Latest test readings - help with optimizing Cl usage

[elgumpo]

Hi everyone!!

I almost can't believe it. One month later, we still have clear, sparkling water! After all the trouble I had just 1 year ago, this is soooo amazing. Thank you all so much for your help! :-D

Now, I want to get things optimized for the season, I'm wondering how much Cl I should be using, and losing, each day. Our pool has a tree canopy on the morning sun side (deep end), but gets full sun from ~1pm through the end of the day. The shallow end gets a little more sun.

Also wondering about filter times. I have an electronic timer, currently running 11 hours per day, 5am-10am and 4pm-10pm. That might be a overkill for this pool, as I have roughly calculated turnover at ~6 hours of pump time. Wasn't sure if that should be run in a full 6 hour cycle each day, or broken up - it would help to have it run at least an hour several times a day, as we do have a few leaves that fall or blow into the pool - seems to help if I can get em in the skimmer before they sink.

* Note - I did a 80% drain / refill at beginning of season to get my CYAs out - was at 100+

Current readings:
FC: 5.0
CC: 0.0
pH: 8.2 (prob a little high from shocking yesterday morning - I let the FC run down to .5, so I had to dump in 3 gal of bleach)
T/A: 90
CH: 240 (finally got my Calcium Chloride in!)
CYA: ~30
Water Temp: 75

I seem to be using/losing 1.5~2.0 FC per day, am a little concerned about how fast it is burning off - I imagine this getting worse as the temperatures rise? Thinking maybe my CYA should be a little higher to help with this, but wasn't sure.

Also, I have about 1/3 of the bag of Calcium Chloride left.. Would it help my plaster to boost that up a little more, or is it better to keep it at the minimum?

Thanks so much!! You guys are awesome.

Next steps (after I get things balanced out):
- test some vitamin C tablets and start working on removal of stains (plaster is 15-20 years old - not bad but I have some gray stains)
- Borates (maybe?)

 

[loughps]

I don't think a FC reading of 5 would have much of an impact on your pH. My suggestion would be to double check that really soon and use some muriatic acid to bring that down. I'm sure you'll get lots of input on your FC loss. Mine is about what yours is, but it's an acceptable number for me.

 

[JohnT]

1.5-2ppm per day is probably lower than most pools. Mine uses a little more than 3ppm per day and I usually run my CYA around 40ppm, although it sounds like it gets more sun than yours.

 

[elgumpo]

I find that my pH usually runs around 7.8 - sometimes down to 7.5 - is this too high? What problems might it cause?

When I add my daily 3-4 quarts of 6% bleach, it seems to run up the pH one level on the test kit "scale". If I shock, it runs it up 2 levels. Always seems to settle down after a day (maybe 2 days for shocking).

This has been consistent in my readings for the last 3 weeks (since drain / refill). Is this unusual? I don't want to mess with pH a lot if it is settling itself, and if the readings (although a little on the high side) aren't messing anything up. I find that when I start playing with pH, it gets unstable and starts wildly jumping around - of course, that was last year, before I was on the BBB system..

 

[Bama Rambler]

There have been several posts about what chlorine usage does to pH. Suffice it to say that when you add it, it raises pH some but as it gets used it lowers pH some so the net effect is pH neutral.

Running your pH at 7.8 is fine. I prefer 7.5 but there are several people here that constantly run 7.8 pH. You could try to bring your TA down to 80 or so and see what that does, but if your pool is happy then that's fine.

 

[Guest]

I'd leave your CH level right where it is. You will probably be adding CH in the fill water, so it will go up anyway. The gray stains are most likely scale build up, and you will not add to that with CH at the levels you are at now. You are in great shape at 240