Hi and many thanks :)

[CuzManJ]

FC 17
CC 0
TA 75
PH 7.0
CYA 100
CH 130
Just dropping in to say hi. This is a great site. Last weekend I started and turned my green pool to clean blue using your shock method using 8.5% bleach. I also did one minor drain & refill + one huge one to my cya where it currently sits, still high but manageable. I've read thru the pool school but would like some direction on where to go now with my current levels. I'm thinking of adding salt eventually for feel soon.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Well, the PH is a tad low - considering the FC level. Did you pass the Overnight Free Chlorine Loss Test?
("clean" blue or "clear" blue - just wondering what it looks like now....)

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

Your CYA could be 100. It could also be higher than 100 since that is as high as the test will read. You really do need to do a little draining and refilling to get it down. We recommend 30 to 50 ppm CYA for pool without salt systems. I would also caution you that with FC levels > 10, pH readings tend to read falsely high. THe fact that yours already reads below 7.2 tells me that it may be much lower than that. Too low of a pH can cause erosion of metal surfaces.

 

[CuzManJ]

It's clear blue now. I tested twice once the normal and second time the cya using 1:1 dilution and multiply the reading by 2. I drained it already 1st time till the skimmer was empty and the second till there was about 2 feet left in the shallow end. It was reading about 160 before the last drain. Will a FC level 8-10 work ? I understand the recommend cya levels.

 

[Richard320]

I'll quote something I posted the other day

It CAN be maintained with astronomical CYA, but it is not easy, nor would I recommend it. Just for starters, the pH test will always be iffy, because the FC level has to be kept so high. And the color block quick test for FC is useless. The only way to test FC is the FAS-DPD test every day.

By watering my lawn with pool water then refilling, and capturing rainwater from the gutter downspouts I was finally able to get CYA down to 40ish in about a year. It's much easier to maintain with low CYA. I can eyeball the OTO test and know if I need to add bleach or not, the pH test is accurate, and I have enough breathing room on the CYA that I can use pucks when I leave town.

 

[CuzManJ]

Ok, I'm going to start weekly draining (gravity) of the pool till no more comes out thru the skimmer. About how cycles should that take? How soon after refilling should I test the cya?

 

[Richard320]

Ok, I'm going to start weekly draining (gravity) of the pool till no more comes out thru the skimmer. About how cycles should that take? How soon after refilling should I test the cya?

Figure out what your average depth is first. Mine happens to be 60", so I'll use that for my example.

Each time I drain 3", that's 5%. If CYA is 100, after draining 3" and refilling, it will be 95.

The next time 3" gets drained, it's 5% of 95.. 4.75. Close enough to 5. Call CYA 90 now.

But as it goes on, it starts to diminish. 95, 90.25, 85.74, 81.45, 77.38, 73.51, 69.83, 66.35...and so on. As you can see, the difference is so slight it may not show up on the testing!

Your numbers will be different. Maybe each time you lose 10%, which will speed it up. If it's only 3% each drain, it may take six cycles to get a real change in the appearance in the view tube! If you're not under water restrictions, bigger drains each time will waste less water and speed it up.

 

[CuzManJ]

Thanks, I did another major drain to 2 ft left in shallow end on Friday am. I also added 3.5lbs of baking soda which was half of what the pool calucator called for. Just re-tested Sunday night.
FC 3.3
CC .4
TA 90
PH 7.4
CYA 60

 

[Richard320]

Thanks, I did another major drain to 2 ft left in shallow end on Friday am. I also added 3.5lbs of baking soda which was half of what the pool calucator called for. Just re-tested Sunday night.
FC 3.3
CC .4
TA 90
PH 7.4
CYA 60

Get that FC up and start swimming!

 

[JohnN]

How did you get FC of 3.3? The K-2006 only measures in .2 or .5 increments. For the future, you should use the 10 mL sample, because you don't need the extra accuracy.

 

[CuzManJ]

Proably just a typo from using my phone. I was wondering which to use I was just bouncing back and forth between the two. Thanks for the tip.