2 gal of chlorine a week?

[dannyfanny]

SWG is no brainer in AZ. What size pool do you have and do you have automation?

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VSP is no brainer too. What pump do you have now? (make/model#)
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ihave an old hayward. i'll check and get back to you on here.

 

[Mdragger88]

i have the TF 100 isn't that good enough? although it takes me like an hour if i were to do the chl and ph and cya. and everything. going through all the steps and reading and measuring everything twice as i go. not exactly trouble free in my opinion. i don' t have an extra hour a day to do all these tests. how do i simplify this?

I can run the fas/dpd fc/cc test and ph test in a couple minutes- the more you do it the faster it gets.
the cya test is not a daily test, maybe every couple weeks or less unless you have exchanged water or made a cya addition.
With an algae free uncovered pool in the heat/uv of the Arizona summer you will likely lose around 3-5ppm worth of fc each day and it needs to be replenished before falling below minimum for your cya or you can end up with unsanitary conditions and algae. This is true no matter what form of chlorine you choose.
Some brand’s solid forms of chlorine contain extra ingredients such as copper that may inhibit algae growth even with fc levels that are too low but those do nothing for sanitation. Clear water doesn’t automatically equal sanitary. Not to mention the side effects of too much copper, cya, or calcium. Swcgs have become a clear winner for value per ppm of fc and ease of daily chlorination.
liquid chlorine is at present the cheapest form of manual chlorination.
I suspect your noticeably heavier fc consumption is two fold- you weren’t using enough to begin with and now algae is really chewing through it.
The SLAM Process will solve the latter part but you must also be prepared to sufficiently chlorinate once the algae is eradicated.

 

[sande005]

do i need to clean my cartridge filter before i start my slam?

What kind of filter (sand, cartridge, DE)? How long since you last cleaned it (or backwashed)?

It doesn't sound like you have a really bad situation yet, so you may get by without cleaning to start. There will be dead algae to filter out when you do the SLAM, so a cartridge or DE will do better if clean first. A sand generally filters a little better if a bit dirty - but if it hasn't been deep cleaned in a long time, may plug up and possibly start to blow dirty stuff back into the pool. How to Deep Clean a Sand Filter. Sand filters take longer to clear up the stuff you will stir up when brushing during the SLAM.
For any kind, you'll have to pay attention, and possibly clean it a few times during and after the SLAM. How much completely depends on how much algae there is that has to be killed.