Can Water source screw with test results?

[tonynascar]

Second year with this pool and new member to TFP so a little background before the questions. Last year as a new pool owner, I fell into the step 1-4 plans and got all the various chemicals and using 6 way test strips could never get an FC result over 1ppm while all other reading were OK. Used Cal-hypo 1 inch tabs (3) in the filter basket till gone and dissolved shock treated weekly and almost daily vacuum with a hose and sock. Ended up with slimy walls, green cloudy water in July but kept buying and over-using the Cal-hypo products, won the battle and cleared it up. By the middle of August, testing ended up being if the water seemed clear and you didn't step off the ladder and feel like you hit an ice rink, it was good. And the pool was taken down and packed up early September once the evenings start chilling it to a less than bearable temp.

So the pool is up now for about 4 weeks, water is perfectly clear and this is the current chem recipe:
No Stabilizer yet (tight budget), 3 inch Cal-hypo tabs in the filter basket (new one as needed) and weekly shock BUT with Trichloro (cheaper) and weekly "super-algae" liquid (4 oz).
Still doing Daily vacuum and filter rinse off (I'll replace when it first becomes dinghy) and I have 2 Cal-hypo tabs and plenty of Trichloro left so by next Friday, I'm looking to join the BBB crowd. So here come my questions...
Test Results:
FC - 0 (strip)
TC - 0 (OTO tester)
ph - 7.5 (strip and OTO)
TA - 80 (strip)
TH - 100 (strip)
CYA - 30 (maybe-hate strips) Having been to Pool School, I suspect whatever amount came from Trichloro since I didn't add any?

All the water in the pool comes through the home salt water softener (yes, for sure and it makes for no water spots after a car wash too!). Need to mention that during the daily vacuum drill (because I gave up on trying to cover it), I must release some treated water to stay below max water level. And direct sun all afternoon till dusk...Just having written this out tells me I should probably make an effort to find a better cover (that doesn't constantly blow off) and use it. Also have a shower attachment on the outlet into the pool which I allow to spray into the air overnight as we discovered last year how much cooler the water was once it stayed hot enough to turn the pool into bath water.

1. Is the softened water screwing with the Chlorine and do I need to do anything different or just ignore it and adjust FC till I actually have some?
2. Is my nightly shower routine assisting with clarity and clearness as aeration along with lowering the temp some?
3. I do plan to use up the Trichloro, so do I start trying it nightly and hope to get some FC out of it before going to bleach and not end up with too much CYA?

Having read some of the great advice in the forums and success story results, I thought that before I hit the Pool Calculator, I'd run this by everyone to start me off on the right track. And I'll try and pick up the 6 way drop tester tomorrow so my future results aren't based on best guess of colors.
Thanks!
Tony

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

You aren't going to save any money by doing things the wrong way. That is only going to make everything turn out more expensive.

Softened water is not a problem at all in a vinyl liner pool, aside from causing the softener to need to be recharged much more frequently than it other wise would during filling.

The shower head will tend to raise the PH a little. As long as your PH is staying in range that is fine.

If you can get a CYA level of between 30 and 50 out of the trichlor, then great. If it goes over 50 it is only going to create problems. If CYA ends up too low there will also be problems.

My guess is that CYA is lower than you think it is and you are losing all of your chlorine to sunlight each day. The other option is that you have a low level algae problem, but I would expect that to have become obvious by now.

 

[tonynascar]

Well, we get to start over....now draining pool due to our new black lab puppy getting out of her harness and deciding to dig at the pool bottom! :grrrr: I come home from work and put on the trunks for a quick dip and skim off the usual leaves and dead bugs from the surface. Out the back door and off the deck and there she is...romping across the backyard with a now well deflated beach ball in her mouth, my little auquarium net is now more metal than mesh net and the very obvious puddle of water moving the sand base out right at the edge along with a nicely tattered section of ground tarp. *geesh* Was she diggin' for gold?? Both my wife and I did our best underwater dive routines and can't see it but the leak is "BRT" (broke rite there!)

Other than being out the cost of another 4K fill, I get to start the BBB process right up front...
:idea: gotta get that dog a better harness!