First time pool owner - first test results...

[Contentt]

Bought our house recently and first time pool owners, looking for input on first test results. We opened with little knowledge to a green pool and have been learning. Pool service dumped in about 10lbs of shock at open, pool was green for a while so we added more shock, and over 3 weeks the pool store recommended stabilizer, Algae treatments, biopack 100, clarifier, chlorine tabs in the skimmer, scale inhibitor, muriatic acid, Mineral Springs Beginnings and now Renewals. Plan is to move towards our own testing and getting off Mineral springs completely. Our water is currently clear and looks great. I am concerned about scale build up on the water feature wall and need to clean it off.

TF-100 results:
FC: 5.5
CC: 0.5
pH: 7.5
TA: 190
CH: 500
CYA: 50

Thanks.

32K Gallon IG salt water, plastor with separate Spa, built 2005
Intellitouch I9+3 Control, Pentair Challenger high performance single speed pump (1 for pool, 1 for waterfall feature), Pentair Clean & Clear Plus Cartridge Filter, Mineral Springs Bioguard System MS-11, Hayward Salt Cell T-15, Mastertemp 400 heater, Paramount 4&6 port in floor cleaning system.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hiya Contentt

Not knowing what is in this "shock" product you and the pool opening company used....it certainly could be increasing your calcium if it was CalHypo. Stop using anything granular or solid. No pucks. Stop buying all those assorted pool care products (cha-ching$) that the pool store says you need. You don't.

And get rid of that mineral thingamabob... its just adding metals to your water you don't want. It can cause staining to your surfaces and green hair if primarily copper.

Your SWG is sized a bit small for your pool, as we always advise folks to go at least 2x the pool size. So you'll have to keep up on it with frequent testing and augment your FC with liquid bleach or iquid chlorine (bleach with a higher strength) as the need arises.

As to your calcium level, the only way to reduce calcium is to drain some pool water and refill with fresh (assuming your fill water is not terribly hard). Out west they live with hard water and have learned how to manage it by keeping their pH on the low side. Look at PoolMath and use it to determine your CSI. Top of the page.. it will be your new best friend! <look up!> https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/261-Calcium-Saturation-Index-(CSI)

I doubt Vienna has seriously hard water, so I suspect all that stuff added over time has built up.

Have you read in Pool School yet the basic articles on pool chemistry? I'd love to type more but have to leave for work.... Happy 4th.

Maddie

 

[Contentt]

I'm not sure what shock they opened with but they sell Burnout 3, at some point we made a switch to Clorox Pool & Spa XtraBlue Shock from Costco. Now we're trying to stay away from shock and balance properly. We've become aware of the never ending chemicals and plan to get smarter, we've read pool school but need to read it a few more times.

mineral thingamabob? I'm not sure if you're talking about the control panel for the salt cell (Mineral Springs Bioguard System MS-11) which I think Hayward Aquarite bought years ago and is no longer called Mineral Springs. Or are you talking about the mineral springs beginnings/renewals - which I agree the plan is to get off eventually when we get comfortable.

The Salt cell was just replaced, I thought the T-15 was the largest size they offered to work with our panel without having to replace the panel...?

CSI says .33 (potential to be scaling) I need to spend some more time learning how Pool math works...

Overall it sounds like none of our current test results raise any major concerns.

 

[ajw22]

Mineral Springs does not contain iron or copper or other “minerals”. It is high priced pool salt plus borates. You can stop using it immediately with your SWG. If you need to add salt just buy regular pool salt like Mortons Pool Salt from Walmart for $6.50/40 lb bag. Compare that price to what you pay for Beginnings or Renewal.

You probably have good borates in your pool and dont need to add any. Buy borate test strips from Borates Test Strips and see where your pool is. You can do a search here and find information on borates.

Your test results are pretty good. You can add Stabilizer and raise your CYA to 70. See Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart It will make your SWG more efficient. Your CH is a bit high. Study your CSI in PoolMath.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

The Clorox XtraBlue products do contain copper.

I was wrong about the Mineral Springs product, but many of the copper/silver type systems do call them "minerals" to make them sound cool, natural.

This is what the Mineral Springs products contain- (per JoyfulNoise in this thread- BioGuard Mineral Springs
"The Mineral Springs Begin product is just a small amount of cyanuric acid (~1.5%) and the rest is inert, probably salts like sodium chloride. You certainly don't need to buy that as you can simply buy a 6 lbs container of cyanuric acid and use that. The Mineral Springs Renewal product is nothing more than a combination of dry acid (sodium bisulfate), boric acid (adds borates) and phosphonic acid (scale inhibitor). Totally unnecessary as well since you should control pH using muriatic acid, borates you can add separately by purchasing boric acid directly and scale inhibitors are not needed unless you have a high calcium hardness problem or metals in the water."

So I agree its best to get off those multi-ingredient products and start using just the basic ones you can buy at the grocery store. If you know you'll be getting a lot of rain in the forecast and you can drop your water level down an inch and let the rain refill the pool this will go a long way over time in lowering that calcium level. But do keep an eye on things via PoolMath.
Maddie