Going BBB! Fresh fill this weekend and a few Questions...

[quattro1]

Hello all, well I can't begin to tell everyone how glad I am to get off the pool store treadmill! I've been chasing a greenish and/or cloudy pool all summer and when I stumbled across "CYA" last week and performed the test with my Taylor test kit my CYA was at 100!!! Of course this explains why my pool had a bad chlorine habit! Funny the pool store didn't mention CYA when they happily sold me pucks for my feeder...

Approximately 25,000 gallon in ground, pebbletec surface.

Anyway I drained the pool this weekend, a light acid wash and she's refilling as I type. A few questions:

1) I know the first thing to do is test my water to establish a baseline then get my CYA straight. I plan to slowly get the level up over a week or two so I'm around 40 (or, would 50 be better?) I'm in Las Vegas and the pool gets sun from sunrise until around 5:00pm when the house shades the pool.

2) Once the CYA is up does it matter which level I adjust next?. I assume Chlorine then PH, Alkalinity, Calcium one at a time but is the order in which each is adjusted (for those that require adjustment) critical?

3) Due to the price/concentration at the local pool store I plan to use Liquid Chlorine. I understand from reading here on the forum that Liquid Chlorine and common household Bleach are the same thing but, is any compelling reason to use one over the other aside from price? Are there any impurities/additives added to pool store chlorine which should be avoided?

Thanks!

 

[Isaac-1]

Re: Going BBB! Fresh fill this weekend and a few Questions..

Ok, just a few points to make sure you are clear about,

first the CYA test can take up to a week from the time the CYA dissolves before it shows up on the test, so give it some time before adjusting.

second get some chlorine in there right away, you don't want to leave a pool out under sunlight without chlorine or else you risk it turning green

third Welcome, that probably should have been first, but ....

Now down to your specific questions, in a heavy sun area like your in it is probably good to shoot for a CYA level of 50, although you may want to wait on some of the people from your region to chime in. As already mentioned get some chlorine in right away, fine tune later, adjust pH and for Calcium since your region has fairly hard water and lots of evaporation loss I would target the CH on the low end of the accepted range for plaster pools so as to avoid having to drain due to high CH for as long as possible, say a CH of 250 ppm (test your fill water to see what CH your already starting with it may be close already). Price is the main factor when deciding on type of liquid Chlorine / bleach, just remember the higher the concentration the shorter the shelf life, so don't "stock up" when there is a sale and buy from a place that rotates their stock fairly fast, also make sure it is stored (both where you buy it and at home) in a cool place, as the higher the temperature the shorter the shelf life also. (In other words avoid the liquid chlorine in the outdoor garden center at Home Depot or other big box stores that looks like it has been sitting there for years).

Ike

 

[chrysrobyn]

Re: Going BBB! Fresh fill this weekend and a few Questions..

1) I know the first thing to do is test my water to establish a baseline then get my CYA straight. I plan to slowly get the level up over a week or two so I'm around 40 (or, would 50 be better?) I'm in Las Vegas and the pool gets sun from sunrise until around 5:00pm when the house shades the pool.

40 or 50 or 80 is individual preference. You need to have enough that you can maintain a minimum amount of free chlorine between tests, which will be related to the amount of work you're willing to put in. Shoot for 40 and see how comfortable you are with the amount of chlorine you add every day. Go to the pool calculator (http://poolcalculator.com), punch in 0 for now (no need to test), 40 for target, and put that amount of CYA in a sock and put it in front of the hose you're using to fill up, or a skimmer once your pump is flowing (keep it off bottom of your pool).

2) Once the CYA is up does it matter which level I adjust next?. I assume Chlorine then PH, Alkalinity, Calcium one at a time but is the order in which each is adjusted (for those that require adjustment) critical?

Chlorine is what will keep your pool clear, so start with that, even (especially?) as you're waiting the week for CYA to completely dissolve. You can tell how much your CYA has dissolved if you keep track of how much chlorine you add every day. How much you care about alkalinity and calcium depend a little on what kind of pool you have (vinyl / plaster / etc). Liquid chlorine will increase PH a little, so keep that in mind; as you add chlorine, you may have to tune your PH a little.

3) Due to the price/concentration at the local pool store I plan to use Liquid Chlorine. I understand from reading here on the forum that Liquid Chlorine and common household Bleach are the same thing but, is any compelling reason to use one over the other aside from price? Are there any impurities/additives added to pool store chlorine which should be avoided?

It's literally the same stuff down to the impurities and additives. Stick with whatever you're comfortable using, which for most people is lowest price, and that's usually bleach from the grocery store. You might want higher concentrations so you'll have less to add (some people seem to care). Chlorine deteriorates with age, so don't buy more than you'll need for a month or two even if you find a particularly compelling sale.

 

[danacc]

Re: Going BBB! Fresh fill this weekend and a few Questions..

As said before, test your fill water and then adjust chlorine right away. Also get started on CYA, as you mentioned. It will take a while to dissolve. In the meantime, put in chlorine as if the CYA is already all dissolved and at the level you expect that to be. I'd also recommend starting with a target of 40 ppm. You'll likely want at least that much, and it's easier to add more later than to lower it.

Post a full set of test numbers, and I'm sure folks will chime in with next steps.

 

[quattro1]

Re: Going BBB! Fresh fill this weekend and a few Questions..

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I've followed your instructions and added enough Stabilizer to increase CYA to 40ppm. I'll test the level in a week to confirm exactly where I'm at.

I've also added my first round of chlorine (using the Chlorine/CYA chart here on the site and assuming a level of 40ppm CYA) and will begin daily testing with my Taylor kit.

I'll adjust the remaining values one at a time as I get a good handle on the water condition.

The Calculator on this site ROCKS!!! What a fantastic tool to take the guess work out of maintaining a pool!

Also, I've measured the amount of water to fill the pool so I now know the exact volume of water I'm working with so the calculator here in the site will be that much more accurate.

Thanks again for all your advice!

 

[BruceA]

Re: Going BBB! Fresh fill this weekend and a few Questions..

Maybe too late in your case but some things you (or others) should be aware of. CYA test results > 100 are not accurate. I had likely the same or at least similar results/problem before BBB. Drained my pool to 20-30%, refilled and still got CYA = 60 without adding any stabilizer. Unless you drained to empty you might be adding stabilizer when you didn't need to (and have to repeat the cycle!) On that note, I think you probably should have refilled completely, let it circulate nicely, and then retested before adding more.