Hi all,
I took over maintaining my pool this year from the pool company. I have been doing my testing with the TFT100 test kit. All was going well until the last month. I left for vacation for a while and when I got back I got lazy with the testing and now I have issues. Totally my fault for being lazy. I have been having issues all year with maintaining my chlorine level, it getting too low, and my ph level, it being too high. I believe that these are due to me running the water fall feature all day and not having a cover thereby allowing my chlorine to dissipate. Now I have two additional issues, I have a slight algae growth in the pool and I'm getting white flakes at the bottom of the pool and hot tub where the returns are. I assume the white flakes are calcium. Here are my questions:
1. With a minor algae bloom should I slam it? I read the directions for slamming on the site and I am comfortable with doing it but want to make sure that it's the right step versus just getting the chlorine level back in line. Will the chlorine level being correct for a few days rid the pool of the algae or do I have to slam it? I plan on getting the ph and chlorine in range before slamming it. The algae is a slight green bloom on the upper walls and the flat part of the steps but the water still looks relatively clear.
2. Is the only way to lower the calcium level to remove and add new water? Or will adjusting the ph to the right level rid the system of the flakes and lower the CH level over time?
3. Should I clean my filters and SWG before or after I balance the chemical levels and slam the pool if need be?
Thanks everyone for the help. Below are my test results:
Ph 8.2
CL .5
FC 1
CC 0
TC 1
CH 750
TA 120
CYA 60
Salt 3600
I took over maintaining my pool this year from the pool company. I have been doing my testing with the TFT100 test kit. All was going well until the last month. I left for vacation for a while and when I got back I got lazy with the testing and now I have issues. Totally my fault for being lazy. I have been having issues all year with maintaining my chlorine level, it getting too low, and my ph level, it being too high. I believe that these are due to me running the water fall feature all day and not having a cover thereby allowing my chlorine to dissipate. Now I have two additional issues, I have a slight algae growth in the pool and I'm getting white flakes at the bottom of the pool and hot tub where the returns are. I assume the white flakes are calcium. Here are my questions:
1. With a minor algae bloom should I slam it? I read the directions for slamming on the site and I am comfortable with doing it but want to make sure that it's the right step versus just getting the chlorine level back in line. Will the chlorine level being correct for a few days rid the pool of the algae or do I have to slam it? I plan on getting the ph and chlorine in range before slamming it. The algae is a slight green bloom on the upper walls and the flat part of the steps but the water still looks relatively clear.
2. Is the only way to lower the calcium level to remove and add new water? Or will adjusting the ph to the right level rid the system of the flakes and lower the CH level over time?
3. Should I clean my filters and SWG before or after I balance the chemical levels and slam the pool if need be?
Thanks everyone for the help. Below are my test results:
Ph 8.2
CL .5
FC 1
CC 0
TC 1
CH 750
TA 120
CYA 60
Salt 3600