Hi all, I posted a few months ago about the plaster in the pool that I just bought (dark-streaks-in-color-plaster-pool-t58183.html). But now that I have finally moved in, I can test the water and swim in it as well! I've never owned a pool so everything is new to me. I'd like to stabilize the pool using the BBB method and then figure out the plaster issue. Anyhow, here's my story and some questions I'd like to ask.
The first week I got into the house, I just did a basic test of the pool and the FC was 5 and PH was 7.8. The water was clear and everything looked good. Then I ran into the issue of the water falling below the skimmer opening. For 3 days, I was wondering why my pump was not working correctly. I called a local pool company to see if they can come out and take a look and they said in two days. Ok, but in the mean time I keep trying to troubleshoot. I didn't realized I was getting air into the system until I heard the suction of air through the skimmer. In any case, I filled the pool up to the halfway mark of the skimmer opening and the pump ran happily. Of course the very next day our area had a torrential downpour and pushed the water level ABOVE the skimmer opening. I guess I should always check the weather when my water level gets low. In any case, two days after the rain, I broke out the full TFT-100 test kit and got the following results:
FC - 1.5
CC - 0.5
TA - 130
CH - 220
CYA - 70
Now, at first I found a box of dichlor and cal-hypo. I was tempted to use them to bring up my FC. However, spending the few minutes on the forum using the search function, I found the pitfalls of using those products. As my CYA is already on the high end, I don't want to push it up any further. And since from one of the chart i've read that I need to bring my FC up to a target of 8, I didn't want to add those other chem that'll mess with the other values. So I drove to my local Target and got a few gallon of liquid bleach 8.25%. The pool calc told me I would need 2.21 gallons. Down they go the skimmer. Day after, tested again and saw my FC went up to 8.5. So it looks like I was able to bring up my FC relatively easy. However, my CC went down to 0.
Ok, so here are my questions:
1) How come CC went down to 0? What is the effect of having CC being 0?
2) I keep reading to reduce CYA, you need to drain and refill? Is it because CYA will always reside in the water and won't dissipate?
3) The bleach I purchased said 8.25% sodium hypochloride and below that it said 7.xx% (can't remember the exact value) chlorine. I'm assuming for the pool calculator, we will enter in the sodium hypo value? What's with the chlorine value?
4) What if I had my FC level to drop to that low level for a few days? Is it safe after I increase FC and maintain a few days?
5) How does the chemistry for my pool look?
6) How often should I do a complete test? Once a week? Once every two week? I know i'll probably be doing the Chlorine/PH test on a two day cycle if everything is stable.
7) Near the center of the picture, between the motor and the top white pipe, there's a metal spacer/gasket. There's a small leak while the motor is running. Is that ok? Or should it be completely sealed?
Thanks in advance for any answers. And looking forward to learn more!
The first week I got into the house, I just did a basic test of the pool and the FC was 5 and PH was 7.8. The water was clear and everything looked good. Then I ran into the issue of the water falling below the skimmer opening. For 3 days, I was wondering why my pump was not working correctly. I called a local pool company to see if they can come out and take a look and they said in two days. Ok, but in the mean time I keep trying to troubleshoot. I didn't realized I was getting air into the system until I heard the suction of air through the skimmer. In any case, I filled the pool up to the halfway mark of the skimmer opening and the pump ran happily. Of course the very next day our area had a torrential downpour and pushed the water level ABOVE the skimmer opening. I guess I should always check the weather when my water level gets low. In any case, two days after the rain, I broke out the full TFT-100 test kit and got the following results:
FC - 1.5
CC - 0.5
TA - 130
CH - 220
CYA - 70
Now, at first I found a box of dichlor and cal-hypo. I was tempted to use them to bring up my FC. However, spending the few minutes on the forum using the search function, I found the pitfalls of using those products. As my CYA is already on the high end, I don't want to push it up any further. And since from one of the chart i've read that I need to bring my FC up to a target of 8, I didn't want to add those other chem that'll mess with the other values. So I drove to my local Target and got a few gallon of liquid bleach 8.25%. The pool calc told me I would need 2.21 gallons. Down they go the skimmer. Day after, tested again and saw my FC went up to 8.5. So it looks like I was able to bring up my FC relatively easy. However, my CC went down to 0.
Ok, so here are my questions:
1) How come CC went down to 0? What is the effect of having CC being 0?
2) I keep reading to reduce CYA, you need to drain and refill? Is it because CYA will always reside in the water and won't dissipate?
3) The bleach I purchased said 8.25% sodium hypochloride and below that it said 7.xx% (can't remember the exact value) chlorine. I'm assuming for the pool calculator, we will enter in the sodium hypo value? What's with the chlorine value?
4) What if I had my FC level to drop to that low level for a few days? Is it safe after I increase FC and maintain a few days?
5) How does the chemistry for my pool look?
6) How often should I do a complete test? Once a week? Once every two week? I know i'll probably be doing the Chlorine/PH test on a two day cycle if everything is stable.
7) Near the center of the picture, between the motor and the top white pipe, there's a metal spacer/gasket. There's a small leak while the motor is running. Is that ok? Or should it be completely sealed?
Thanks in advance for any answers. And looking forward to learn more!