High CH

[Bg2022]

I have been in the process of installing the intellitouch system along with the intellichlor and intelliph. After getting everything installed, I started the pump and SWG to make sure everything turned on. The SWG then showed that the salt content of the water was good, which struck me as odd as I had yet to add salt to the pool. I shut everything down and tested my water. Here are the results I came up with using my testing kit:

Chlorine: 4.5
PH: 7.4
TA: 125
CH: 1500

I did not have any salt water test strips with me last night, so I took my water to Leslie's to get tested. The numbers they came up with ran pretty well with what I got. Their results for the things I didnt test with my kit are as follows:

Salt: 2500 PPM
Phosphates: 2500
CH: 1000+ (he stopped at 1000)

In prior seasons we have used bleach to treat our pool. The PH in our pool has a tendency to rise (8+ is not monitored), so I add liquid acid on a regular basis. My question concerns the calcium and phosphates. Will these high numbers affect my SWG performance? :?: Should I drain some pool water to bring these numbers down or is there another treatment that I should try? We live in West Texas with very hard water and are in the midst of a severe drought. From prior reading on this board, I am guessing my high salt content is due to the use of bleach over the past few years without any rain.

 

[duraleigh]

Phosphates simply don't matter in a properly managed pool

The salt is a bit high but I doubt it is from chlorine. You said you had no salt tests but agreed with Leslies salt readout. I don't understand that.

YOur CH is an issue. What is the CH of your fill water?

 

[JasonLion]

CH at 1000+ is a problem, while the phosphates are not an issue at all. High CH levels tend to lead to calcium scaling, something that becomes almost impossible to avoid when CH goes over 1000. You are especially likely to get scaling inside the SWG cell.

Normally, I recommend replacing as much water as possible to get your CH level down to something more reasonable. Your other option is to explore the possibility of getting a reverse osmosis treatment, available in parts of Texas (and a few other areas). RO treatments lower all of your levels with minimal water replacement.

 

[Bg2022]

Phosphates simply don't matter in a properly managed pool

The salt is a bit high but I doubt it is from chlorine. You said you had no salt tests but agreed with Leslies salt readout. I don't understand that.

YOur CH is an issue. What is the CH of your fill water?

I dont necessarily agree with the salt reading, but I took the water in during my lunch hour. I bought some salt strips and will test the water myself when I get home to confirm the reading.

I need to test my tap water, but from some publications I have read the tap CH will be in the 600 range. I will confirm this reading when I get home this evening.

 

[Bg2022]

My ch coming out of the hose is 625. I checked my salt content and it is showing to be between 3500-4000.

 

[duraleigh]

You will have to control your CH...no doubt. Do you have a whole house water softener? If so, you could start your refills using that. It would require some extra salt to recharge it but it would be worth it.

Are you having any calcium scaling issues now?

I have no idea where your salt came from. I have been using chlorine (as have many thousands of us) for years and my salt is less than 1000 ppm.