Converting to chemicals recommended here.

[brian987]

The site recommends I get personal recommendations for my chem goals because there are so many factors that can affect it...so, I think I have enough info now to inquire about this topic. I received my new TF-100 test kit, so now I need help. I can't tell you how many times I asked at the pool stores why our home kits didn't allow me to test for all the things they test for when I bring water to them for testing...never a good answer from those guys.

My current readings are:
FC 2
CC 0
TC 2
pH 7.3
T/A 150
CH 600
CYA 75
Temp 86

 

[duraleigh]

Hey, Brian,

Welcome to the forum. :lol: Tell us a little bit more. How does your water look? Do you have any water quality issues or do you just need some input on your test results?

Post that info back up and you'll get lot's of help.

 

[woodyp]

FC is waaaaay too low for your CYA. See the chart in pool school. Welcome.

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP!
Woody is right, your FC should be 6-11 with a CYA of 75. You need to bring up your FC to prevent an algae bloom. You can keep your CYA where it is as long as you keep the FC up in range, but you also have high CH and you need to drain about 40% of your water and replace it to get your CYA down to 45 and get your calcium down to 350. Both of these values can only be reduced by draining and replacing water or by having reverse osmosis treatment done. At this point there are not very many RO pool services around so there may not be one in your area.

If you decide not to drain you will need to drop the TA down to around 70 to avoid calcium scale.

 

[brian987]

The water is clear as can be...haven't really had trouble...just need to learn about desired target levels for my situation and how to get there using household bleach, etc. Are there any special things I need to do to begin using bleach? I have stopped the tablets already in preparation of the switch. And I was afraid I needed to do the draining thing...after I refill...is there a process I need to follow to get back on track?

 

[JasonLion]

You have a couple of minor issues, nothing serious.

Your CYA level is higher than we recommend, though given that you are in Texas you might as well leave it alone and let it come down on it's own over time.

Your FC level is too low for your CYA level, as other already pointed out.

You have relatively high TA and high CH, which means you need to keep your PH down or risk calcium scaling. You don't want the PH going above 7.5 until you can get the TA level down a bit. Longer term you should measure the TA and CH levels of your fill water and make a decision about how high you are going to let CH get before you replace water or get an RO treatment to lower the CH level. Higher fill water CH levels mean that you should allow high pool CH levels.

 

[Steve456]

Brian, the BBB method is about testing your pool water and adding only the necessary chemicals to your pool. The BBB components are all sold in pool stores at a higher price. No magic here-just a means to save money.

There is nothing inherently wrong with using trichlor or cal-hypo if you understand the additional chemicals you are adding and want to pay the additional cost. Since your calcium is high cal-hypo would not be recommended for you; if someone had low calcium they might use cal-hypo. Since your CYA is high trichlor tabs would not be recommended for you but for pool owners who need to increase their CYA level trichlor might be convenient.

See these recommended levels: pool-school/recommended_levels

Welcome to TFP.

 

[anonapersona]

I suggest you hang on to some of the pucks for vacation use and the cal-hypo shock for emergency use and start using bleach now.

 

[brian987]

Thanks guys...and just another example of being told incorrect info by 4 different people who actually came to my house...all this time I have been told my pool is 15,000 gal...after following your directions and taking my own measurements, my pool is closer to 10,600 gal. Another reason I haven't been able to keep my chemicals in check...upon adding the amount for the larger pool, I couldn't understand why my FC levels would always read higher than what they should.