Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestions?

[iflyjetzzz]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

Using bleach isn't any more expensive than trichlor, most places it is less expensive.

Really? I thought that trichlor tabs were cheaper.
At Lowes, they've got 35 lb 3" trichlor tabs for $62.
At Walmart, they've got 1.42 gal bleach for $2.52/jug.

I assumed that the trichlor was a bit cheaper than bleach.

 

[iflyjetzzz]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

The partial drains and refills have been working great! I've been using the pool water to water all of the plants in the yard over the last two months.
The pool has looked crystal clear all summer and now all of the readings are in normal range. Latest readings:

FC 2
pH 7.5
TA 100
CYA 65
CH 440
Temp 87

Thanks again Richard320!

 

[frogabog]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

Sounds good!

All except the chlorine at 2ppm. At 65ppm CYA you should never be lower than 5ppm, and your high target (end of day dose) is 10ppm.

Time for some bleach?

 

[Shane1]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

Thats good stuff! Since you have a cartridge filter you might have a water spigot plumbed into you system. It would be easier to use that instead of the submersible pump to get water out of the pool.

 

[linen]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

Really? I thought that trichlor tabs were cheaper.
At Lowes, they've got 35 lb 3" trichlor tabs for $62.
At Walmart, they've got 1.42 gal bleach for $2.52/jug.

I assumed that the trichlor was a bit cheaper than bleach.

The chlorine from 14.2 ounces 6% bleach equals approximately 1 ounce of trichlor tabs. So at those prices, you would need ~$110 worth of bleach (43.75 bottles) to equal the 35 pounds of trichlor.

You were right...except that the rising CYA level and the lowering ph level that corresponds to using trichlor, probably makes the bleach cheaper. In a pool of 18000 gallons, a 3 oz trichlor tablet will raise CYA by 0.7 ppm and lower pH by 0.06, which in process lowers TA. As you know, only way to lower CYA is to drain or RO treatment, both expensive and time consuming. Countering the ph drop might be done by aeration (probably not fast enough for constant trichlor usage) but more likely by raising it with more chemicals (borax, soda ash) which also raises TA(each at a different rate, neither which is equal to the TA drop due to the Trichlor) at an additional cost. All this makes for much more complex pool chemistry management than just relying on good ol' Sodium Hypochlorite for a Trouble Free Pool.

...this was probably not necessary, but I was bored... :blah:

 

[iflyjetzzz]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

Sounds good!

All except the chlorine at 2ppm. At 65ppm CYA you should never be lower than 5ppm, and your high target (end of day dose) is 10ppm.

Time for some bleach?

Frog, the landlord is paying to have a pool cleaner come over every week to take care of the pool. He puts in 3 trichlor tabs/week at no cost to me. What I did last week when I saw the pool was at .5 TC after he put in the tabs was to take a tab and run it along the side of pool, scraping off part of the tab. That pretty much instantly raises my chlorine level. I guess I'll do that every week after he leaves to get the chlorine above 5 and then let it drift back down during the week. If the chlorine level reads too high, he only puts in one or two tabs.

Thats good stuff! Since you have a cartridge filter you might have a water spigot plumbed into you system. It would be easier to use that instead of the submersible pump to get water out of the pool.

Great idea; I wish that I had thought about that a bit. I know of one spot that looks like a normal faucet on the filter but I've never used it. I'll have to try that. If I can get the water to flow faster than the 1/2 HP pump that'd be very nice; it can take a long time to water the yard.
There's also the 1 1/2" drain valve but I'd need a fire hose for that.

You were right...except that the rising CYA level and the lowering ph level that corresponds to using trichlor, probably makes the bleach cheaper. In a pool of 18000 gallons, a 3 oz trichlor tablet will raise CYA by 0.7 ppm and lower pH by 0.06, which in process lowers TA. As you know, only way to lower CYA is to drain or RO treatment, both expensive and time consuming. Countering the ph drop might be done by aeration (probably not fast enough for constant trichlor usage) but more likely by raising it with more chemicals (borax, soda ash) which also raises TA(each at a different rate, neither which is equal to the TA drop due to the Trichlor) at an additional cost. All this makes for much more complex pool chemistry management than just relying on good ol' Sodium Hypochlorite for a Trouble Free Pool.

Good stuff. Since the tabs are 'free' to me - the homeowner hired a pool cleaner responsible for chemicals - there's no incentive for me to use anything but the tabs that the pool cleaner uses.
Draining the water costs me money but since it's been 105+ here for a while, the landscaping needs water. I simply pump water out of the pool onto the landscape. Since the landscape needs to be watered anyway, the drained pool water doesn't go to waste so again, no additional cost to me.
I've been using tap water for quite a while and the TA seems pretty stable. The TA was originally >300 but I lowered that with almost 3 gallons of muriatic acid. I haven't put in any more muriatic acid but I think that the pool cleaner has added a little bit to keep the TA and PH down.

I plan on continuing this process and hope to get the CYA level down some more, as I won't be needing to water the landscape nearly as much in the winter but the pool cleaner will still be using trichlor tabs.

 

[linen]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

I plan on continuing this process and hope to get the CYA level down some more, as I won't be needing to water the landscape nearly as much in the winter but the pool cleaner will still be using trichlor tabs.

Yours is a unique situation, so I guess that makes some sense. My instincts say that I should keep on top of the testing. Thinking CSI, etc. Then again, you do not own the pool.

 

[iflyjetzzz]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

Yours is a unique situation, so I guess that makes some sense. My instincts say that I should keep on top of the testing. Thinking CSI, etc. Then again, you do not own the pool.

Yes, it's pretty unique. Hopefully others can look at this method and adapt to their situation. Our tap water is high in both TA and calcium so you really need to drain water from the pool on a regular basis to keep from getting a high calcium hardness/CSI unless you put soft water into the pool or opt for RO.

 

[kanemochi]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

It's a good thing you did decide to test the water for yourself.....no matter what the city advertises......I'm here to say.....it truly varies across the city.

I just bought a house in December that had me move further west (My new house is on the Northwest side....actually pretty far north practically in Marana)

The pool looked pretty clean (of course the water was still below 50 degrees so I wouldn't expect the algae to start blooming yet) but when I tested the water...the CYA level was sky high (sorry don't remember exactly how high now.....didn't write it down....but way too high to do anything about other than a drain/refill or reverse osmosis.)

So, I went to Home Depot got myself a submersible pump and completely drained the pool.....(I know, not recommended...but remember....I'm in Tucson....no danger of high water tables floating my pool here) then I filled it from the garden hose.

I had heard all the horror stories about the hard water here in Tucson, and was shocked to find the CH at 0 when I tested after filling. I tested twice....1st with strips, 2nd with drop titration kit..and when that confirmed a hardness of 0, I took a sample to Leslies and they also confirmed a hardness of 0.

I thought maybe the outside faucet was routed through the water softener...but I double checked the plumbing and that's not the case....this water is definitely coming in before the water softener. (Which tells me one of two things: 1.) Either the previous owner got ripped off when he put in a water softener?.....or 2.) Water hardness varies with seasons, and I picked the right time to fill my pool?

Anyway, I had to go back to Home Depot and buy a bunch of CACL (which isn't cheap) to get it back up to around 300. (It's a plaster pool)

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Newbie; will probably need to drain pool soon; suggestio

There are different sources of water here. We are on a semi-private well and find that CH to be pretty low around 150ppm. But, some areas that use water mixed between wells and CAP water (diverted from the Colorado river) I think are much higher. Imagine all the evaporation to goes on as the water travels 100+ miles in the open culverts raising the CH higher and higher ... and then it gets mixed with local water and sent to some areas of town.