Water Chemistry - Whaddya Think?

[ReluctantPoolBoy]

Greetings,

My pool water is crystal clear. I have the following:
FC 3-5
pH 7.2
TA 230
CH 150
CYA 50

Should I be concerned about the high TA and/or low CH?

Thanks!
Mark

[JohnT]

You should be concerned about the low CH for the sake of your plaster.

If you just maintain your pH in the lower end of the range, TA will drop over time.

[Butterfly]

Your FC is 3-5?

With CYA of 50, your maintenance range is 4 to 8.

How are you testing?

[ReluctantPoolBoy]

Thanks for the super fast replies!

I should have noted that I have been lowering the pH. It was 7.8. M

I haven't added any liquid chlorine in several days as I have been trying to bring down the pH and didn't want to add both chemicals on the same day. I tested with my new TF-100 kit. I used the FAS-DPD test for FC.

[Butterfly]

I haven't added any liquid chlorine in several days as I have been trying to bring down the pH and didn't want to add both chemicals on the same day.

There is NO problem adding both chems on the same day, just make sure to have about 30 minutes pump time in between.

I suggest you add chlorine each evening up to your target level.

That is what most of us "Jug Dumpers" do (thanks for that svenpup )

[Richard320]

Greetings,

My pool water is crystal clear. I have the following:
FC 3-5
pH 7.2
TA 230
CH 150
CYA 50

Should I be concerned about the high TA and/or low CH?

Thanks!
Mark

I find the CH number hard to believe, since you're in California. My tap water runs almost 300 CH! You didn't transpose the TA and CH numbers by chance?

[ReluctantPoolBoy]

I find the CH number hard to believe, since you're in California. My tap water runs almost 300 CH! You didn't transpose the TA and CH numbers by chance?

I tested it twice for the same reason!

[ReluctantPoolBoy]

Greetings!

I have been maintaining my target FC and a slightly lower than target pH. Just as John T. said, my TA is slowly dropping. It's now 180. Unfortunately, my CH is also dropping. It's now down to 100. I'm concerned about the low CH number. Is it time to add some calcium chloride?

TEST 4/11 6/27
------------------
FC 7 7
TC 7 7
pH 7.2 7.2
TA 230 180
CH 150 100
CYA 50 60

[JasonLion]

CH doesn't just drop like that, so I suspect there is a testing error of some kind.

For a plaster pool, you should keep CH between 250 and 350, so you definitely need some calcium even if your CH level is still 150.