I don't follow BBB at all

Jump to latest Follow Reply
mitch08

mitch08

0
Jun 30, 2008
405
Suffolk County, NY
I think this website is the greatest online pool resource around. I have learned a ton of information here about pools and the people here have saved my a!$ many times when I've had problems :)

That being said, I don't follow BBB at all. I just don't have the time to be fussing with liquid bleach every day. I go to work at 6:30am every morning and I get home at 7:30pm. Pucks put into a chlorinator are the greatest thing in the world to me. :twisted:

I have an inground 16x32 vinyl in which I haven't changed the water in about 4 years. The only reason I changed it was because I replaced a 25 year old liner.

I do have the best recommended testkit here and I do test once a week.
My free chlorine levels are usually spot on, and my cya never seems to go up. I dont know why, but it never even measures on the chart.
Every other week or so I drop 2 bags of powdered shock (I believe cal-hypo) in as a maintenance blast but I dont even think I need it. I do it as a "just in case"....

I do watch the PH very carefully cause I dont want to lose the heater or burn out people's eyes and stuff, but my pool is always crystal clear.

Ive been reading this board for years and I know that the cya to fc levels are extremely important, but it never seemed to be a factor for me. It has to be much more than luck. Ive been doing it this way for many many years.

I do run the filter 24/7 just because I dont mind the small change to my electric bill each month and I feel it keeps the water extra clear. LOL.

So I guess what I am saying is other than the ops friend's lack of concern of the PH, I agree with everything else :)
 
Re: Chlorine ONLY?

mitch,

Do you get summer or winter rains that could be diluting the water? Do you have a sand filter and if so how often do you backwash? How deep is your 16'x32' vinyl pool (does it have a deep end)? When you say that the CYA doesn't go up nor even measure on the chart, are you saying that with the CYA test in the TF-100 you don't see any obscuring of the black dot at all in the test, indicating no CYA?

The use of Cal-Hypo weekly will supplement the chlorine that the tabs are providing, thereby lowering the amount of CYA getting added over time, but I'm surprised that it's at and remains at near zero.

By the way, BBB means knowing your pool so using a combination of Trichlor pucks and Cal-Hypo is fine if your levels are reasonable and you adjust as needed.

Richard
 
Re: Chlorine ONLY?

chem geek said:
mitch,

Do you get summer or winter rains that could be diluting the water? Do you have a sand filter and if so how often do you backwash? How deep is your 16'x32' vinyl pool (does it have a deep end)? When you say that the CYA doesn't go up nor even measure on the chart, are you saying that with the CYA test in the TF-100 you don't see any obscuring of the black dot at all in the test, indicating no CYA?

The use of Cal-Hypo weekly will supplement the chlorine that the tabs are providing, thereby lowering the amount of CYA getting added over time, but I'm surprised that it's at and remains at near zero.

By the way, BBB means knowing your pool so using a combination of Trichlor pucks and Cal-Hypo is fine if your levels are reasonable and you adjust as needed.

Richard
Click to expand...

I love on Long Island, NY. I guess we get a reasonable amount of rain but nothing exceptional.
The filter is DE and I probably backwash once a month during the summer. In the spring I backwash much more often because I open early and the filters are always getting gunked up from pollen and stuff.

I do have a deep end which is about 8.5' at the deepest point. Yes, the TF-100 is showing absolutely no CYA. But thankfully the FC level is usually pretty good. I dont know if that is because of the cal-hypo I add or just because the pucks are doing the job. I really dont add much cal-hypo... Just about 2 bags every other week.

I see what you are saying about BBB. That makes sense. Last summer I was actually going to start using bleach because of all the great results here. But its so tough for me because of my schedule. I just can't test the water and add bleach on a daily basis. I normally only test the water about once a week or so.

I think switching to SWG would be the best thing for me because of the maintenance factor. But I hate the taste of the salt water pools Ive been in :-D
 
I'd characterize my three years of pool ownership similarly. Typically I'll do some low-level testing early in the season and then it's once a week or so after that.

Seems to me that the alkalinity in my pool fluctuates and affects a lot more than the cya, but I've gotten both to a good starting point and I expect crystal clear water for the rest of the summer, with little maintenance.

A great filter goes a long way, too.
 
mitch,

Do you have no sunlight on the pool? Normally, the UV in sunlight will breakdown half the chlorine every hour if there is non CYA in the water. Also, the pucks should be adding to CYA, though perhaps at a very slow rate if you mostly use Cal-Hypo for maintaining the FC level through a weekly boost.

Richard
 
It seems to me that mitch is using the prescribed pool store method of keeping some pucks in the chlorinator, and shocking every couple weeks. The backwashing is keeping his CYA in check.

The main problem with this method is you don't really KNOW if you have enough chlorine in there after a heavy bather load, or a rain, or several sunny days, to keep your water safe until the next time you shock if you are not testing.

And as Richard says, BBB is less about which particular chems you are adding and ALL about testing and knowing what is going on in your water.
 
chem geek said:
mitch,

Do you have no sunlight on the pool? Normally, the UV in sunlight will breakdown half the chlorine every hour if there is non CYA in the water. Also, the pucks should be adding to CYA, though perhaps at a very slow rate if you mostly use Cal-Hypo for maintaining the FC level through a weekly boost.

Richard
Click to expand...

There is a decent amount of sunlight on the pool. Not too many trees around. I would say the majority of the day the pool is in direct sunlight.
I just do not see the quick breakdown of chlorine happening. Im pretty sure (although not positive) I am doing everything right with the test kit. I never show CYA or even any CC.

I have a feeling I am jinxing myself by writing all this and my levels are gonna be all screwed up this year. :hammer:
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
frustratedpoolmom said:
Are you confident in your testing the CYA- that you are doing the test properly?
Are you sure you are using trichlor tabs and not cal-hypo tabs?
Click to expand...

Yes, the tabs are definitely trichlor. But as far as the testing goes, Im pretty sure Im doing it right. Its seems a little subjective, but its not like Im reading it a bit off. Its completely off the charts :)

Maybe as somebody above said, the backwashing every 3 or 4 weeks is helping keep my cya down?
 
mitch08 said:
Its completely off the charts :)
Click to expand...
You mean it doesn't get cloudy at all, right? "Off the charts" usually means excessively high, beyond the 100 ppm limit of the usual CYA test.

So when you mix half pool water with half CYA reagent and then mix for 30 seconds, the water remains absolutely clear such that you add it to the CYA viewing tube you can fill this mixture all the way to the top of the tube and you can still see the black dot clearly similar to the "Begin Test" photo in this link, correct? If so, then the CYA is near zero (or certainly less than 20 ppm, assuming you are using a viewing tube that goes down to 20 ppm).

Or do you mean that the water becomes very cloudy after the 30 second mixing such that adding even a small amount to the CYA viewing tube has it look like the "End Test" in that same link above? If this is the case, then the CYA level is above 100 ppm.

Maybe your CYA reagent has gone bad.
 
chem geek said:
mitch08 said:
Its completely off the charts :)
Click to expand...
You mean it doesn't get cloudy at all, right? "Off the charts" usually means excessively high, beyond the 100 ppm limit of the usual CYA test.

So when you mix half pool water with half CYA reagent and then mix for 30 seconds, the water remains absolutely clear such that you add it to the CYA viewing tube you can fill this mixture all the way to the top of the tube and you can still see the black dot clearly similar to the "Begin Test" photo in this link, correct? If so, then the CYA is near zero (or certainly less than 20 ppm, assuming you are using a viewing tube that goes down to 20 ppm).

Or do you mean that the water becomes very cloudy after the 30 second mixing such that adding even a small amount to the CYA viewing tube has it look like the "End Test" in that same link above? If this is the case, then the CYA level is above 100 ppm.

Maybe your CYA reagent has gone bad.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it says to do it until you don't see the black dot. The water is clear enough that the black dot never disappears.

I guess its possible the solution went bad, but I had the exact same results as soon as I purchased the kit through now.

Plus, more importantly, my FC levels seem great and I have no CC at all. This is from putting 2 pucks into the chlorinator a week and running the filter 24/7 and adding 2 bags of cal-hypo every other week.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply