Update (New IG pool owner, chemicals needed, etc.)

[JBowman]

Hi again!

Our neighbor has a pool and was kind enough to let me use his test kit which includes CYA. Before adding anything, I retested, and the previous numbers were all correct - zero. Also, the CYA test showed zero as well. So, I added: 3 -96 oz. jugs of ultra bleach, 10 pounds of baking soda, and 8 pounds (2 boxes) of borax. That was yesterday, and had the pump recirculating since. The new numbers are:

FC = 2.5
Total bromine = 5
TC = 2.5
CC = 0
pH = 6.8
Total alkalinity = 60
CYA = 50

So, what can I do to tweak those numbers? The CYA level seemed to jump quite a bit even from the small amount of chlorine I added. Looks like pH and TA need a boost. Is a 2.5 chlorine level sufficient? The chlorine I have are 3" stabilized chlorine tablets for the feeder. Should I use those, or stick with bleach? If I do use the feeder, how many of those tabs do you load into it, and once loaded, does it always stay in the "ON" position?

Thanks for all the input so far. Attached is a picture of the pool from this morning. Much better than I expected it would be. It's a bit cloudy, but I haven't had it set to filtering yet, and I swept the bottom last night to stir up the water a bit. Oh yeah, I also learned that what LOOKS like just a little water on top of a winter cover is really ALOT of water! Two pumps, about 2 hours.

Thanks,

John

 

[JasonLion]

It is best to keep the discussion about your chemistry all in one topic/thread. Having everything in one place helps provide context so we can follow what is happing.

Nothing you did could have caused the CYA level to jump by that much. Only the trichlor contains any CYA, and that generally only causes slow increases. There must be some kind of testing problem with one or both of the tests or you have the numbers mixed up.

There is no point in reporting Total bromine, you aren't using bromine.

With a tablet feeder you normally fill it up to the top about once a week and leave it on and set to a setting that gives you the desired FC level. You can continue using the tablet feeder until your CYA level is reasonable, say 50 or 60. After that it would be good to switch to bleach until there has been enough water replacement to lower the CYA level (typically next spring, but frequent filter backwashing or major rains that cause significant overflow can do it).

 

[Guest]

I would suggest again that you take some time and read all the stickies from the menu at the top of every page. I think they will help with some of the confusion you have (sch as reporting the bromine reading even though I explained that you are not using bromine in your other thread).