? What's your target?
--paulr
 
Re: How to lower TA

Ok I went by my pools dimensions and it should have been 2100 gallons and intexs web site says about 1500! So my salt and cya are too high! Is a cya of 100 too much? I would really like to get in it at the temp the water is now! I can fix it later by draining 1/3 of my pool and refill! It will fix my salt too!
 
Re: How to lower TA

If the temperature is right and the water looks good, go ahead and swim.

Don't worry about the salt and CYA. Check your FC level after you finish swimming and post that back.
 

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