Short version: Can I safely use 73% cal hypo one day and then try the bleach method and then switch back if I don’t toting lots of bleach around?
More detailed version: This is my first summer with my 19k fiberglass pool. My pool builder is my pool installer. He said treating water means just three things: use cal hypo, add CYA to make the cal hypo last longer, and once a week use a phosphate cleaner (once called Pool Perfecr, now called Perfect Weekly). He warned repeatedly against trichlor or dichlor pucks and did say I MIGHT someday need borax or muriatic acid, but probably won’t. OK! So I bought a bucket of 73% cal hypo. But I read here (and the pool store repeated it ) that it will raise my CH too much and create scaling. That made me doubt my pool builder, but I tried his method anyway. Now I’ve almost used the entire 25 pound bucket. On May 4th (first day of the season for us) my CH was at 90 - LOW. Today it’s at 140 So the cal hypo is raising my CH, but it’s still so low that Pool Math actually suggests I manually raise it (but I’m not). Since my cal hypo is running out, I want to try the bleach method. Here are my questions if any of you experts have time to offer some advice.
- Can I just use cal hypo one day and then bleach the next?
- Cal hypo has been so easy and worked so well. My water is clear and doesn’t smell at all. No scaling. No problems I see at all. I toss in somewhere between 15 and 24 ounces every night. If I switch to bleach and find the process labor intensive, can I just switch back to the cal hypo?
- I’m guessing that if I continue solely with cal hypo, by late September/early October when I close the pool my CH might creep up to 300. It climbs about 10 ppm each week. That’s still not super high. But does CH lower naturally over the winter after I close? Or will I open next season with high CH?
Thanks for any advice you have time to offer. I feel so lucky to have this resource and did search for previous posts about switching, but could only find advice about switching from pucks to bleach or to cal hypo. I have never used pucks.
My test results from tonight just in case that’s helpful are added as a screenshot from pool math.
More detailed version: This is my first summer with my 19k fiberglass pool. My pool builder is my pool installer. He said treating water means just three things: use cal hypo, add CYA to make the cal hypo last longer, and once a week use a phosphate cleaner (once called Pool Perfecr, now called Perfect Weekly). He warned repeatedly against trichlor or dichlor pucks and did say I MIGHT someday need borax or muriatic acid, but probably won’t. OK! So I bought a bucket of 73% cal hypo. But I read here (and the pool store repeated it ) that it will raise my CH too much and create scaling. That made me doubt my pool builder, but I tried his method anyway. Now I’ve almost used the entire 25 pound bucket. On May 4th (first day of the season for us) my CH was at 90 - LOW. Today it’s at 140 So the cal hypo is raising my CH, but it’s still so low that Pool Math actually suggests I manually raise it (but I’m not). Since my cal hypo is running out, I want to try the bleach method. Here are my questions if any of you experts have time to offer some advice.
- Can I just use cal hypo one day and then bleach the next?
- Cal hypo has been so easy and worked so well. My water is clear and doesn’t smell at all. No scaling. No problems I see at all. I toss in somewhere between 15 and 24 ounces every night. If I switch to bleach and find the process labor intensive, can I just switch back to the cal hypo?
- I’m guessing that if I continue solely with cal hypo, by late September/early October when I close the pool my CH might creep up to 300. It climbs about 10 ppm each week. That’s still not super high. But does CH lower naturally over the winter after I close? Or will I open next season with high CH?
Thanks for any advice you have time to offer. I feel so lucky to have this resource and did search for previous posts about switching, but could only find advice about switching from pucks to bleach or to cal hypo. I have never used pucks.
My test results from tonight just in case that’s helpful are added as a screenshot from pool math.
Are you saying that my FC at the *end* of a full sun day should be at 5 or 6? I typically add chemicals at the end of the day, and my FC climbs then. In the morning it’s typically at 5. But by 9:00 PM it has fallen to about 2. I thought I was all good with that, but maybe I am misunderstanding something.