New pool owner - loving this website

[newman4ever]

Hi everyone. I am a first time pool owner having recently bought a home with an inground pool. After having tons of frustration and getting a lot of bad information from pool supply stores, I was lucky enough to find this website, and I couldn't be more thankful for finding it.

I have been doing a lot of reading on here, pool school, forum posts, etc...

I received my Taylor test kit yesterday, and ran my own set of tests. As expected, my results were different from the ones the pool store was telling me.

Seems I overshocked the pool, and my CYA is higher than they were telling me (no doubt from those wonderful tabs they had me using). I discontinued using them about 5 days ago, knowing my chlorine level was very high and also suspecting my CYA would probably be as well. I'm switching to the BBB method as it seems to make the most sense to me.

Here are my current numbers:

Free Chlorine: 17ppm
Combined Chlorine: 0 ppm
CYA: ~90
pH: 7.4
TA: 110
CA: Didn't test for this, as based on what I've read, it's not really important for a vinyl lined pool.

Anyway, I want to get my numbers in line ASAP since I am having a July 4th party tomorrow. So just looking for a little advice. I had planned on draining off some of the water and replacing it to try and lower the chlorine and CYA a bit. But since I don't have much time, I expect I won't be able to replace a significant amount of water, maybe 5-10%. Then I planned to test again and add Sodium Thiosulfate to bring down my chlorine level to around 6-7ppm. Does this seem like a good plan? My water is very clear, as I would expect it to be with such a high chlorine level. I tested overnight FC loss last night and this morning and there was none. Would love to hear some advice from the seasoned vets on board.

Anyway, that's it. Really glad to be here, and looking forward to learning a lot on this forum and maybe pay it forward one day when I am more knowledgeable. Thanks for reading my long winded post, and Happy 4th of July to everyone.

 

[Richard320]

I wouldn't do anything until AFTER the pool party.

Your water is clear, you're not losing FC overnight, and you have no CC. SWIM!! Your FC level should be 7-12 with that CYA. Swim party coming, you'll want it at 12 beforehand, so if you leave things alone, you should be real close. And a load of people slathered with sunscreen will bring FC down plenty quick if it's still a little high when things start.

 

[newman4ever]

Thanks for the input Richard. My primary concern was having my chlorine level so high. At 17ppm, will it be safe for swimming in. There will be small children in the pool, so I was worried about potential problems with skin irritation or burning eyes. I plan to test again tomorrow morning. If the FC is still reading 17, should I then try and bring it down closer to 12 before the party starts?

 

[Richard320]

Rule of thumb: you swim up to shock level. You're below shock level now, and you'll be even lower tomorrow. And even lower than that when people start getting in the pool.

 

[newman4ever]

o.k. Thanks for confirming it's safe to swim. Wouldn't make for a very good 4th of July party if all my guests were getting sick. Appreciate the speedy replies.

Have a great July 4th!!

 

[chem geek]

Even at your current 17 ppm FC with 90 ppm CYA, the active chlorine level is the same as a pool with 0.2 ppm FC and no CYA so much lower than most indoor commercial/public pools. The effect on swimsuits, skin, hair, eyes, etc. will be very low. The only issue with a high FC would be drinking lots and lots of the swimming pool water on a regular basis, but that's not something you would do. Even the very conservative EPA drinking water limit of 4 ppm with 2 liters per day would only be reached drinking around 2 cups of 17 ppm FC pool water.