Do I address Salt first?

[bhosmer]

I just bought a house with an SWG pool and my TF Test Kit arrived yesterday:

Chlorine Drop: 2ppm
CC: .5ppm
TC: 2.5ppm
Calcium: 300ppm
Salt: 2400
CYA: I could still see the dot at 20
TA: 70ppm
PH: 8.2

My salt chlorinator alarm indicates low salt, which makes sense since the test confirms the low amount.

Do I start by adding some of just this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Morton-40-lb-Salt-Solar-Crystals/1039111 maybe?
How much? 100 lbs?
I think getting the salt in order and then addressing the PH should help the CYA or no?

I estimated the volume at 12,100 gallons based of measurements the previous homeowner left:
15x30, depth: 3-6, 4-6, 6-0 and a perimeter of 81. It's an oblong/kidney shaped pool.

I've vacuumed the pool weekly since moving in and tested the FC/PH. I assume it's safe to swim in short term but I'd like to get it back in correct parameters. I cleaned one of the baskets at the pump as well and clean the skimmer weekly. I'm in Florida and it's in a screened enclosure but it does get a decent amount of sun exposure.

I also am not sure what to backwash since this is all new to me. I've attached some photos of my equipment.

Can anyone direct me to resources on how to backflush my system?

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum.

First add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine. Second, get 30 ppm CYA worth of stabilizer dissolving using the sock method. Third add acid to lower the pH to 7.6.

Is the Salt 2400 reading from your test kit? You need an actual salinity of the water, not what the SWCG system tells you it is.

The high CC is concerning. Plan to do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test as soon as you can.

 

[BDY]

People have had issues with Morton’s and Chlorox salt. If you can find diamond crystals solar salt (blue bag) or salt (yellow bag) those seem to be ok this year.

 

[mknauss]

Can anyone direct me to resources on how to backflush my system?

You have a cartridge filter. You do NOT backflush them.

Cartridge Filter Use and Care - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[bhosmer]

Welcome to the forum.

First add 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine. Second, get 30 ppm CYA worth of stabilizer dissolving using the sock method. Third add acid to lower the pH to 7.6.

Is the Salt 2400 reading from your test kit? You need an actual salinity of the water, not what the SWCG system tells you it is.

The high CC is concerning. Plan to do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test as soon as you can.

The salt reading is from my test kit.

 

[mknauss]

The salt reading is from my test kit.

Great. Then add enough salt (pool salt or water softener salt, plain) to get to 3000 ppm. Let that mix with pump on for a day and retest.

 

[pjt]

Rotate your SWCG cell so the hump is down. This ensures the plates are submerged at lower RPM.

 

[bhosmer]

Great. Then add enough salt (pool salt or water softener salt, plain) to get to 3000 ppm. Let that mix with pump on for a day and retest.

Poolmath mentions dichlor and tricholr. Could I do that and tackle the CYA and PH as well instead of plain bleach?

 

[mknauss]

You can. But it is a complicated process. And it will take some time to raise your CYA. And thus you will have greater loss of FC each day.

We recommend using products that address a single issue.

 

[bhosmer]

You can. But it is a complicated process. And it will take some time to raise your CYA. And thus you will have greater loss of FC each day.

We recommend using products that address a single issue.

Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions.

 

[BDY]

Trichlor for example will address chlorine and secondary ph in the short term but long term raise your cya. Then if you stop your cya at the right level you still need to manage chlorine and ph. Or if you keep using tri for chlorine then the cya gets out of control…..

It’s how many moving pieces you are trying to manage with one tool means you can’t manage any of the pieces to the most efficient that you want. Breaking it into smaller pieces to manage and using tools for those pieces (bleach, muriatic acid, cya) means a much finer and nuanced control of your pool.