Evening Testing and Chems

[tunacan]

Hello,


I posted about a week ago after acid washing and refilling my pool. Everything has been working out so far, so a big thank you for all the great advice I've received here.

The more I learn, the more questions I have. Here a few quick ones related to testing and adding chems:

1. If I put chems in at night, do I keep the filter running? If so do I just have it turn the water over once?
2. How much chlorine should I expect to lose at night? It seems like I've been using about 2ppm each evening.
3. Can I test in the morning if my filter has been off for several hours? If not, does my water need to cycle completely before testing?
4. How do you measure the pool calculator's suggested amounts? Guesstimate? Measuring Cup? Scale?
5. What's a "daily test" (I've seen it mentioned in other threads)? Is it the same as the OCLT test (overnight choloring loss test)?

I had my pump running 24/7 for a while, and now that I have my water chemistry under control I'd like to minimize the electricity (not cheap in socal!) I just started running my pump for about 5 hours during darkness after adding chems and another 4 hours during the middle of the day to turnover the water once. Does that sound reasonable?

Thanks again!

Ron

 

[jblizzle]

1. Just need to keep the pump on for about 1 hour after adding chems.
2. To pass the OCLT, you should loose < 1ppm ... sounds like something is living in your pool
3. Water should circulate for 30-60 minutes before testing
4. You can be as accurate as you want to be ... how well do you really know your pool volume? Many people just use educated guesses ... round the a 1/4 of a bottle, etc
5. Not sure ... maybe a test you are supposed to do daily ... like FC and pH

Pump schedule sounds reasonable to me if it is keeping your water clear.

 

[tunacan]

Thanks, Jason! That was very helpful.

* I'll use the "run the pump for an hour" for testing and adding chems.
* I've been guessing by the 1/4 or 1/3 of a jug of bleach - sounds like I'm doing the right thing.
* The pool has received a lot of use over the Memorial Day weekend - maybe I'll give it a shock in the next 24 hours and keep an eye on the overnight chlorine loss.

Thanks again!

Ron

 

[tunacan]

Quick follow up question:

Can I just run my pump for 8-10 hours at night and not at all during the day?

The electric rates are much lower in the evening where I live. I've been told that the water has to circulate while the sun is shining or else I'll get algae. After finding out 90% of what I've been told is bunk, I'm suspicious of that one as well.

Thanks!

Ron

 

[jblizzle]

There was just a long post about this in the last couple days. There are pros / cons for the day / night running. Seems like the experts thought is was slightly better to run during the day, but that electrical costs could drive you to run at night with minimal worry.

The more you can space out the running, the better the pool stays circulated. Maybe you could run some at the very beginning and the very end of the cheap power. And running for 1-2 hours in the middle of the day may help a little (although cost a little more).

 

[tunacan]

Thanks again, Jason.

I think I'll take your advice on 2 cycles at night with a short cycle during the middle of the day. Enjoy your week!

Ron

 

[Isaac-1]

To answer about the daily test, a lot of people only test using the cheap OTO or DPD colormetric chlorine tests on a daily basis (maybe also pH depending on how stable the pH is in your indivual pool, some peope use gallons of acid per week to keep the pH under control, others like me are lucky and only need a gallon or less per year), they then do a more complete round of tests like the FAS/DPD chlorine drop test for FC and CC as well as maybe TA once or twice per week, and test those things that tend to be more stable like CYA and CH once per month.

 

[tunacan]

That makes sense - Thanks Isaac!


My ph has been fairly stable. I noticed a slight rise when the jacuzzi was running for about 10 hours (aeration I assume?), which is maybe negating the decrease in ph from adding bleach every night.

What makes others have to use so much acid? If anything I have to add Borax occasionally.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!

Ron

 

[JasonLion]

The usual reason for needing to add acid all the time is high TA. If you are adding borax regularly, try raising your TA a bit.

 

[jblizzle]

You are right that aeration causes the pH to rise ... so does a SWG, which may be the people you see that have to add more acid than others. Additionally a high TA, can make the pH rise faster. Of course, getting the TA lower can help slow the pH rise.

 

[tunacan]

Thanks guys!

Ron

 

[yossarian]

One way to back into the size of your pool is to determine your FC before and after you add chlorine at night. Based on the rise in FC levels, you could determine the size of your pool with the help of the Pool Calculator. Of course that only works if your pool doesn't have anything organic in it.

Our pool inspection said our pool was 33,000 gallons. That was what I used for the Pool Calculator. And the projections for changes in FC levels were spot on.

 

[tunacan]

good point and I've been keeping an eye on my FC readings for the same reason.

Since I completely drained my pool, I was able to get a pretty accurate guess when filling it back up again.

Good luck!

Ron