OK, I had my water tested at Leslie's because I've had trouble keeping my Free Chlorine level up. Jasonlion said my CYA was non existent and that's why the FC wouldn't hold. I added 4 lbs of CYA 4 days ago and have been adding bleach every night but still can't get the FC over .5. By the way, I have a 16,000 gal in ground fiberglass pool with a SWG and chlorinator running at 100% for 4 hours per day. My numbers are as follows: FC: .5 / TC 2 / PH 7.2 / TA 100 / CYA 27 / and here's a new one for me, they said my phosphates were through the roof at 2500! I don't even know what that is or what to do to lower it. They guy at Leslie's also told me that my CYA level is only slightly low and should be holding FC just fine. He said I should use 2 - 3 lbs of non chlorine shock to "free up" the chlorine. Since I don't think those guys know what the heck they're talking about, I thought I'd come back to all of you knowledgable people here at TFP and see what my next move should be. Any ideas???
Water analysis test - HELP!
- Thread starter templehb
- Start date
Are you adding bleach according to the pool calc? And have you adjusted your numbers based on the higher CYA? You need to add more chlorine to reach shock level at 30 (27) than you did at zero.
Shocking with bleach will "free up" your chlorine just as well and much cheaper than the "non-chlorine" shock.
I'm sure someone else will chime in on the phosphates, theres another thread tonight about that too... I can't help with that one.
Edit - you are running your filter for 4 hours or just the SWG?
Shocking with bleach will "free up" your chlorine just as well and much cheaper than the "non-chlorine" shock.
I'm sure someone else will chime in on the phosphates, theres another thread tonight about that too... I can't help with that one.
Edit - you are running your filter for 4 hours or just the SWG?
Temple,
Your CYA should be 60-80ppm with an SWG.
The presence of CC's in your test results indicate the need to shock your pool. Before adding additional CYA, bring your FC (with bleach) up to 15ppm and HOLD IT THERE UNTIL......
A. You hold FC loss to 1.0 or less overnite
B. Your CC's test .5 or less
C. Your water is sparkling
Then, increase your CYA per the recommended level and run your FC around 3-5ppm
Your CYA should be 60-80ppm with an SWG.
The presence of CC's in your test results indicate the need to shock your pool. Before adding additional CYA, bring your FC (with bleach) up to 15ppm and HOLD IT THERE UNTIL......
A. You hold FC loss to 1.0 or less overnite
B. Your CC's test .5 or less
C. Your water is sparkling
Then, increase your CYA per the recommended level and run your FC around 3-5ppm
I just did some research online and read that because my phosphates are so high, it will bind up my free chlorine. Does anyone know of a phosphate eliminator??
After doing more research, it looks like there are some liquid phosphate eliminators and there is also a mineral sanitizer that hooks up to the pool plumbing and has a cartridge that eliminates the phosphates. Anybody know anything about either of these?
temple,
I am suggesting you disregard phosphates and shock your pool. Phosphates are very unlikely to be your issue.
I am suggesting you disregard phosphates and shock your pool. Phosphates are very unlikely to be your issue.
FYI - even at 100% output on your swg, a run time of only 4 hours on may not be not enough to maintain your FC which is probably why it got so low in the first place.
After you are done shocking, try running your swg for 8 hours after dark at 100% and then adjust the output or runtime to maintain your FC.
After you are done shocking, try running your swg for 8 hours after dark at 100% and then adjust the output or runtime to maintain your FC.
get your CYA up to about 70-80 ppm, shock the pool with bleach to about 20 ppm and then see if you FC starts holding.. I have a feeling it will and you won't be needing to run your SWG at 100%. BTW which SWG do you have?
waterbear said:
I agree it shouldn't take 100% unless it's undersized for the pool, which is unlikely at 16,000 gallons. I think it would be better to add too much for a couple days after shocking while he adjusts the run time and output than to have too little. Cutting back is much easier than having to shock again and 4 hours a day at 100% doesn't seem to have been doing the job.
I added a ton of bleach to the pool last night to bring the FC level up and this morning I wake up and the pool is green. That's not from algae, it means the stain is coming back again. That's what always happens when I add a bunch of chlorine. My chlorinator is a Jandy AquaPure 1400. It's plenty big enough to chlorinate our pool. I still think I'm missing something.
This was that other thread about phosphates this week.
Did you read this?
http://www.troublefreepool.com/viewtopi ... phosphates
"The stain is coming back again" ??? is this a different thread? I'm missing something do you have metals?
Did you read this?
http://www.troublefreepool.com/viewtopi ... phosphates
"The stain is coming back again" ??? is this a different thread? I'm missing something do you have metals?
Okay, I read your other posts....yes, I was missing a bit of info.
On a related note, your earlier post about mineral sanitizers - DON'T you will be adding metals to your pool and it won't help anyway.
On the ealier threads about stains, you were advised about metal sequesterants. Have you dosed your pool recently, with 'metal free' or something similar? You obvisouly have followed all the advise about lowering ph etc., and you are trying to shock to drop the CC's but I didn't see anywhere if you added the sequesterants?
Did Leslies test for Iron or Copper? Or just Phosphates?
On a related note, your earlier post about mineral sanitizers - DON'T you will be adding metals to your pool and it won't help anyway.
On the ealier threads about stains, you were advised about metal sequesterants. Have you dosed your pool recently, with 'metal free' or something similar? You obvisouly have followed all the advise about lowering ph etc., and you are trying to shock to drop the CC's but I didn't see anywhere if you added the sequesterants?
Did Leslies test for Iron or Copper? Or just Phosphates?
That was a different thread poolmom, I'm sorry. This all started when I treated my fiberglass pool with ascorbic acid to get rid of the stain. I had to bring my chlorine levels down to 0 and can't get them back up. The pool store test says I don't show a big metal problem, but I still treat with a sequestrant a couple times a week. The pool stain always comes back as soon as I treat with a bunch of bleach. Thanks for the thread on phosphates. Because I have a fiberglass pool, I never really have algae. Up until this morning, my pool looked awesome, it was just that the FC level was low.
If your pool turns green and it's not algae, you most likely have metal content in your water.
If you mentioned that you've already had this experience, I think we all missed it.
After I add my ascorbic acid I also add metal free and add it as well 1 - 2 x a week. But the stain only stays gone for a month at a time. Then I spend a bunch of time getting the chlorine level up, only to drop it down to add the acid. It's a never ending cycle and it's killing me!
Stupid pool store was out of the metal test stuff. Figures, huh? But in the past they said that metals were low in the test.
My copper level was low on the pool store test last year. My dog's white hair still turned a pale green....my blonde son's hair turned green....
A pool store employee once told me "not to worry about that" when I asked about a CYA test and why they didn't perform it.
A pool store employee once told me "not to worry about that" when I asked about a CYA test and why they didn't perform it.