Balancing the pool with canines in mind / weird PH jump

[bbodb1]

Good morning all,

As you can see by my avatar, I do not swim in the pool alone. In reading this forum a few years ago, I understood it was okay to run a pool with a bit lower chemical presence as long as I stayed on top of the numbers. In other words, as I look at the recommended numbers on the TF-100 test card, I know my TA and CYA run on the low end but given that the lads will drink pool water I did not want to run them at the middle or high ends of the recommended ranges. With that in mind, here are this morning's numbers:

ph 7.5
FC 1.5
CC 0.5
TC 2.0
TA 30
CYA >20, <30 (the cloudiness blurs the black dot in that area)

Overall, the water looks fine. Any dirt in the pool comes from the lads running through the yard and jumping in the pool as they chase a frisbee.

My questions are as follows:

1. These numbers are fairly typical of where I try and maintain the water. Are there any concerns with these ranges given the presence of dogs?
2. Two days ago, the PH jumped into the 8+ range for reasons I do not know. One issue I suspect is a change in the bleach we use for chlorine. We use Dollar General bleach and had been using the 8.125% strength bottles. As others have noticed in Wal Mart and other house brands, Dollar General bleach now seems to have reverted to 6% strength. I've used a batch of this bleach for about a week and it was in the middle of that week where the PH jumped as noted above. Could the bleach somehow be the culprit here? Might the DG bleach have cause this PH jump?

 

[AimeeH]

Hi there

The thing in these numbers that sticks out to me is your chlorine being lower than is reccomended just for proper sanitation. See Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

I would discourage the doggies from drinking the pool water and be sure to keep plenty of fresh water nearby for them.

 

[bbodb1]

I should note that I added chlorine (in the form of the last bottle of DG bleach) just after running the tests mentioned in the OP. I am about to head out and see what my local options are for other bleach sources.

 

[karendino]

Beautiful pool and beautiful best Friends! Looks like a lot of fun. I noticed the Chloride being a little low. As far as the PH spike I m not sure. Has the pool been used a lot between humans and dogs during the spike time?

FWIW. I have two dogs. The border collie swims all the time and yaps at the water. She doesn't really use the pool as a water dish. She uses the big bowl of fresh water for actual drinking (she smarter than the other) Now, my Bull Masiff mix is the complete opposite. She doesn't go swimming, does yaps at splashes and never uses the fresh water bowl.

I keep my FC at 4-6. I will put the Bull Masiff in the house when I dose and won't let her out for an hour. The Chloride doesn't seem to bother her.

 

[bbodb1]

Thank you, Karendino - the pool usage really hasn't changed any this year (especially within the last month) as it has been warm enough for humans to swim too. Labs love swimming just about year round here.....
I can definitely say that within the last month, there has been no change in the usage pattern for the pool. The only change I am aware of has been the bleach. Of course, there could be changes I an unaware of......
For the moment though, the PH remains fine after correcting for the spike. If this does not recur again, I'll probably just write it off as a fluke.

 

[kellyfair]

You had me at dogs. We need more pictures!

 

[bbodb1]

Here's the reasons grass and dirt cannot be kept from our pool:

 

[kellyfair]

Awwwwww! Labs are the best!