Okay, I just called the RO company bc this was making me crazy. Apparently he tossed in something called sodium metabisulfite prior to the RO. Could that be messing with my numbers?
FC loss due to no CYA or algae?
- Thread starter Pepperdinegal
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 62,674
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Sounds like a dry acid. I do not think it should bother -- but lets ask @JoyfulNoise for his advice.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,695
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Not quite dry acid.
Dry acid is sodium bisulfate. It is the sodium salt (partially neutralized acid) of sulfuric acid. The bisulfate anion is acidic and lowers pH. When it's done doing that, it leaves behind sodium and sulfate ions in solution.
Sodium metabisulfite is also known as sodium pyrosulfite and it's what you get when you bubble sulfur dioxide gas through a solution of lye. The metabilsulfite anion is both an antioxidant and a disinfectant. It's used as a chlorine reducing agent as it will convert chlorine into chloride.
The RO process theoretically removes all dissolved solids from the water. However, RO is never 100% efficient and if there was a significant amount of metabisulfite added prior to RO, the residual could still be causing you chlorine demand problems. I would suggest performing a SLAM until you can hold chlorine over night with less than a 1ppm FC loss. Then maintain your FC on the high side of your target range for a while.
- May 3, 2014
- 62,674
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Matt -- any ideas why the stabilizer added is not showing up? I know typically that is either testing error or poor CYA quality.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,695
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Not sure. The RO would remove much of the CYA in the pool water and liquid stabilizer should bring it back up quickly ... it's hard to believe that many gallons of product are bad but I suppose it's possible.
@Pepperdinegal - have you tried taking a sample to a pool store to see what their analysis says? How old are your reagents?
@Pepperdinegal - have you tried taking a sample to a pool store to see what their analysis says? How old are your reagents?
My regents don’t expire until 03/26 but I will take a sample to a pool store tomorrow to see. At what point am I safe to assume that the liquid isn’t going to show up and go ahead an add dry stabilizer in socks in front of a return? I really don’t want to overshoot 70.
The biggest issue is that we’re set yo go out of town Friday and I need to get the pool to hold chlorine before I go. I’ve been adding a gallon every 5-6 hours to keep my number up to 12 (it drops to 8 after about 5-6 hours).
Worst case scenario, if it’s not holding chlorine by the time we leave I think I’ll need to get some pucks and put those in there while we’re gone.
The biggest issue is that we’re set yo go out of town Friday and I need to get the pool to hold chlorine before I go. I’ve been adding a gallon every 5-6 hours to keep my number up to 12 (it drops to 8 after about 5-6 hours).
Worst case scenario, if it’s not holding chlorine by the time we leave I think I’ll need to get some pucks and put those in there while we’re gone.
- May 3, 2014
- 62,674
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
See what the pool store says on CYA. It should be in a range that they should at least indicate you have some in the water.
Your SWCG should be able to generate chlorine. Just have to run it more to keep FC up to a couple ppm during the day.
Your SWCG should be able to generate chlorine. Just have to run it more to keep FC up to a couple ppm during the day.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,695
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I would definitely float some pucks if the CYA is still low and you can’t get FC to hold. The pucks will at least keep a constant supply of FC going.
5 pucks is 40oz of trichlor. In a 30k gallon pool that will only add 6ppm to the CYA. I would put two floaters in the pool and fill them to the top with pucks.
5 pucks is 40oz of trichlor. In a 30k gallon pool that will only add 6ppm to the CYA. I would put two floaters in the pool and fill them to the top with pucks.
FC held better last night. Went from 11 to 9 in about 12 hours. Will take a water sample to the pool store when it opens to see what they find the CYA to be. Will also pick up some pucks just in case. Those plus the SWG will hopefully keep it in range while we’re gone. If the CYA is still reading <30 by Friday, do you think it’s safe to assume the liquid stabilizer was junk and go ahead and add dry? That would’ve given the liquid 6 days to show up.
- May 3, 2014
- 62,674
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I would not add stabilizer in greater than 10 ppm steps.
That natural chemistry brand of liquid stabilizer is touted as a salt so not sure if that effects its effectiveness.
That’s a good plan.
In another note, I’m seeing some orange/brownish stains since adding in the salt last Friday. It’s only visible in certain shaded light. Any ideas if it could be correlated?
In another note, I’m seeing some orange/brownish stains since adding in the salt last Friday. It’s only visible in certain shaded light. Any ideas if it could be correlated?
- May 3, 2014
- 62,674
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I’ll go ahead and try the vitamin C but the water is too cold to get in the pool right now. Is it okay to leave it until the spring to deal with it or will leaving it that long cause negative effects?
- May 3, 2014
- 62,674
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
You can leave it
Never heard an issue with that brand. Always brush it around. Do not let it sit on the pool surface.
Never heard an issue with that brand. Always brush it around. Do not let it sit on the pool surface.
Okay, finally got to the pool store and their test said CYA of 33. I’m going to go ahead and add 2lb of dry stabilizer at a time and slowly bring it up 10 at a time over the course of a week or so. The more shocking number was a CH of 140. I guess I was so concerned with getting it down from 1200 that I didn’t even think about it going too low. Is that something I need to address asap or will it slowly rise over time? I don’t want to do damage to the plaster.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 15,911
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
One of the foundations of TFP is testing the water with your own test kit. We don't trust p@@l St@ore testing. You can't imagine the number of times it is wrong.
I would not make any adjustments based on p@@l st@re testing. Get a proper test kit first.
Here are our recommended kits. Link-->Test Kits Compared
I do have a proper testing kit but several members suggested that I get a “second” opinion bc after adding the proper amount of stabilizer, I was still not able to get a reading.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 15,911
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Yes, Marty made the suggestion on the CYA to confirm you at least had some. Not a suggestion to test other levels at the PS,
What does your test give you for CH?
CH is one of the tests that are *really* worse in the PS.
