2nd season with pool; First timer with TF-Pro

[2WeeksNotice]

FC 11, CC 0.5, CYA 80, pH 7.8, TA 110, CH 650.
Last year I did whatever the pool company said, but this year I want a new plan. So I've been reading the website a lot this month. Just got the TF-Pro test kit last week and getting comfortable with it.
Questions:
1. Pool has been open 2 for months and has had a sweet smell (I say anti-freeze; kids say yeast). Pool company that winterized it said a month ago it would dissipate. Now this month said to add "First Aid" enzyme. Not crazy about either answer (tired of buying extra jugs of stuff). Is this smell normal? Noticeable most right when the cover opens. Don't recall it being there last year. I have long piping (~40-50') to 3 swim jets. Not sure if that is a factor.
2. Are the TA and CH too high? Need to do anything there?
3. Brown scum line forms quickly above the swim jets and return when they run for a short time (10 min.) Then it eventually rings the whole waterline if run longer. Is this normal?
4. Water is clear, but not crystal clear. Seems like it could be better. Any suggestions on clarity? Filters were washed out 2 weeks ago, so should be good.
Great site, thanks for all the knowledge!
Allen

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hiya Weeks folks! Welcome to TFP
I see you have a salt system... is that new? Your calcium level is pretty high, which *may* be one reason your water isn't sparkly clear? Or were you using CalHypo also?
Have you ever done a calcium hardness test on your fill water??
Has your FC level ever dropped which may have let algae take hold??
The smell, if antifreeze, should go away with some extra chlorine and letting it air out with the cover off.

Maddie

 

[2WeeksNotice]

Hi Maddie, thanks for the reply.
Everything is new to us...had the pool and SWG was put in May 2021. First year went OK, but this year started a bit rockier. Will try to tell the short backstory for what got me to TFP site in the past few weeks. Pool installer is great, but they want you to do x,y,z chemicals every month (which I did last year with some minor hiccups). These made the water cloudy this year. But in retrospect I'm wondering if my low CYA (30-40) was the problem all along, and not being able to keep enough FC. I had FC generally at 3-5ppm (from memory), but there were times where the test strip was not purple at all, so I'd crank up the SWG on SuperChlorinate. No algae was visible. During that time they did say to try shocking it (no specific advice), I so guessed at Cal Hypo. Nearly 5 lb went in over a week's time. Then I started reading up on TFP and switched to liquid Cl while I waited for the test kit to show up. In the meantime, the water cleared up and stayed relatively stable as they now are per results above. It is definitely swimmable and we are using it nearly daily. Just would like clearer water and the smell to go away. Seems like 2 months of regular use would have the smell dissipate??

The original 20k gal of fill water last year was trucked in, so don't know what it was on CH. Just tested my well water spigot and it is 350-400 CH. Only added water once this year after a big splashy kids party.

Final side comment: both years in May, the phosphates spike to 2500+ ppb. Pool company says it happens to everyone in this area in the spring and they can only guess if it's farmers spraying fields, pollen, rain or ?? They recommend a Phosphate 9000 and Pool blue to lower the phos so FC can do it's thing. It did take down the Phos to 300ppb for sure. But also recall that during this time, I had low CYA and that could have been robbing the FC?? I never knew the significance of CYA (and a decent test) until a few weeks ago.

Thanks for any help you can offer!
Allen

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum.
I would suggest you do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tonight. Be sure the SWCG is off during it. Just to be sure. Is this an autocover or solar cover?

Removing the phosphates, if they are really there, will not harm anything, but not necessary either. But the Pool Blue you stated is suspect. Might be a cheap clarifier. Do not use those. Mess up your filter media.

I would work your TA lower. You are likely to get calcium scale build up on your SWCG with those parameters.

 

[2WeeksNotice]

It is autocover. Will be out of town so don't know if I'll get to the OCLT tonight or not, but will do it upon return. And will work on the TA. Thanks for the response!
Allen

 

[2WeeksNotice]

OCLT overnight was 0 or 0.5 at most. pump ran at least 30 min prior to each test & SWG was off all night. Also, I dropped the pH to 7.2 yesterday afternoon to work on lowering the TA. Didn't do a full set of tests this AM, just the FC. Can do more later if needed.

So after that, thoughts on cloudiness and smell?

 

[mknauss]

Try to have your autocover open more often in the sunlight. Maintain FC and pH. Get the TA lower as you go.
Did you clean the cartridges after adding the Phosphates stuff? You must, or that product breaks down and could cause your cloudiness.

If you insist on adding phosphate removers and or clarifiers, use Orenda or SeaKlear products. They are high quality.

 

[2WeeksNotice]

I did clean the filters 2x after the phos treatment (3-4 weeks ago), once with TSP once with a good rinse. Then once 2 weeks ago. I don't insist on the phos treatment, but was done before reading up here on TFP.

Good to know I'm on the right track with OCLT being good. I'll keep the cover open more and will keep monitoring all the levels and check back in as needed. Thank you very much for the advice.
Allen