Transition to BBB from Perm A Salt

gdbradford · Mar 31, 2011

We have had the AG in my signature for 2 seasons and this will be the 3rd season. I have always been concerned about the " Perm a Salt" System based off information I was reading on various Forums but my water has always been Clear and without Issue. I have decided to transition to the BBB Method so I ordered my TF100 which was received yesterday. I performed my First Tests this morning (results below). I removed the cover last week and the water had a green tint to it so I did add some Bleach and started the Pump, keep in mind this was done prior to testing this morning. I did plug my numbers into the pool calculator but am a little confused on what my next steps should be?

Any Advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Borate- 80 or greater ????
FC-2
CC-.5
TC-2.5
PH-7.5
TA-90
CL-.5 to 1
CYA- Less than 20
Temp- 55

Bama Rambler · Mar 31, 2011

Welcome to TFP.

Given that you have a CC of .5 after the cover has been off a week I would do an OCLT (overnight chlorine loss test).
If you fail that you need to shock the pool and finish getting rid of the algae.
If you pass it then I'd raise the FC to about 4 ppm to see if that'll take care of it.
Then I'd raise the CYA to about 40 ppm.

What is your CH?

JasonLion · Mar 31, 2011

Perma Salt adds copper and silver to the water. Before adding too much chlorine you should get the water tested for copper. If the copper level is above 0.3 you need to be very very careful with the PH until you get the copper level down.

gdbradford · Mar 31, 2011

How do I go about Testing the copper Level? I do not see anything in my TF100 to do so , I assume I will need to either buy something additional or take it to a pool store for testing.

dmanb2b · Mar 31, 2011

A good pool store should be able to test it for you :goodjob:

gdbradford · Apr 1, 2011

Ok - so I took a sample to a local Pool Store for Testing this morning and results are as follows.

FC- 0
TC-.9
CC-.9
ph- 7.7
Hardnes- 62
Alkalinity-47
Cyanuric Acid- 8
***Copper-0*****

The Employee of this Pool Store was very helpful, Tested the water for free even after I indicated that I wouldn't be buying any chemicals. He stated that he was not Knowledgeable about BBB but certainly didn't attempt to sale me on anything else.

My Alkalinity and CYA seem to be low. I did not run the the OCLT yest as I wanted to get the water tested for copper before proceeding. Other than the OCLT as suggested above any additional thoughts or suggestions for next steps?

Thanks

JasonLion · Apr 1, 2011

Good, no problems with copper to worry about.

Yes, your CYA level is a little low. I suggest adding enough CYA to raise it up to around 40 ppm.

You should be adding about 2 ppm of chlorine every evening until CYA starts coming up more.

I'm less sure of your TA level. The first set of test results you posted showed TA at 90, and I doubt that it would have fallen that much. One or the other test result is probably wrong. When your TF100 shows up we will have a better idea of what to do.