new to the forums

[puckerth]

Have had my pool a couple years now, treating with Bioguard 3" tablets (they said 2 at a time in each of my 2 skimmers) and putting in 3 bags of Burnout3 each week. Finally fed up when I got "chlorine demand" for the second time this month and they sold me another $100+ of Burnout 3 to shock it, saying "nobody understands why this happens, it just does." That answer didn't sit well with the engineer in me.

At that point I stumbled upon this site. I've been working my way through Pool School and trying to absorb as much as I can, cleaned my filters with dishwashing detergent and muriatic acid (pressure was at ~30psi from a startup of 17psi), and ordered the TF100 test kit.

Assuming I performed all the readings correctly, the results from my first test are as follows:

FC - 4
CC - 0.5
pH - 7.5-7.8
TA - 160-170
CH - 210
CYA - 60-70

Apologies for the ranges on some of these, pH was somewhere in between but probably closer to 7.5, TA turned a little pink at 16 drops but bright at 17, and seeing as this was my first time with the CYA test I found it a bit subjective between 60-70.

My plan is to switch completely from the pool store chemicals to the BBB method. My water is clearing up but I'm guessing that has mostly to do with the filter cleaning, as my water is showing FC, unlike the "chlorine demand" the pool store told me. I'm still trying to figure out exactly where all my levels need to be, but the one I felt most confident of right off the bat was FC, so I added a 96 oz jug of bleach (Pool Calculator told me that will raise my FC 1.9 ppm if I used that correctly).

Anyway, this is more of just an introduction and a quick summary of where I'm at to hopefully verify I'm on the right track. If I'm leaving out any info, am missing something, or doing anything wrong, please let me know. Looking forward to understanding how to take care of the pool myself and have great results!

 

[George N]

Welcome to the forum

 

[JasonLion]

With CYA at 60 to 70 you should keep FC at 5 to 10, and never below 5.

 

[Smykowski]

As a former BioGuard user, I'd first like to say, welcome to the forum, and good riddance.

Your numbers actually don't look too bad, but like Jason said, get that chlorine up, now!! Use the pool calculator, buy some bleach, and get it up. How does your water look?

 

[supertune]

Hi puckerth and welcome to TFP!
I can tell you, you are in the right place, right here!
I would follow the CYA/Chlorine chart here:
pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock, use CYA 70 spec's.
For starters I would max the FC to 1 ppm higher than you normal range and see how much you lose in a 22-24 hr period. Don't be afraid to test a lot, this will help you learn faster. When adding drops, the last drop that does nothing, don't count that one. If still changing color your not at the end of the drop count. Practice helps a lot.
Your TA is a bit high, but this can be addressed at a later date, just watch your pH readings, if your PH keeps swinging up then lower your TA another 20-30ppm.
Come back to this post and post results and some pic's are always cool!
Most of us all have been where your are today!
This link has become very important for me:
become-a-tfp-supporter-f27.html
I want you to have the same outstanding success with your pool as I and most all of us here have.
The best $30 college education I ever will have in my lifetime.

Chuck

 

[puckerth]

Thanks all. Sounds like my first thought to get FC up was correct (I'll admit adding bleach seemed a bit weird!). I'll get that up and keep an eye on everything else. Will post back how things go from there but I'm feeling more confident already.

 

[puckerth]

Oh, and this is the first time I've realized what the supporter option is so I will definitely be doing that. So much to learn here!

 

[puckerth]

OK, so things have been going fairly well and I think I have a handle on most of this. Was away for a few days and now the pool is cloudy again, not too bad but noticeable. Results of my test yesterday:

FC 0
CC 0.5
TA 160
CH 260
CYA 60
Ph 7.5-7.8

So based on that I determined I needed to shock. Pool calculator said 7 of the 184 oz 6% bleach, so I did that last night.

Checked it this morning and FC is 17.5 and CC is 0. Did I make a mistake in not doing a drop test last night to see what my FC was after shocking? My thought at the time was it wasn't mixed well enough yet to give me a valid number, but now I'm not sure. Or do i simply need to keep it at 24 (based on the cya lookup), so just add enough bleach to get it there?

Thanks for helping...I'll get this stuff straight in my head soon hopefully!

 

[puckerth]

Maybe part of my confusion comes from the pool store mentality. They would have me add 9 bags of "shock", and if the strip didn't stay purple add 9 more. I'm thinking its simply a matter of getting and maintaining a proper shock level (in my case 24). So based on my test I need 2 more bottles of bleach, then check it again later and see if its at or above 24? Maybe I answered my own question writing this out, but some confirmation never hurts.

 

[duraleigh]

Or do i simply need to keep it at 24 (based on the cya lookup), so just add enough bleach to get it there?

Yes. Bleach (chlorine) is constantly being consumed in any pool from sunlight and organics. Therefore, to maintain FC 24, it needs to be constantly replenished.

Continue to replenish until your poolis sparkling again and THEN do the OCLT. That test confirms that you are finished with the shock process. Don't let your Shock value FC drift down until you run that confirming OCLT test.

 

[puckerth]

Thanks!

 

[puckerth]

If I should be posting this somewhere else by all means please let me know, but here's an update.

My FC at 1pm, 5pm, and 9pm was 21, 21.5, and 19.5 respectively. Each time I added in the recommended amount of chlorine to get me from my current measured level to the recommended 24. At this point should I just measure one more time before bed and then first thing in the morning for my OCLT, or do I need to continue the process longer (i.e. adding again tonight)?

Thanks!

 

[Casey]

Add tonight. Wait a half hour and test to see where you are and then test in the morning before the sun hits the pool. (I used to go out and dip a glass of water out of the pool and take it to the kitchen. )

 

[puckerth]

Just checked it again and FC is 30. How did it get so high between the last read and now when all I added was what it said to get to 24? Did I do something wrong you think? Guess I'll just leave it and check first thing to see where it is then.

 

[puckerth]

Add tonight. Wait a half hour and test to see where you are and then test in the morning before the sun hits the pool. (I used to go out and dip a glass of water out of the pool and take it to the kitchen. )

Oh, and thanks btw.