I think I am done?

[*chris*]

So the family swam the first time this weekend in the pool, it was pretty cold at 72 degrees. Right now my CYA is 70, the pH is 7.4 and the FC is 8.6. It was interesting, the next day I could see the CC was .5 but the day after that it went back down to 0 while the FC held at 8.6. My SWG is only set at 15%, should I try to lower it some more or when I use the pool more the FC will be used up faster? I am running my 1.5hp 2 speed pump all the time on low speed.

Now that I am more or less at steady state, what do I do? Test pH and FC every few days? What should I watch out for? I have a clear solar cover on all the time. The water is crystal clear.

Chris

 

[257WbyMag]

Since you are running a SWCG, you can let your FC come down to 5 or 6. You can accomplish this a couple of different ways. You can let it come down by leaving your cover off and letting some of the sun take it. You can turn the SWCG off for a day. You can also dial the cell down lower.

I would check your chlorine and your pH daily for a bit, then once you get used to how the water acts, you can test less frequently.

 

[JasonLion]

Take a look at the basic pool care schedule for a basic framework of what needs to be done. Just at first, I would measure FC and PH every day, the if they prove to be stable and predictable you can test less often. With the solar cover, I would expect chlorine usage to depend quite a bit on how much swimming you do. Chlorine usage will also go up as the water gets warmer. So you need to keep an eye on the FC level and adjust the SWG as needed.

Yes, lower the SWG percentage, aim for an FC level of 4 or 5.

 

[*chris*]

I am a little confused why my 25k SWG on a 17K pool is keeping the chlorine at 8 with it set to 15%. Is it because I am keeping it covered and not using it much? Is the SWG constantly "on" when water is flowing? Is my chlorine high at such a low setting since I run my pump 24x7? What does the % setting on the SWG do?

I bought the drop-based chlorine test kit, it is much much better than the color-based one.

Chris

 

[PaulR]

With a cover and not much use, your chlorine demand will be relatively low, that's why FC is stable with a low percentage.

I don't have a SWG myself but my understanding is that the SWG is "on" (as in, producing chlorine) for an amount of time determined by pump run time times percentage. So, you can fiddle with the effective on-time by tweaking either the percentage or the number of hours the pump is on.
--paulr

 

[JasonLion]

Having the pool covered makes a huge difference. Most of the chlorine that gets used up is normally lost to sunlight. The cover prevents that portion of the chlorine loss.