Question about Winter Pool Care in Texas.

[Cypress3]

My pool is one year old and I have been using the BBB method for the last four months with great results. At the beginning of October I went on holiday and reverted to pucks in my automatic feeder. I now can't get them out, but I am enjoying not having to add bleach every day and acid every three or four days. My question is can I continue with pucks for the winter and revert to BBB come Spring when the weather heats up?
I realise CYA will rise and with a cartridge filter I have no backwash, but I do have a tap and hose set up to water my grass and I am on a well so water cost not an issue.

I have the TF-100 test kit.
Test results

CL 8
FC 0
TA 60
Ch 320
Cya 70
Ph 7.6

 

[linen]

I hesitate to say this since what you are suggesting will require vigilance...but if you keep a close eye on it, you can probably get by. You will need to continue to adjust your FC level up as the cya level rises and a some point the puck chlorinator may not be able to keep up, though with the colder weather, you should not have as high of a chlorine demand either. Also, you will need to keep a close eye on your ph and TA...your TA is getting about as low as we suggest (without borate use). Do you have metals or high CH in your well water (I do here)? If you do that may be another reason to not continue to use the pucks.

How often do you use the waterfall? That will also drive up your ph.

 

[Cypress3]

Thanks for the quick reply. My well water is CH 240 with no metals. The waterfall from the spa to the pool always runs when the pump is on, so 10 hours a day. The optional waterfalls from the rocks round my pool I hardly ever run to help keep my ph down. If I continue with the pucks for winter I assume that I will need to add Baking Soda to get my TA higher than it is now.