Did a SLAM the first night starting at dusk to clear all contaminants and it ran all night in the 25 ppm chlorine range. After that chlorine burned off, added a FROG Instant drop in kit to the skimmer basket for the season. While the water was clear when I added that, by the next day the water was INSANELY clear, never seen the water look that good before. Its feels like have a brand new pool again, and refreshed my commitment to keeping it looking that way.
Hmm. Have you seen the "
How Clear is TFP Clear" thread? If not, check it out. None of these people are using minerals so far as I know. Below is my pool, which pales in comparison with some of the pictures on that thread.
I ended up meticulously writing down all my Taylor test kit data every day from July 2020 to present on a pool maintenance log. What I learned was the following:
FYI the paid version of
PoolMath will log everything for you as well. I enter all my tests on my phone when I do them, they are automatically logged, and then I can easily calculate what I need to add. It also calculates CSI if desired, along with a host of other useful features.
4. With careful record keeping, I discovered the true grind was keeping ph and alkality in good balance and pool water at balanced LSI between 0.0-0.3. My pool pH just seems to love to be at 7.8-8.0 no matter what. Adding about 1/8-1/4 gallon muriatic acid would get PH down to 7.4-7.5, and in a few days it would be always be right back up to 7.8. With the constant adding of bleach, PH would inexorably creep towards 8.1, 8.2 before I'd get it back down to 7.5 and start the rise all over again. Felt like all summer it was alot of bleach and alot of muriatic bleach adding.
I agree that the exactness of the ph ride wasn't truly needed, but wanted to see the effort needed to really dial it in to a very stable level. Somewhat like a science experiment, which was: what would it take to keep hard CAP water at 0-0.3 LSI saturation level all summer in extreme heat and direct sun conditions?
The natural equilibrium of the pool is 7.8 to 8.0 pH, and the only significant downside at that higher pH in 86 degree water is a some scaling at the perimeter water line and rocks. Then once you start in with the muriatic acid to get it down to 7.4-7.5 pH (which always makes the water absolutely crystal clear and beautiful at 0.0), I just had to plan for the pH rebound back up over time. Then the occasional baking soda, which is cheap and easy to add. I will say as result, this was the first season where had no scaling whatsoever, which would be predicted by LSI in the first place. Normally I'm looking at a bit of a white water line this time of year.
First off, TFP uses CSI, not LSI. It's similar, but my understanding is CSI is a bit more accurate but also harder to calculate by hand. Luckily PoolMath exists and calculates that automatically every time you log your test results.
TFP says that so long as CSI is maintained appropriately, TA can be allowed to drop as low as 50. Also, for a given set of other factors, a lower TA means a lower CSI, which means you can keep the pH at a higher level naturally. A higher pH means the pH rise is slower, so acid additions are further apart. Letting the TA drop, and letting the pH hang out closer to 8 is therefor a win/win, and should greatly help your complaint about acid additions while maintaining a CSI near 0 to avoid scale buildup. And it will also reduce or eliminate the baking soda additions.
Also if the pH change is making the water crystal clear, that's cause you aren't following TFP methods and so you're not enjoying crystal clear water 100% of the time (again refer the "
How Clear is TFP Clear" thread).
And I really only had 1 short 1 ppm combined chlorine lock issue all summer, in which I raised FC at dusk up past breakpoint and that never came back.
Chlorine lock is a myth, and breakpoint chlorination is often misunderstood with the wrong values quoted. What likely happened is your low FC levels allowed something to start growing. Once something was growing, the chlorine was busy breaking it down, but unable to completely stop the growth, producing the CC's as it tried to break things down. By raising the FC/CYA ratio to something closer to TFP recommended levels, the chlorine could now "get ahead" and kill off whatever was growing, and once it wasn't growing there was little to break down and the CC generation was greatly reduced.
The good thing here is you at least were monitoring CC's, the average non-TFP person does not. I don't know for sure, but I'd be willing to bet had you NOT immediately increased FC levels you would have ended up with a green pool in short order.
As many keep telling you, maintaining the TFP recommended FC/CYA ratio will solve many of your issues, including this.
