First time pool owner, getting fresh start, need advice

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A

adhanani

Active member
Aug 22, 2019
38
Round Rock, TX
Pool Size
22000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi,

I had posted back in September when we first moved into our house as a first time pool owner. Wife and I decided to hire a pool company for a month to learn and observe what they did. Since November I've been managing the pool myself, doing the chemistry, pool cleaning and even the filter cartridge cleaning (proud of that one). For full disclosure I was using Lesile's water check to get my chemistry numbers but I've realized in the past month that I can't match with their numbers when I do my own testing. So, I decided to ditch Lesile and fully commit to my own testing. I've been getting better at doing the tests but still need more practice.

OK so now for my numbers:
FC:12
CC:0
pH:7.4
TA:140
CH:400
CYA:210 (did the dilution test)

I know my CYA is really high and for that reason I've kept the FC high as well. I think my best course of action would be to do a half drain at least?

Fill water numbers:
pH: 7.6 (maybe higher, couldn't get a great read here)
TA: 170
CH: 50 (I think, not great at this test. Although I do have my water districts's water report and it mentions Calcium at 42ppm and Hardness as CaCO3 as 179) (http://crossroadsus.com/ccr/2019/2018-CCR-WACH.pdf)

Any other course of action I should consider here?

Thanks.
 
How do you chlorinate your pool?

Your FC is not high enough for your CYA. FC target needs to be about 12% of CYA. That is around 24 for CYA 200.

Yes, you need to replace the bulk of your water to lower your CYA.
 
Great job on doing and trusting your own test results.

The CH from the water report ranges from 179 to 302. So you have very hard water. Luckily you get some rain to supplement your water fill and you should take every advantage of that. Try doing your CH test again of your fill water. Do you have a water softener? If so, be sure to get the sample from an outlet that is not softened.

As Allen says, you need to do nearly a complete changeover of your water. Do you know if you have a high water table in your area? That will determine whether you should drain and refill or exchange.
 
I use 10% liquid chlorine from Home Depot currently.

Yes, I do have very hard water and I have a water softener but the test I did was from the water tap outside that house which i believe is not getting softened. I was planning on holding off the water fill until some of rain is seen in April.

I'll try to do the CH test on the filll water again today.

No clue on the water table will have to look at that up.
 
ajw22 said:
How do you chlorinate your pool?

Your FC is not high enough for your CYA. FC target needs to be about 12% of CYA. That is around 24 for CYA 200.

Yes, you need to replace the bulk of your water to lower your CYA.
Click to expand...

Should I go ahead and bump up the FC? I wanted to lower it to about 1 ppm and that way I can discharge the water in the storm drain.

Am I at risk of algae if I keep here or lower?
 
adhanani said:
Should I go ahead and bump up the FC? I wanted to lower it to about 1 ppm and that way I can discharge the water in the storm drain.

Am I at risk of algae if I keep here or lower?
Click to expand...

Once your FC level falls below the minimum for your CYA, which for your CYA 200 is around 16 you run the risk of algae. The lower the FC is and the warmer the pool water gets the more susceptible the water will be to algae growth.

So either raise the FC level or dump the water or be prepared to SLAM the pool after you refill it.

If you have to let the FC drop before draining then add Polyquat 60, as is done in winter closing, to reduce algae growth. See Algaecide - Further Reading
 
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If your water isnt expensive or penalized where you are you can just hot swap it. Drop a half foot and refill. If you pull with a submersible pump from deep end the colder water will stay down and you will get the majority of pool water and not the fresh warmer water on top. Takes longer this way but no water table fears or issues
 
Thanks Allen!

You've got me nervous now. Water temperature is around 60 degree and we are starting to heat up in Texas (today was 80). My wife is really pushing to wait until the "April Showers" before doing a drain and fill.

I'll go ahead raise the FC and also purchase the Polyquat 60.
 
jimmythegreek said:
If your water isnt expensive or penalized where you are you can just hot swap it. Drop a half foot and refill. If you pull with a submersible pump from deep end the colder water will stay down and you will get the majority of pool water and not the fresh warmer water on top. Takes longer this way but no water table fears or issues
Click to expand...

It would cost me about $100 to swap the entire 22K.

Hot swap - didn't know that was an option. Wouldn't I have to dispose the water that i'm pulling from the pump somewhere though? Storm drain?
 

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jimmythegreek said:
Yes the storm drain. Here nobody would ever test the water from a pool for levels dont know about where you are. The rainy season is the wrong time to drain a pool especially a concrete or fiberglass pool
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I'm in/around Austin, TX. I looked up the city water draining requirements and they mention that pool water needs to have less than 1ppm chlorine to dump in storm drain.

Should I then wait do the water exchange in May?
 
adhanani said:
I'm in/around Austin, TX. I looked up the city water draining requirements and they mention that pool water needs to have less than 1ppm chlorine to dump in storm drain.

Should I then wait do the water exchange in May?
Click to expand...

I do not understand what waiting until May gets you. If you have to stop adding LC, add PQ 60, wait until your FC is 1, then drain to sewer it is the same now or then. The cooler it is when you do it, the less chance of algae.
 
ajw22 said:
I do not understand what waiting until May gets you. If you have to stop adding LC, add PQ 60, wait until your FC is 1, then drain to sewer it is the same now or then. The cooler it is when you do it, the less chance of algae.
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Thinking is that with rain water, we would have to not do a full drain since the rain water would cause some dilution and lowering of the CYA. I doubt though that we will get that much rain.
 
adhanani said:
Thinking is that with rain water, we would have to not do a full drain since the rain water would cause some dilution and lowering of the CYA. I doubt though that we will get that much rain.
Click to expand...

As they say, any rain water will be a drop in the bucket. It will not materially change the amount of draining and water you will need. I say to do it ASAP.
 
Average rain in Austin in April is 2.6 inches and May 4.5 inches. Let’s call it 7 inches. Your pool is probably an average 5 feet, 60 inches deep. So if you get average rain then maybe you will get 10% dilution. That means CYA goes from 200 to 180. It doesn’t change the magnitude of what needs to be done.
 
ajw22 said:
Average rain in Austin in April is 2.6 inches and May 4.5 inches. Let’s call it 7 inches. Your pool is probably an average 5 feet, 60 inches deep. So if you get average rain then maybe you will get 10% dilution. That means CYA goes from 200 to 180. It doesn’t change the magnitude of what needs to be done.
Click to expand...

Thanks Allen for breaking it down. I knew it wouldn't make a sizable dent but the numbers make a perfect case for not waiting.

OK I'm all in doing this ASAP.

Is the general wisdom to do the water exchange instead of a complete drain and then fill?
Should I be concerned about my high hardness that can range from 179 to 302. I'm planning on doing another CH test tomorrow.

Sorry for being persistent. I am really nervous about this.
 
A drain will use less water then a Water Exchange.

An 80% drain is safer then a 100% drain. 4,000 gallons is over 32,000 pounds of water still in your pool holding it down. Drain the pool quickly. Rent a high powered pump and hose. As soon as the drain is done begin refilling with as many hoses as you can get running. When I filled my pool I had 3 hoses running.

Your CH is fine, whatever it is.
 
Update: Yesterday I went ahead with a drain and fill. Drain went pretty smooth. I rented a 1/3 HP sump pump and disposed the water through swear clean-out. I think I did a 60-70% drain. Currently filling up the pool with 2 garden hoses and it's taking a long time.

I have a few questions:
1) Once I have filled the pool to half way up the skimmer, do I need to prime the pool pump by opening up the pump lid and running some water through once the main drain suction and then skimmer suction?
2) Once the pump is running, should I let the pump run for a bit, do the chemistry and start the SLAM process?

Thanks!
 

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