Colder water and it's impact on chlorine

[ajones02]

All,

Just wanted to kind of get a step ahead for the winter time processes and water balancing. when the water gets cold or begins to cool off, is it still important to keep CYA @ 60-80 ppm with corresponding chrlorine levels or do i want to let the CYA drift down so i can keep lower chlorine levels in the pool. i also understand that the SWG will not generate chlorine after the water temp falls to 52 degrees or below. is that the best time to maintain chlorine levels with bleach or is there anything else that i need to be concerned about?

thanks in advance for all of the advice and feedback!

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

Always maintain the FC relative to the CYA level. The amount of FC you need to maintain that level will decrease with reduced sun and temps. A cell will stop at 52 but at 60-65, it's performance is diminishing.

Scott

 

[Richard320]

All,

Just wanted to kind of get a step ahead for the winter time processes and water balancing. when the water gets cold or begins to cool off, is it still important to keep CYA @ 60-80 ppm with corresponding chrlorine levels or do i want to let the CYA drift down so i can keep lower chlorine levels in the pool. i also understand that the SWG will not generate chlorine after the water temp falls to 52 degrees or below. is that the best time to maintain chlorine levels with bleach or is there anything else that i need to be concerned about?

thanks in advance for all of the advice and feedback!

CYA will probably hold steady. No one's splashing water out. As long as the pool is kept clean and the FC doesn't dip below minimum, there shouldn't be any strange biological processes breaking down the CYA. Rainwater and overflow will dilute the water, so it is worthwhile to check CYA during the winter. If it gets below 40, I'd add some more. But with colder temperatures and no one swimming, as well as less sunlight, chlorine demand will go down.

You do need to always maintain the FC level for the CYA. The water will stay clear; there won't be any "pool opening" per se, just waiting for it to warm up enough to swim! If you never let FC go below minimum for your CYA, you won't get algae, and you won't have to shock. I'm rapidly approaching the one year anniversary of buying my pool (the house came with it) and it hasn't been shocked since I've owned it.

 

[Isaac-1]

This may not be as much of a problem as you expect, depending on if you have a solar cover, etc. A quick google search found a study of soil temperatures in your part of Texas done over a 5 year period about 30 years ago, showing the minimum average soil temperature at a depth of 5 feet in January as 52 degrees F.

Ike

 

[crabboy]

I usually don't add much to the pool in the winter besides chlorine and maybe some acid. The demand is so low that I went a couple months without touching the pool at all. I'll let the salt and CYA fall during the winter, usually from rain causing the pool to drain through the overflow. No need to keep the salt level up if it's not being used.