New Pool - SWG - BBB Method

[gtr1721]

I am new to the forum and a new pool owner - this site has been outstanding!!! The pool company that was recomended to us completely messed up our pool from day one! I am just now taking matters into my own hands and getting things turned around - we had major scaling when the pool was opened this year - it is a SWG - plaster pool - 28,000g installed last August and they did an acid wash late last season before closing the pool - When they took the cover off first week of May we had heavy scaling all over so I have been brushing like crazy and keeping on top of the PH with acid and areation - with some warmer water temps (72 to 75 currently) I have about 95% of the scaling removed at this point and want to get everything else to fall in line - my Taylor test kit that Chemgeek suggested should be here today - Some questions I need help with:

1. I added some Bleach to help get my FC levels up as they have been low since the start of the season - it worked but I noticed my salt level spiked some the next AM (3200 to 3300) - did adding the bleach have that effect? Do I need to continue adding bleach daily while using the SWG system or just after heavy sun and use certain days?

2. Super Chlorinator - What is the most effective way to utilize that feature? I ran it for several hours for a few days in a row and it seemed to not have any effect in raising my FC levels - I assume my scaling/ PH problem could have contributed?

3. The remote has the Pool Chlorination level set to 80% and the Spa to 6% - are those the correct levels?

4. If my salt level is at 3300 now how long will it take to come down to say 2800 or 3000? I have read in some places that salt levels can be 2000 but not sure how that will effect my SWG system and it's efficency.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks to the contributors for educating me to this point!

 

[dschlic1]

You should check how much your chlorine level drops over night without the SWG or adding bleach. You might have a low level algae infection. If it drops more than 0.5 ppm overnight, you need to shock your pool.
Depending on your SWG, I would say that a salt level of 3200 is not a problem. I have found that changing the pH and adding bleach will change the salt reading on my SWCG. This is really a non-issue. As long as the SWCG does not complain, don't worry about it.

 

[tnthudson]

Hello and welcome!
I'm new to SWG this year (had Baquacil before), but from what I've been told here, don't waste your time with the super chlorinator unless you're trying to get the pool ready for a party or something...adding bleach to shock is a better route, and leave the SWG wherever you find the good balance for keeping FC where you want it.
Also, your SWG may have a light that alerts you when it's low...also, you can get Salt Test Strips to measure the salt manually.

 

[Guest]

IF you post a full set of test results it would help us make recommendations for you. What SWG do you have and what is your CYA level? Aslo, what kind of filter do you have, sand, DE or cartridge? The output percentage should be adjusted to maintain 3-5 ppm FC in your pool and 4-6 ppm in the spa. Only testing can determine this. Unless you have a very small SWG then 80% output sounds way too high in a pool your size unless you don't have CYA at the proper level in your water and this will contribute to pH rise and scaling. Don't worry about the salt level. It is actually better to run it slightly high than low. You might want to ready the sticky on water balance for SWGs. The link to the sticky is in my signature.