It is not. It could just mean your pool is settling into its happy place. Just keep an eye on it. And if you're going to mention FC... don't say fine, high, low or ok. We just like solid numbers around here. 
brand new pool owner, first time test results. Is this right?
- Thread starter sangree99
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How is your CSI? I don't know that much about new plaster. Just enough to get a new guy nervous! Hahaha!!!!
It is not. It could just mean your pool is settling into its happy place. Just keep an eye on it. And if you're going to mention FC... don't say fine, high, low or ok. We just like solid numbers around here.
got it, thanks! The reason I didn't give a number is because I only did the OTO test, not the FAS-DPD. I'll get some solid numbers tomorrow, including CYA- it's been a week since the gas can was out by the pool holding the sock!
- - - Updated - - -
CSI holding steady at -0.21 which PoolMath says is "balanced."
Gas can. Too funny!
I am not a big fan of using the OTO until your pool knowledge is solid. I used to use mine occasionally for a quick check.
Here in the USA, reagents are a pretty cheap price to pay for peace of mind. I'm all about peace of mind. Too old and too many other things to worry about.
I am not a big fan of using the OTO until your pool knowledge is solid. I used to use mine occasionally for a quick check.
Here in the USA, reagents are a pretty cheap price to pay for peace of mind. I'm all about peace of mind. Too old and too many other things to worry about.
How are things going? Been too long!
btw, you are a trend setter. See this (post #36): Just bought house with Pool. Been reading here for about a month to prepare - Page 2
btw, you are a trend setter. See this (post #36): Just bought house with Pool. Been reading here for about a month to prepare - Page 2
Thanks for following up Marian! Everything is under control, I think. My latest numbers from an hour or two ago are:
FC: 4
CC: 0
PH: 7.7
TA: 80
CH: 300
CYA: 30
which puts my CSI at -0.17. I've only had to add 3 oz of acid one time in the last week or so. I had bought four gallons of acid thinking that I'd use a bunch, but my PH seems to hang right around 7.7 and 7.6 all by itself. Anyone know if muriatic acid has a good shelf life? If not I can return one of the 2-gallon packs.
CYA question: I like the idea of keeping it at the lower end of the recommended range (30-50) because then I can keep my chlorine level lower as well. Anything wrong with that? If I should be targeting 40 or 50, I can always dig out the ol' sock and gas can. I mean water can. Why didn't I just say it had water in it? ;-)
I lost prime on my pump for some unknown reason the other night, but other than that my pool has been trouble free! I gotta say, I'm becoming a bit obsessed with this site. I'm constantly checking for new posts and searching the archives for topics of interest. Such a wealth of info! Thanks for your part in that!
Sean
FC: 4
CC: 0
PH: 7.7
TA: 80
CH: 300
CYA: 30
which puts my CSI at -0.17. I've only had to add 3 oz of acid one time in the last week or so. I had bought four gallons of acid thinking that I'd use a bunch, but my PH seems to hang right around 7.7 and 7.6 all by itself. Anyone know if muriatic acid has a good shelf life? If not I can return one of the 2-gallon packs.
CYA question: I like the idea of keeping it at the lower end of the recommended range (30-50) because then I can keep my chlorine level lower as well. Anything wrong with that? If I should be targeting 40 or 50, I can always dig out the ol' sock and gas can. I mean water can. Why didn't I just say it had water in it? ;-)
I lost prime on my pump for some unknown reason the other night, but other than that my pool has been trouble free! I gotta say, I'm becoming a bit obsessed with this site. I'm constantly checking for new posts and searching the archives for topics of interest. Such a wealth of info! Thanks for your part in that!
Sean
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Sean, once summer gets here, you'll be bumping u our CYA level up because the Sun will burn through the FC to fast. Right now, being that we're in winter mode, it is fine.
CYA does have a good shelf life BUT it really looks like you will not be needing the other 2-pack for a while. It is up to you if you keep it or take it back.
Your pool is telling you what it likes. Listen to it. If it is stable and looks like a jewel it is happy!
Kim
Your pool is telling you what it likes. Listen to it. If it is stable and looks like a jewel it is happy!
Kim
Great to hear! Sounds good. You can hold on to the MA. Do you know how to store it safely?
Upright, far from the kids, and away from the bleach right? Anything else?
Got it! Keep it away from metal if possible as the fumes can cause rust. Good job!
Kim
So I'm a few months in now and things have been going smoothly thanks in large part to you folk, but I think I need some reassurance as a first-time pool owner and TFP'er. I'm using a lot more bleach than I thought I would at this point- over 1 ppm per day already, and it's barely March! My average use has been steadily increasing, which I attribute to longer days, more sun, and warmer temps (pool temp is now up to about 63 degrees). CC is always at zero and the water sparkles, so I know it's not a pending algae bloom. I've raised my CYA from 30 to about 50 in hopes that would help but it doesn't seem to. (I figure my pool's about 23,500 gallons, so 1 ppm is 35 oz of 8.25% bleach. The cheapest bleach I can get is around $2.75 for 121 oz of 8.25%) At this rate, it looks like it's going to cost me many hundreds of dollars in bleach alone each year- maybe $500 since as I understand it usage is going to peak at 2.5 or 3 ppm (or more) daily. Is this normal? It seems to me that a SWG would be way more cost effective. Or even using (gasp!) trichlor pucks and doing a partial or complete drain yearly when CYA gets too high. Even here in drought-stricken California it only cost me like $125 in water for the entire initial fill, and although I haven't used pucks I think one of those big $80 tubs would probably last a year.
I love being in control of my chemistry and the pool looks great, but the cost is just more than I expected. I just don't know if this is normal or not since I've never had a pool before. Thanks for any input!
I love being in control of my chemistry and the pool looks great, but the cost is just more than I expected. I just don't know if this is normal or not since I've never had a pool before. Thanks for any input!
It is not like we had much a "winter" this year at all. With your sun in CA and the water temps already that high......yeah it is normal.
You can use what you like in your pool. Here at TFP we teach "know what you do to your pool and what happens when you do it". Saying that I would use great care adding too much CYA with the pucks in your area due to the drought. You do not want the water police on your back.
I go through 4 jugs at 2.5 gals each in 12 days in the summer here in FL. I have already seen an increase in my FC use this past week so know I am closer to summer levels.
Hugs! It IS still cheaper than using the Pool store! LOL
Kim
You can use what you like in your pool. Here at TFP we teach "know what you do to your pool and what happens when you do it". Saying that I would use great care adding too much CYA with the pucks in your area due to the drought. You do not want the water police on your back.
I go through 4 jugs at 2.5 gals each in 12 days in the summer here in FL. I have already seen an increase in my FC use this past week so know I am closer to summer levels.
Hugs! It IS still cheaper than using the Pool store! LOL
Kim
I have never used trichlor pucks but I looked them up on Leslie's just for fun. They sell a 7lb bucket for 61 bucks. 7lbs of trichlor will give you 32 ppm of FC and 19 ppm of CYA. 1 gal of bleach will give you 3.3ppm of FC.
$0.83 per ppm FC for bleach
$1.91 per ppm FC for trichlor
Maybe converting to a saltwater pool is an option? Also, check around local pool stores to see if they sell bulk liquid chlorine refills in your own buckets. It is usually 10% or 12.5% and is cheaper.
$0.83 per ppm FC for bleach
$1.91 per ppm FC for trichlor
Maybe converting to a saltwater pool is an option? Also, check around local pool stores to see if they sell bulk liquid chlorine refills in your own buckets. It is usually 10% or 12.5% and is cheaper.
thanks for the responses! Pooldv, I hadn't actually calculated it the way you did. The apples to apples comparison is helpful. I've never bought pucks either, I'm sticking with TFPC for now, but I want to understand the "why" rather than just blindly following along. From what I've read on this site I think that having users understand what's going on with their pools- and why- is one of the things TFP is all about.
Getting back to those numbers- my local Lowes sells 35 lb buckets of trichlor tablets for $80. Per PoolMath, 35 lbs of trichlor will raise FC in my pool by 163 ppm. That comes out to 49 cents per ppm. I calculate the cost of each ppm of FC in my pool using liquid bleach at 79 cents ($2.57 for a 121 oz jug of 8.25%, which will raise FC by 3.5 ppm. $2.75 divided by 3.5 = $0.79). So ignoring the cost of fill water for the moment, liquid bleach is 38% more expensive than trichlor if I say away from Leslie's and use the cheapest available sources of each. If my pool averaged 1.5 ppm per day over the course of a year (not sure if that's realistic or not since this is my first year), a year's supply of chlorine (547.5 ppm) would cost $268.78 in trichlor and $432.53 in bleach. Obviously the more chlorine is needed, the greater the price difference. Now, if I had to drain and refill half the pool once a year to lower CYA that might cost about $65 more given my current water costs.
I hope I'm not banned for questioning the TFPC method. This forum is fantastic and I think it's better and stronger when a robust discussion engaging all viewpoints is permitted. As I've read lots of times on here, TFPC is science based so it ought to be able to withstand a little scrutiny from a novice like me. Actually it's not the science that bothers me- I agree that adding ONLY what the pool actually needs is the best for the pool. But I thought TFPC was supposed to be better AND cheaper AND easier. I'm just questioning the last two (yes, my testing times are getting faster but not as fast as just loading a floater dispenser with pucks once a week). I just wonder if I'm missing something because I don't see anyone else on here commenting that the TFPC method costs more and takes more time but it's worth it, etc. Maybe I'm must too much of a cheapskate.
I've checked around for better value on bleach (refillable containers at local pool store) with no luck. I'm going to keep doing TFPC with liquid bleach for now. But I think I will look into what a Pentair IC-60 SWCG would cost me. (I already have all Pentair equipment including EasyTouch automation panel). When we signed and built last year, I hadn't really discovered TFP and a saltwater pool wasn't even on our radar.
Thanks again for the collective knowledge and expertise you all so willingly share here. I've learned a ton and continue to scour the threads every day for new info, much to the annoyance of my wife =).
Getting back to those numbers- my local Lowes sells 35 lb buckets of trichlor tablets for $80. Per PoolMath, 35 lbs of trichlor will raise FC in my pool by 163 ppm. That comes out to 49 cents per ppm. I calculate the cost of each ppm of FC in my pool using liquid bleach at 79 cents ($2.57 for a 121 oz jug of 8.25%, which will raise FC by 3.5 ppm. $2.75 divided by 3.5 = $0.79). So ignoring the cost of fill water for the moment, liquid bleach is 38% more expensive than trichlor if I say away from Leslie's and use the cheapest available sources of each. If my pool averaged 1.5 ppm per day over the course of a year (not sure if that's realistic or not since this is my first year), a year's supply of chlorine (547.5 ppm) would cost $268.78 in trichlor and $432.53 in bleach. Obviously the more chlorine is needed, the greater the price difference. Now, if I had to drain and refill half the pool once a year to lower CYA that might cost about $65 more given my current water costs.
I hope I'm not banned for questioning the TFPC method. This forum is fantastic and I think it's better and stronger when a robust discussion engaging all viewpoints is permitted. As I've read lots of times on here, TFPC is science based so it ought to be able to withstand a little scrutiny from a novice like me. Actually it's not the science that bothers me- I agree that adding ONLY what the pool actually needs is the best for the pool. But I thought TFPC was supposed to be better AND cheaper AND easier. I'm just questioning the last two (yes, my testing times are getting faster but not as fast as just loading a floater dispenser with pucks once a week). I just wonder if I'm missing something because I don't see anyone else on here commenting that the TFPC method costs more and takes more time but it's worth it, etc. Maybe I'm must too much of a cheapskate.
I've checked around for better value on bleach (refillable containers at local pool store) with no luck. I'm going to keep doing TFPC with liquid bleach for now. But I think I will look into what a Pentair IC-60 SWCG would cost me. (I already have all Pentair equipment including EasyTouch automation panel). When we signed and built last year, I hadn't really discovered TFP and a saltwater pool wasn't even on our radar.
Thanks again for the collective knowledge and expertise you all so willingly share here. I've learned a ton and continue to scour the threads every day for new info, much to the annoyance of my wife =).
I am still new to owning a pool, but the few people I personally know who are on pucks always seem to be shocking their pool regularly. Now this might be simply because they try to balance their pool bringing their water sample to the pool store for testing.
You also need to calculate how much CYA that amount of pucks will add because it will incrementally raise how much FC you need.
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You also need to calculate how much CYA that amount of pucks will add because it will incrementally raise how much FC you need.
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Richard, one of the many fantastic contributors at TFP, has a great thread about the effects of using pucks. Very enlightening. He has a new thread about "water from the sky." I will see if I can find it later. Hopefully someone can link to it before I get the chance
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wow! 35lbs for 80 bucks at Lowes! Leslies 7lbs for 61 bucks is a RIP! And they'll try to sell you some algaecide and phosphate remover too!
There is nothing wrong with using trichlor pucks as long as you monitor your CYA and either
stop using them when your CYA gets to around 50 or
drain some of your water each week to keep the CYA at 50 or
maintain higher and higher FC to levels to match your increasing CYA level, Chlorine CYA Chart
That 35lb bucket of pucks will give you 160 ppm of FC and 97 ppm of CYA.
Converting to saltwater and adding the IC60 is a great idea!
There is nothing wrong with using trichlor pucks as long as you monitor your CYA and either
stop using them when your CYA gets to around 50 or
drain some of your water each week to keep the CYA at 50 or
maintain higher and higher FC to levels to match your increasing CYA level, Chlorine CYA Chart
That 35lb bucket of pucks will give you 160 ppm of FC and 97 ppm of CYA.
Converting to saltwater and adding the IC60 is a great idea!