Added CYA for the first time today--testing questions

[Girlskout]

Hi, all.

Continuing to appreciate this forum and all the helpful people on it!

So, I was advised by someone on this forum to test extra often and add extra chlorine while I waited for the CYA to be delivered. Have been doing that (although I totally forgot to test + add it last night), and last time I added chlorine, I added all I had left (didn't want to use regular household Clorox once I read that there were things in it my pool might not like). Logs are shared for your perusal.

This morning, I tested the FC and the pH, assuming that the only way to change my initial (zero) CYA test was to add CYA, so I didn't do the "full test."
I just this morning added 32oz of 12% bleach, and just now added the 1.5 lbs of dry CYA recommended in the "effects of adding" calculator in pool math, in order to raise my CYA by/to 40 from 0.

I know that it will take a few days to a week for the CYA to give an accurate reading. I have also learned that I will be losing chlorine very quickly (it's hot here) until the CYA is up to acceptable levels.

My questions are:

1. How to approach the FC levels *while I am waiting for the CYA to go up*. The little I know about pool maintenance is that these two influence each other and I don't want to mess one up while aiming for perfection with the other.

2. Should I do the FC/pH testing daily? Twice daily? Or should I be doing the full test while I am waiting for the levels to go up and logging those results? If yes, how many times per week should I do the full testing?

3. Besides leaving the pump running, sweeping the bottom, and squeezing the sock (which is in front of the return, using the sock method), what else do I need to pay attention to right now?

Reading the questions of others in here I can see it's a bit of a tricky business to get it right. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Scout

 

[ajw22]

Assume you have CYA 40 and follow the FC/CYA Levels for CYA 40 with a FC target of 5-7.

Test FC and pH daily. Everything else weekly. Check TA when pH need to be lowered and you need to add acid.

Basic Pool Care Schedule

This basic pool care schedule can guide you in creating your own pool care routine. Regular pool maintenance will keep your water sparkling!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Ok, you're gonna have to go on faith that the CYA is *in there* and treat accordingly.

New pool owners should test FC/CC and pH daily. In time you'll be able to back off on the daily aspect once you learn your pool's thirst for chlorine and what it looks like when it needs something. I can see from a window when my pool's pH is off cause I know how it loses it's sparkle. You'll get there.

Remember that chlorine is a consumable.... so sun, bathers, debris etc will all use up your FC. Don't let it go to zero!!

Maddie

 

[Dirk]

Put another way...

You might find that in swim season, you need to add x amount of chlorine pretty much every day, based on your daily testing. If you recognize the trend, and today's weather is about the same as yesterday's, and you're not expecting any extra swimmers today, you can go out and skip today's testing and just pour in x amount of chlorine. Then test tomorrow. You'll get to know when x needs to be y because of the hotter days, or z because of cooler days. And you'll get a feel for just how many days you can go between testing based on the season of the year (winter will be much less frequent than summer, for example).

Then, when you tire of even that number of tests per week, you'll put in an SWG and only tell people here you test twice a week!

As you learn all the tricks, it'll keep getting easier and easier to take care of your pool.

I've been at it for a few years now, but still can't pull off Maddie's "look out the window" trick. But I'm looking forward to that!

 

[Girlskout]

Put another way...

You might find that in swim season, you need to add x amount of chlorine pretty much every day, based on your daily testing.

Then, when you tire of even that number of tests per week, you'll put in an SWG and only tell people here you test twice a week!

As you learn all the tricks, it'll keep getting easier and easier to take care of your pool.

I've been at it for a few years now, but still can't pull off Maddie's "look out the window" trick. But I'm looking forward to that!

Ha! That's funny.

Though, since we've refilled it, no one is swimming because the smoky weather in california makes it look like we are on the surface of Mars, in spite of its being 95-100 degrees outside. Sigh.

 

[Dirk]

Yes, sigh. Been a rough year. I can only find one bright spot to it all. At least the horsemen had the courtesy to all show up at the same time, so this apocalypse won't last any longer than it has to...

PS. While your avatar does creep me out a little, I still want to hear about it. Check it out:

Tell Us About Your Avatar!

Is that really you? Is that really your pool? If not, what gives? Why did you pick the crazy pic you picked? Do you plan on sticking with it? How often do you, or will you, change it up? And if you don't have one yet, why not? What are you waiting for?!? I'll go first, because I started this...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Girlskout]

Follow up question:

PS. While your avatar does creep me out a little, I still want to hear about it. Check it out:

Tell Us About Your Avatar!

Is that really you? Is that really your pool? If not, what gives? Why did you pick the crazy pic you picked? Do you plan on sticking with it? How often do you, or will you, change it up? And if you don't have one yet, why not? What are you waiting for?!? I'll go first, because I started this...

www.troublefreepool.com

What's creepy about Prince?

 

[Girlskout]

All right.

Things have been going a bit sideways here this week, PLUS some of the intakes and such were leaking in a way they weren't before (now fixed), so we've lost quite a bit of water in the pool even as I have added CYA over the past couple of days.

So I'm going out now to do a full test, and will come back and post, but if you know the answer to this now, please enlighten me:

So, should I add more water now? Should I wait until the CYA and FC levels are up to the proper amount before refilling?

Help!

 

[Dirk]

If the waterline is above the intake:
Start your pump and run for 30 minutes.
Test water for FC only. Add chlorine to restore FC target level if needed.
Add water and wait 30+ minutes with pump running.
Test water. Add chlorine to restore FC target level. Add CYA to restore CYA target level. Restore other levels as needed (or post your results for advice).

If the waterline is below the intake, then you add the water first. Then:
Wait 30+ minutes with pump running.
Test water. Add chlorine to restore FC target level. Add CYA to restore CYA target level. Restore other levels as needed (or post your results for advice).

 

[ajw22]

Add the necessary water and then add stabilizer and chlorine as needed.

 

[Dirk]

I suggested you check your FC as soon as possible to avoid even the remote possibility of algae, especially if filling is going to take a while. And you run the pump for a while before you test for anything, especially if you just added water.

 

[Dirk]

Prince isn't creepy. But an avatar of him staring at me like that... a little creepy.

 

[Girlskout]

Fair enough.

 

[Girlskout]

[QUOTE="Dirk, post: 1916983, member: 163435"

If the waterline is below the intake, then you add the water first. Then:
Wait 30+ minutes with pump running.
Test water. Add chlorine to restore FC target level. Add CYA to restore CYA target level. Restore other levels as needed (or post your results for advice).
[/QUOTE]

Ok. I did some tests earlier, and am going to add the water now, and then start again this evening. Thank you.

 

[Girlskout]

Thanks to everyone who replied on this thread. I think I am starting to get it there!

Would you be willing to look at my current testing and stuff and advise what I should maintain and what I need to focus on/adjust next?

Thanks as always!
Scout

 

[ajw22]

Your latest PoolMath chemistry looks fine. What is your TA?

 

[mguzzy]

Follow up question:
What's creepy about Prince?

That question answers itself

Howdy neighbor.. I'm just a short drive down GV road from you. The sun is no longer high in the sky this time of year.. add to that the smoke blocking out the sun will slow down the degradation of the CL. I am seeing it my pool and I've had to turn down my SWG production to compensate. I personally will squeeze that sock continuously until all the CYA is in solution. It takes about 20 min. It will still take time to further dissolve and show up on the test. It doesn't change much after about 2 days. But at least I am not living my life staring at that dang sock for two days. And as the CYA starts to work, you will notice less FC loss. But keep in mind part of that will be due cooler temps too.. I could almost say it was chilly this morning.

 

[Girlskout]

Your latest PoolMath chemistry looks fine. What is your TA?

That's great to hear! I haven't tested TA yet because I was advised to focus on CYA/Chlorine first and don't know enough to know whether it would've been useful to have the TA in the mix as well.

Also not 100% clear on whether I'm supposed to log the daily tests that come from the small kit inside the larger kit, or whether only the complete range of tests should be entered there. Any thoughts?

 

[ajw22]

Only log pH from the small kit. Log the FAS/DPD chlorine test and all other tests from the full TF-100 kit.

TA tells us how stable your pH will be.

 

[Dirk]

If you’re testing FC with your FAS/DPD kit, you don’t have to test it with the small kit. Personally, I wouldn’t ever use that test... If it’s worth testing FC, then it’s worth testing it accurately.