What should my numbers be

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C

Countrygirl

0
May 18, 2008
43
Maryland
First I want to thank everyone and the BBB method for helping me out this open season. I have been reading this forum all winter so I was prepaired 2 weeks ago when I opened up my pool to find a green swamp. With your help and a heck of a lot of Bleach I have gotten rid of the alge. The chlorine count has stayed the same for several days in a row, now I am letting it drop to below shock levels. I am using the Pool Calculator and would like your advise on what my target figures should be so I can make a final adjustment. I do still have some cloudy water but I am using a knee high in my skimmer basket and it is helping the filter clean the water, its getting clearer...slowley. Here are my numbers:

PH 7.7
Alk. 110 ppm
Calc. Hardness 70 ppm
Total Solids 700ppm
CYA 35 ppm
Free Chlorine 3.4 ppm
Total Chlorine 3.6 ppm
Combined .2 ppm

I have an AGP 23,000 Gal. Vinyl liner using liq. chlorine Bleach
 
Welcome to TFP!

That looks pretty good.

I would lower PH a little to 7.4 or so.

CYA could come up just a hair, or you can wait on that till it gets lower (which will happen slowly over time).

It is best to keep FC a little higher. 3.4 is fine, but I like to have a little more margin to play with in case something uses up a bunch of chlorine, so 4 or 4.5.

Those are all minor tweaks, I don't see any significant issues.
 
Thank you both for your quick help. I will make the adjustments as you suggest. With regards to the CYA, last week it was 50 ppm so I was surprised when it went down to 35 (both tests were done by the PS). Anyway, I will waite until I receive the TF test kit to double check it along with the other numbers. If it is still low I will use up some of my pucks and monitor the rate of increase. BTW the PS tried to sell me 20lb. Calcium, they said that is why my water is still cloudy along with the fact that I needed to replace the sand in my filter (which may be true). When I told her that a vinyl pool does not need high levels of Calcium she became upset. I spent over $80 at that store last year when I opened up the pool and it was not green. This year I only spent $17.00 for bleach, you can bet they won't see me again.
 
Low calcium doesn't cause cloudy water, though high calcium sometimes does.

There are two schools of thought on replacing sand. One group says to replace the sand every five years or so. The other group says that as long is it isn't to badly clumped up you can keep sand forever. Either way it is good to open the filter up, check on the condition of the sand, clean any debris out, and resettle the sand every two or three years.
 
This will be my 5th season so I guess it is about time to take a look and replace the sand. Since I am probably banned from the PS do you think I can buy the sand at Lowes? I did take a before picture but the weather was so cloudy it did not show up very well, I will try to send it along with an updated pic when I get it filterd out a bit more (the knee high is working pretty well). Thanks again for your help, could not have done it with out this Forum.
 
It is pretty easy to open up your filter and inspect the sand bed. If the top surface breaks up pretty easily and you can clean off the top gunk (if any) and find good sand underneath, I see no reason to replace it.

Inspecting, surface cleaning and resmoothing is pretty easy....replacing your entire sand bed is a major event...........usually done unneccessarily.
 
Well I pulled the owners manual for my Hayward filter and read that the filter will first pick up large particles then when it becomes fuller it will start to pick up smaller particles and that I should backwash when the PSI goes up 8-10 PSI higher than the initial clean pressure. I have been backwashing when the PSI increases by only 3-4 PSI. This could be why its not getting the small stuff. I think that before I open it up I will try letting it run up to the higher PSI. I noticed that there is an O ring on the filter head, I'd rather not take it apart with out a spare one on hand. Does the higher PSI sound correct?
 

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Does the higher PSI sound correct?
Click to expand...

Hmmm. I have always thought it makes a little more sense to backwash when a certain percentage of your clean filter pressure is exceeded.

For example, if your normal clean psi is 20 and you decide a 50% increase is when you backwash...that's 30.

However, if 10psi is your nomal clean psi and you still decide 50% is the mark, then 15 will be when you backwash.

That's probably overthinking the issue a little bit but it seems to give you a better feel for your own system. That said 8-10 psi will fall into the 50% increase in most pools and so that probably works fine as well.

That O-ring normally stays in pretty good shape over the years but I agree it would be prudent to have another on hand before disassembly......good thinking! :lol:
 
Dave, your 50% rule is right in line with what the book says. Mine runs at about 18 PSI when clean and so if I back wash at a 10 PSI increase then I am close to your 50% rule. I guess I have not allowed my filter to work at its full capacity. I'm looking forward to cleaner water and less backwash time this year!

With regards to the O ring. I think Murphys Law is stamped on my forehead, I have learned the hard way.

Thanks for your input.
 
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