Correct way out of balance levels

[mknauss]

Likely drain and refill. The CYA is very high.

Best to use a 1:1 sample of pool water and tap water. Use that for the CYA test and redo. Double the result.

 

[Newdude]

Use 10ml for FC, and each drop is .5

There is simply no need for .2 resolution. 16 is the important part for a 100+ CYA. The .6 is irrelevant.

Using 10ml saves 2.5X the supplies.

+1 on running the dilution CYA test so we know how much you need to drain.

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

CYA is 128 ppm after dilution and multiplying back. Looking like draining/refilling is the only practical option to drop. After it's refilled and CYA back to 40ish (?) range, what's the next to address? Chlorine then pH/TA?

 

[mknauss]

Likely the TA and pH will resolve itself when you drain and refill.

Allow the pool to fully circulate for several hours after the refill and then test.

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

Will start the process and let you all know how it goes. Thanks for the help.

 

[pshawman]

Interesting reading! Mine was opposite. Pretty sure if minus CYA is a thing, I had that. Cheers.

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

Any concerns with draining my pool down to 1/4 fill? It's mostly in-ground, on a partial slope so one side has exposed concrete. PebbleTec lining. Don't know a whole lot more than that. I think it'll be fine, but a little concerned if there are structural issues to be aware of.

 

[mknauss]

Where do you live in California? Do you have standing water? Lake or river nearby?

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

Northern Cali. No standing water, no lakes/rivers nearby, ground seems relatively stable.

 

[mknauss]

Then there should be no issue to drain the pool down as far as you need. Refill immediately.

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

Alight, on my way to getting back in balance. Added CYA and might bump FC up a little later. Retested with strips and K-2006. AquaChek 7 strip:

CH: somewhere between 100-250 (hard to tell difference in region of interest)
TC: 4.5 ppm
FC: 3.5 ppm
pH: 7ish (really hard to tell difference in region of interest)
TA: 130ish ppm (a little to tell difference in region of interest)
CYA: 10ish ppm (really hard to tell difference in region of interest)

K-2006:

CH: 100 ppm
FC: 4.5 ppm
pH: 7.6 (easy to tell difference in region of interest)
TA: 145 ppm
CYA: 45 ppm

So my conclusion from comparing the strip to the K-2006, is strips:

CH: sort of close, but hard to tell exactness in the region of interest. may compare again if showing really out of bounds.
pH: useless. won't be using this at all.
FC: in the ballpark and easy to see the difference in region of interest. I'll probably use these for the more often testing, and 2006 for confirmation if getting out of bounds.
TA: in the ballpark. Probably use it for more often testing, and 2006 for confirmation.
CYA: pretty useless and won't use. can't really tell any different in region of interest.

 

[mknauss]

Where are you in California? That is very soft water for most of California. Please put a city in your Location.

Do not use strips for any testing. You will be led down a poor path eventually.

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

I live in Santa Rosa. The water has always been on the softer side. Going to add calcium to get it to 200 ppm and see where things are. Then think about working on bringing TA down with an eye on pH.

 

[Newdude]

CYA: 45 ppm

Always round up to next 10. 41-45 = 50.

As such, save yourself a boatload of doubt and only test to the 10s. It's way easier to see it's not a 40 and not a 60.

FC: in the ballpark and easy to see the difference in region of interest.

For a 50 CYA want at least your recent daily loss over min fc. The targets need to be raised as the season ramps up to accommodate more loss.



The closer you end up to min after the loss, the closer you need to watch it. Many of us dose above target so that we fall back into mid target range at the low point of the cycle.

So my conclusion from comparing the strip to the K-2006, is strips

TA is a monthly test once you get it in range. Even now with it above range, it's close enough that it'll go the rest of the way just from you managing a PH in the 7s.

Target a low 7 if you'd like to speed up the process.

Target a high 7 if there's no rush (there isn't).

For FC the strips work ok for 'do I have chlorine in there'. I kept mine the darkest purple/green for years. Whether it was 10 or 14 really didn't matter, I was free and clear above minimum for my CYA.

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I added an initial drop of calcium that should put me a little short of 200 ppm. Going to let things settle for a couple days and then do another full test suite.

Do these pumps sound ok to you guys? They've always sounded like this since we've moved in and neither sounds healthy IMO, but I don't know much about pumps. The main pump is a 1.1 THP Sta-Rite Max-E. The booster for sweeper is a 3/4 HP Pentair LA01N.

Water pumps video

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

I added about 15 lbs of calcium to the 15,000 gal pool and the CH levels only went from 100 ppm to 170 ppm. That’s quite a bit short from what the labeling says it should have gone too. Is it possible the calcium is being deposited/absorbed by the walls?

 

[Newdude]

I added about 15 lbs of calcium to the 15,000 gal pool and the CH levels only went from 100 ppm to 170

How long had it mixed ? It may take a day or so ?

What brand did you use?

Pure Calcium chloride would have been +108 (give or take)

Calcium chloride dihydrate would be +82.

Deicers are a crud shoot between the salt and fillers.

 

[anothernewpoolguy]

Pool Mate pure calcium chloride. Prior to adding it was 100 ppm. I put in 8 lbs. last week, tested yesterday at 130 ppm, then added about 7 lbs yesterday, tested today at 170 ppm. I premixed in a bucket until it was milky water and broadcast evenly around pool while pump running, so no chunks touched the bottom. I'm fairly certain the pool size is pretty close to 15k gal since that's what the water meter said when I refilled it. Filter had been running a good amount for mixing.

 

[Newdude]

Maybe it's a bad batch ? It behaved similar twice in a row, so I'd believe what you're seeing, not what the label says.

 

[generessler]

I'm no chemist but know calcium chloride is used as a desiccant because it can absorb 2 or 3 times its weight in water and still remain a solid. Point being that if in manufacture or storage it was able to absorb a bunch of water, and you are adding by weight, you could easily see a 50% difference between expected and actual change in CH.