Planning for a party!

[BethyM]

So, our pool is only a week old but we've decided to have friends over for the 4th in a couple days. Our water is clear and I've been doing fine with it, just not sure what special precautions I might need to take for the holiday. We'll probably have 20+ people in and out, about half or more are kids. Do I just bump the chlorine a little bit?? Everything seems to be OK except TA and CH are high -- fountain should arrive today to start working on lowering the TA as I dump more and more acid in to keep the pH under control! It drifted from 7.5 at the start of the week to over 7.8 with just the addition of CYA and bleach.

FC - 4.3
CC or TC - 0
pH - 7.8+ (not 8, but not quite 7.8 - have added 1 gallon of MA in the past 24 hours to start moving it down)
TA - 550
CH - 475
CYA - 36 (added second half 2 days ago, not testable yet)

Thanks!

21600 gallon 30' round vinyl ABG.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'd raise the FC up to the upper target level just before the party and then again just after.

 

[ping]

Before the party starts get your pH down to 7.4ish and raise your FC to about 10 an hour before swimming starts. If your water is cloudy after the party, bring the FC to shock level for your calculated CYA amount.

 

[duraleigh]

Get your pH down....7.4 or so. The addition you did has already taken effect. pH adjust within an hour of putting it in.

Keep you chlorine up as bama and ping have suggested.

 

[BethyM]

OK, I'll keep adding the acid. I got 4 more gallons today though not entirely sure it will be enough. The poolstore guy assured me it was more than enough... uh huh... How much can I add at one time? I read that it's best to move it in smaller increments... ?

The FC thing makes sense thanks!

 

[ping]

Once you start to aerate and add acid to lower the TA only bring the pH down to about 7.2 then raise the pH with aeration to around 7.8ish and repeat the cycle until you reach your TA goal. Use the pool calculator to get your dosing amounts correct.

 

[duraleigh]

I missed that you were lowering TA...Ping is correct...bring acid to 7.2. If you get pretty accurate with it, bringing it to 7.0 is just fine and will speed the process a little but don't get below 7.0.

 

[BethyM]

A beautiful way to lower the TA and cool it off a couple degrees!!

Happy 4th everyone Thanks for the tips - Looking forward to lots of fun tomorrow!

<edit> Great news, just did water test and the TA has moved some already!

pH=7.5
FC=4
CC=.5
TC=4.5
TA=450 (Lower by 100!)
CYA=36 (First time I've been able to measure it! Lost the dot between 30 and 40 but closer to 40)

I didn't bother with the CH test since I haven't done anything to effect the calcium... that's for another time. I think I'll check pH in the AM and maybe lower it a bit more pre-party. The fountain is running now, but we'll probably turn it off overnight.

 

[BethyM]

Thanks everyone!! Party was a lot of fun.

I brought the FC to 10 before the party and after it was at 8. Just tested this morning and these are the results:
test results: FC=7 CC=0 TA=425 pH=7.5

Water is still nice and clear Thanks for getting me through the first big pool event!