Is it ok to test every other day??

Mar 18, 2012
341
Amarillo, Texas
I have been testing my fc every other day. On the days I test I always bring my fc back up to 8 ppm. The lowest it has ever gotten was 3.5 ppm. Am I asking for trouble?

Also if the family were to go away for the weekend would it be ok to bring the pool to shock before we left and not have anyone add any while we were gone?
 
It depends on your CYA, however I suggest dosing every day and then when you get a feel for your pool only test every 2 or 3 days as needed, this will reduce the wild swings in chlorine use. With a CYA of 50 and a minimum FC of 3.5 are flirting with potential problems (min suggested FC for your CYA level is 4.0)
 
Given that your FC is mostly higher than the minimum most of the time, you are probably killing off any algae that might start growing when the FC is at its lowest point, but it is risky especially if something unusual happens that increases chlorine demand. If you find your chlorine loss rate to be fairly stable, then you could add chlorine every day but test less frequently.

You might consider using a pool cover that is at least partly opaque (say, dark blue). I have a mostly opaque pool cover so only test and add chlorine twice a week, but my chlorine loss rate is 1 ppm or less and that's with using the pool every day for an hour or so.

Another option is to have a higher CYA level and higher FC level combo so that the daily loss is less, especially since you are in Texas with lots of sun. Right now you are losing somewhat more than 2 ppm FC per day; with a higher CYA and FC you will probably lose somewhat less than 2 ppm FC per day. The downside is that the higher CYA level requires higher chlorine levels to shock IF you run into trouble.
 
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