Questions about my pool lvls

[dnor28]

Ok so I have not have one problem in the 2 months I have had my pool installed. I go out today as a normal day and test my lvls and this is what I got.

Chlorine - 2ppm
CYA - 20 (checked this past weekend and it was at 40)
TA - 170(checked it 3 days ago and it was at 130 and I did not add anything)
PH - 7.6(checked it 3 days ago and it was 7.2 and did not add anything)

Can someone tell me why the alk and ph would raise like that? Sorry, I am still all new to this and still trying to learn. My cya was a shocker to me too lowering like that so quickly. I didn't do anything different than I do at any other time. I haven't had to add any baking soda or borax for 2 weeks now cause they have remained around 130 and 7.2. No rain lately, just sunny sunny and around 75 to 85 this week. I have kept the Chlorine at around 3ppm cause my cya is usually around 40. I did vacuum a couple of days ago cause there was some wind that blew some crud into the pool and was sitting on the bottom of the pool and I will be brushing the sides tomorrow when I can get in it. Water is crystal clear and I run the filter every day for at least 6 to 8 hours. I did add a puck to the skimmer basket cause I don't have any stabilizer other than that at this moment. I used it for my chlorine this time instead of bleach cause I didn't want to raise it too high. Should I be concerned and watch out for something like algea and should I add anything to lower the alk and ph or just keep checking and if it goes any higher add something at that time? I work till 10pm tonight so I won't get to check the levels again till tomorrow morning before we go swimming cause I am off tomorrow and it is the first day of summer for the kids since they are out of school as of today.

I also have another question that is very puzzling to me. My youngest daughter has terrible allergies. She has always swam in pools before but when she got into ours last weekend, she broke out in huge red welps all over her body. I told her to get out of the pool immediately and take a bath. She has never ever done that in all her 9 years. Could this be a problem with the bleach, maybe she is allergic to it? And if so, what would be a good alternative to chlorine? I hope this is not what is happening cause this is so much cheaper on my wallet. Has anyone else ever had this same problem?

 

[duraleigh]

Ok so I have not have one problem in the 2 months I have had my pool installed. I go out today as a normal day and test my lvls and this is what I got.

Chlorine - 2ppm
CYA - 20 (checked this past weekend and it was at 40)
TA - 170(checked it 3 days ago and it was at 130 and I did not add anything)
PH - 7.6(checked it 3 days ago and it was 7.2 and did not add anything)

Can someone tell me why the alk and ph would raise like that? Sorry, I am still all new to this and still trying to learn. My cya was a shocker to me too lowering like that so quickly. I didn't do anything different than I do at any other time. I haven't had to add any baking soda or borax for 2 weeks now cause they have remained around 130 and 7.2. No rain lately, just sunny sunny and around 75 to 85 this week. I have kept the Chlorine at around 3ppm cause my cya is usually around 40. I did vacuum a couple of days ago cause there was some wind that blew some crud into the pool and was sitting on the bottom of the pool and I will be brushing the sides tomorrow when I can get in it. Water is crystal clear and I run the filter every day for at least 6 to 8 hours. I did add a puck to the skimmer basket cause I don't have any stabilizer other than that at this moment. I used it for my chlorine this time instead of bleach cause I didn't want to raise it too high. Should I be concerned and watch out for something like algea and should I add anything to lower the alk and ph or just keep checking and if it goes any higher add something at that time? I work till 10pm tonight so I won't get to check the levels again till tomorrow morning before we go swimming cause I am off tomorrow and it is the first day of summer for the kids since they are out of school as of today.

I also have another question that is very puzzling to me. My youngest daughter has terrible allergies. She has always swam in pools before but when she got into ours last weekend, she broke out in huge red welps all over her body. I told her to get out of the pool immediately and take a bath. She has never ever done that in all her 9 years. Could this be a problem with the bleach, maybe she is allergic to it? And if so, what would be a good alternative to chlorine? I hope this is not what is happening cause this is so much cheaper on my wallet. Has anyone else ever had this same problem?

Hmmm. Let's address the Cl first. I would rather see your Cl in the 3-5ppm range but you're pretty close. How much Cl (ppm) are you losing each day and are you using bleachcalc to calc how much to add? On the subject of chlorine, the other pools your daughter swam in were almost (95%) surely chlorine pools as well. I can't tell you what else to look for but it's doubtful chlorine is the culprit.

Next, your CYA should stay stable the rest of the summer. It is a difficult test to get comfortable with at first and I suspect there's probably a little error in your interpretation of when the black dot disappears. As long as your not losing more than 1-2ppm chlorine each day, I'd give the CYA test another try in a day or so and see if your results don't get more consistent.

Your pH and TA rise is probably the most puzzling. (they rise and fall together for the most part) My pool rises in pH slowly over the Summer but not nearly as quickly as yours did. Your still in an acceptable range, however, so I don't think I'd do much 'til it goes above 7.8

One puck will do little for you. However, if your numbers repeat themselves tomorrow, pucks (more than one) will help you temporarily in several ways.....they'll add Cl, they'll add CYA, and they'll lower your TA and pH. Simply stop using them when your pH (and TA) and CYA return to your target numbers.

Smarter folks than me may have an explanation for the pH rise.

Lastly, I don't think you have any algae issues to deal with.....yet. If you detect any extra slipperiness on the vinyl liner or a deterioration in water clarity, run the FAS/DPD test for CC's. If your results indicate CC's higher than .5ppm, there's a good chance you'll want to shock the pool and head off some pending algae problems.

 

[JohnT]

Chlorine - 2ppm
CYA - 20 (checked this past weekend and it was at 40)
TA - 170(checked it 3 days ago and it was at 130 and I did not add anything)
PH - 7.6(checked it 3 days ago and it was 7.2 and did not add anything)

Can someone tell me why the alk and ph would raise like that?

When your pH goes up, your TA reading will go up as well, so that's pretty well normal. As to your daughter's reaction, I think chlorine allergies are pretty rare. Most of the time what is blamed on chlorine is actually the result of some type of biological contaminant in the water. Can't say for sure and I can't even advise you on how to find out what the cause is. I would recommend that you get a test kit that can measure combined chlorine so you can keep a close eye on your chlorine levels because of your daughter's apparent sensitivity to something.

CYA readings are thrown off by any dirt or haziness in the water, so if the water cleared between the tests, that could be an issue. How are you testing?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I have a friend whose daughter developed a sort of "sun" allergy, she gets those rash/welts at the beginning of the season...but after a few weeks she's fine. Sunscreen doesn't seem to make a difference, she still breaks out. Usually gets the rash in May/early June. Maybe its the sun?

 

[dnor28]

Thanks for the reply's! Ok I have the TF Tester kit. And I was going to do all the testing today on it cause I just got the tester, but right in the middle of me testing, I had gotten a call to come to work early..ugh So I will have to test the other stuff tomorrow morning. For the most part, I try to keep my cl levels between 3ppm to 5ppm. For the last week, I have managed to keep it around 3ppm. One day last week, I added just a little too much bleach and it ended up to 6ppm but it took 2 days for it to drop back down to 3ppm. Is that too much drop at once? I usually don't have to add bleach everyday. For instance. I added about 3 cups of bleach on monday and the cl was roughly 5ppm. The next day I tested and it had dropped to close to 4ppm(probably like 3.8ppm) but this was testing with a walmart kit. The next day it was 2ppm and I added about(roughly) 2 and half cups of bleach and brought it back to around 5ppm. So I am thinking it looses about 1ppm a day, (maybe?). Is this acceptable? But then again, it is not very hot here yet, but very sunny and drought time. We need rain very badly! I do try to add a little at a time on the bleach and wait an hour and measure. If it is not enough I add little more. But I do it in small increaments till I get what I desire. I usually add about 1 to 1 and half cups at a time. Is this the right way of doing it?

As for the measure of the CYA. I may be doing this wrong. What I do is measure just like it says in the instructions. First fill line with pool water, then 2nd fill line with the solution. Shake to mix for 30 seconds, then fill the tube till I cannot see the black dot from the top straight down. Then I get take a reading to the closest line that the water line is to. Is this correct?

As for my daughter, I think you guys are right. I can't see why she has never had a problem with swimming in chlorine pools and then all the sudden now. So I will keep an eye on her and see what happens. Hopefully, it won't happen again *fingers crossed*.

 

[JasonLion]

You are doing just fine with the chlorine levels and bleach additions. Everything you describe is normal.

Don't be surprised if the chlorine demand changes over time. How much sun you get and how many people are swiming can dramatically affect how much chlorine you use.

 

[dnor28]

I have a friend whose daughter developed a sort of "sun" allergy, she gets those rash/welts at the beginning of the season...but after a few weeks she's fine. Sunscreen doesn't seem to make a difference, she still breaks out. Usually gets the rash in May/early June. Maybe its the sun?

Oh wow...I never thought of that. Thank you for that info! My daughter had to have allergy shots for the longest time cause she is absolutely allergic to everything known...lol But she is slowly but surely growing out of some of it. But some comes and goes, like she can eat a strawberry no problems for months and then one day it will break her out something terrible. So we monitor everything. Poor kid, can't even enjoy anything without me standing over her for hours...lol But again, thank you for that info and I will watch and see how this goes. Oh and another thing you just made me remember, I had put sun screen on her that day, wonder if that might have been it...never done it before but with this kid, we never know

 

[dnor28]

You are doing just fine with the chlorine levels and bleach additions. Everything you describe is normal.

Don't be surprised if the chlorine demand changes over time. How much sun you get and how many people are swiming can dramatically affect how much chlorine you use.

Thank you so much Jason! I was so scared that I might have done something wrong and might have another algea breakout. I hated when that happened and I learned a great deal from it. I watch my pool like I do my kids...haha My kids are probably wishing I would quit standing over the top of them and do that to the pool instead :lol:

 

[chem geek]

It is true that pH and TA go up and down together, but a pH move from 7.2 to 7.6 would normally only see a TA rise of around 10-12 ppm. It is very unusual to see the TA rise as much as you are seeing. If you had added a pH Up product (sodium carbonate / soda ash / washing soda), then that could make the TA go up by about 20 ppm for that pH rise. So there's a bit of a mystery here, but I wouldn't worry about it unless the trend continues with future tests.

Your addition of the puck in the feeder to increase CYA and add chlorine will tend to either have the pH drop (with no change in TA) or it will slow down whatever is making the pH and TA rise. Once you switch back to bleach or chlorinating liquid, you should find your pH to be more stable (hopefully). If it's not and the tendency is for it to rise, then that can be dealt with by lowering the TA, but see what happens first -- always deal with one problem at a time. I suspect your CYA is somewhere in the 30 ppm range so that's OK. Assuming your pool is 52" deep and has a diameter of 27 feet, then that's about 18,600 gallons and one 8-ounce 3" Trichlor tablet will only increase the FC by 3 ppm and the CYA by 2 ppm (so not really measurable). You're doing fine. Just enjoy the pool for a while and see if the testing gets more consistent. Try and keep the FC level at 3 ppm or more so it'll need to start out higher to account for loss during the day.

 

[dnor28]

It is true that pH and TA go up and down together, but a pH move from 7.2 to 7.6 would normally only see a TA rise of around 10-12 ppm. It is very unusual to see the TA rise as much as you are seeing. If you had added a pH Up product (sodium carbonate / soda ash / washing soda), then that could make the TA go up by about 20 ppm for that pH rise. So there's a bit of a mystery here, but I wouldn't worry about it unless the trend continues with future tests.

Your addition of the puck in the feeder to increase CYA and add chlorine will tend to either have the pH drop (with no change in TA) or it will slow down whatever is making the pH and TA rise. Once you switch back to bleach or chlorinating liquid, you should find your pH to be more stable (hopefully). If it's not and the tendency is for it to rise, then that can be dealt with by lowering the TA, but see what happens first -- always deal with one problem at a time. I suspect your CYA is somewhere in the 30 ppm range so that's OK. Assuming your pool is 52" deep and has a diameter of 27 feet, then that's about 18,600 gallons and one 8-ounce 3" Trichlor tablet will only increase the FC by 3 ppm and the CYA by 2 ppm (so not really measurable). You're doing fine. Just enjoy the pool for a while and see if the testing gets more consistent. Try and keep the FC level at 3 ppm or more so it'll need to start out higher to account for loss during the day.

Thanks chem geek! I will keep a watch on it today. I will post later on what my water lvls are today cause I just got back from the dr's office and about to go out and enjoy the pool but also do the normal maint on it too. I am hoping that it hasn't changed and it is just nothing really at all. I have had so much stress from work here lately, and I don't want to add pool stress to it too. Just want to enjoy it to take all that work stress away

 

[dnor28]

Here are my pool lvls today:

FC - 5ppm
TC - 5ppm
CC - 0
TA - 160
PH - 7.2
CYA - 20

The alk came down some and so did PH but I was expecting that with using the pucks. I ended up using 3 pucks to see what would happen. I was hoping that my CYA would come up just a little more. CYA is still looking like it is at 20 but like chem geek said, it could actually be 30. Although, when I measured it it was just a smidge away from the 20 line and is why I say 20. Should I add any stabilizer? And should I still be concerned with the alk? Oh and almost forgot, my pool is a 27ft round 52 inches deep.

On another note, my daughter did not break out this time in the pool, so I am gonna chalk this one up to a possible allergic reaction to the sunblock.

 

[duraleigh]

Here are my pool lvls today:

FC - 5ppm
TC - 5ppm
CC - 0
TA - 160
PH - 7.2
CYA - 20

The alk came down some and so did PH but I was expecting that with using the pucks. I ended up using 3 pucks to see what would happen. I was hoping that my CYA would come up just a little more. CYA is still looking like it is at 20 but like chem geek said, it could actually be 30. Although, when I measured it it was just a smidge away from the 20 line and is why I say 20. Should I add any stabilizer? And should I still be concerned with the alk? Oh and almost forgot, my pool is a 27ft round 52 inches deep.

On another note, my daughter did not break out this time in the pool, so I am gonna chalk this one up to a possible allergic reaction to the sunblock.

A little more stabilizer (CYA) wouldn't hurt and will slow your chlorine loss but I wouldn't be in a big hurry to add it. Your numbers are really pretty good. I think I'd retest in a couple of days (but test your chlorine and pH daily with the test block) and determine any trend for pH rise and chlorine loss.

If your chlorine loss exceeds 2ppm per 24 hours over the next few days, then I'd add enough CYA to bring that test up to about 40ppm.....that should hold your chlorine loss down to about 1-2ppm daily....about as good as it gets. If the loss is 2ppm or less, leave the CYA right where it is.

If your pH starts back up, you could throw another few pucks in there to control it.

After you get the pH and CYA where you get a good handle on it, test again for Alk. If it's still above 130 or so, take it down with the aeration methods describe elsewhere.

 

[dnor28]

A little more stabilizer (CYA) wouldn't hurt and will slow your chlorine loss but I wouldn't be in a big hurry to add it. Your numbers are really pretty good. I think I'd retest in a couple of days (but test your chlorine and pH daily with the test block) and determine any trend for pH rise and chlorine loss.

If your chlorine loss exceeds 2ppm per 24 hours over the next few days, then I'd add enough CYA to bring that test up to about 40ppm.....that should hold your chlorine loss down to about 1-2ppm daily....about as good as it gets. If the loss is 2ppm or less, leave the CYA right where it is.

If your pH starts back up, you could throw another few pucks in there to control it.

After you get the pH and CYA where you get a good handle on it, test again for Alk. If it's still above 130 or so, take it down with the aeration methods describe elsewhere.

Thanks for the reply Dave! Ok what I will do is watch it for the next 3 days and then come back and post on how it is testing over those 3 days. I am feeling confident that I probably have nothing to worry about: You guys are so good and I love this forum!!!!! And thank you so much everyone that has been posting to my questions! You guys have made a newbie feel like she can do this with all the help I get here!