Need advices on balancing my water

[derrickng87]

This is the test result on 9/13/2013
FC: 5
Salt: 2500
CYA: 15
TA: 130
pH: 8.0

I added 10 oz of dry acid to lower my TA and pH. Added 16 lbs of salt too because i wanted it to be at 3000. Also added 3 qt 15 fl oz of instant pool water conditioner from leslie's to raise CYA. I tested it again today and here are the results:

FC: 5
Salt: 3300
CYA: 20
TA: 200
pH: 8.0

My added dry acid yesterday to lower my TA and pH but it went up even more...so I am confused . I guess I added to much salt so I just put some more fresh water in to offset it. I went ahead and added another 10 oz of dry acid today hoping it will go down tomorrow. Did I do something wrong? my water is looking fine and I hope it stay that way when I go outside tomorrow :lol: .

 

[linen]

What are you using for a test kit?

 

[pwrstrk]

Your CYA level needs to be 70-80 for your SWG.

Look at this to lower your TA pool-school/lowering%20total%20alkalinity. A lower TA will slow your PH from raising quickly. What's the TA of your fill water?

 

[derrickng87]

I used the tf-100 kit

Edit: I haven't bother to test the TA of my filling water. Only got the test kit yesterday.

 

[linen]

Are you certain you used dry acid and didn't accidentally use borax (or Baking soda or Washing soda)?

Did you add any water to the pool?

 

[pwrstrk]

Test your fill water TA.

 

[derrickng87]

yes I used dry acid. I bought that at leslie's. I added water in today after the second test to offset the salt level.

 

[linen]

How much water did you add? What is your fill water TA and ph?

 

[derrickng87]

Test your fill water TA.

will do in the morning. It's dark out right now and I don't want to battle with bugs and mosquitoes :lol:

 

[derrickng87]

How much water did you add? What is your fill water TA and ph?

I am not sure how much water I added. I just used garden hose and stood there for 10 minutes . I will do those tests tomorrow and report back. I didn't know that you need to test the fill water first before messing with the pool water. I am very new at this so I went to Leslie's when I first filled up the water. I brought a sample of my garden hose water with me but they told me I have to shock the water first with Chlor Brite Granular Chlorine bag that they sell. I did that and added salt in and went back to them with the water to test it. They told me I shouldn't have shock the water since I am using the saltwater system and that is why my pH is high and too much chlorine. I told them it was them who told me to shock the water and walked out. Glad I found this site and found out about TF-100 kit so I can test it myself instead of relying on them.

 

[linen]

Some fill water can be very high in TA, especially private well water. My well water is usually above 300 ppm TA with a high ph as well.

 

[derrickng87]

my fill water pH is 8.1 and TA is 98

 

[linen]

How do you get a ta of 98 with the tf-100?

 

[derrickng87]

How do you get a ta of 98 with the tf-100?

oops I mistyped that. It's 90 . Didn't have much time yesterday to sit down and type so I just typed it real quick and went outside to do yard work and cleaning my pool.

 

[derrickng87]

This is my newest test:

FC: 5
Salt: 3200
CYA: 50
TA: 100
pH: 7.4

Would it be a good idea to mess with the water and try to bring CYA up? or should I just leave it be? Also should I let the filter and saltwater system run at night or in the morning (does it matter at all)?

 

[Jeetyet]

With a SWG pool, its usually recommended that you bring your CYA level to around 70ppm and target a FC level of 5 and never let it fall below 3. I'm no expert on SWG's but I don't think it would make any difference whether you're running the pump and SWG at night or in the daytime as long as you can maintain those levels of FC. I believe however that it is also recommended that you split your pump run time into 2 equal sessions per day in order to help with skimming debris off the surface of the pool, so you may want to factor that in when making your decision.

 

[derrickng87]

any stabilizer you recommend? I got my first liquid conditioner at leslie's and those are so expensive....$36 I think.

 

[Jeetyet]

I've seen several endorsements for the granular HTH brand at WalMart. Just make sure you get the one thats full strength. I think I saw it mentioned that they also carry one thats only about 50% CYA, but only slightly cheaper. Otherwise, as long its near 100% CYA and not some "magic blend" of various chemicals let price be your guide. As you've seen the liquid is rather expensive so stay with granular.

 

[derrickng87]

cool thank for the advices everyone