First Time Pool Owner - Tired of the "Professionals" Giving Contradictory Information - Am I on the Right Track?

[sweetgerald]

I would shoot for 6 at a minimum to give yourself a 24 hour window more or less garaunteed. I’d go 8-10 to double that.

Given that as an example, and daily consumption of 4ppm (meaning, between morning and evening, when there is sun and activity, it'd consume 4ppm, not overnight correct?)... I will be testing each evening and ensuring that I dose with LC each evening to raise to around 6-8ppm overnight, so it's ready for the next day. Do I have that right? And when not in use, I usually will have the solar cover on, so that should also help with daily loss to sun, at least marginally.

 

[Newdude]

Do I have that right

Yup. Sometimes some swimmer residuals stick around and burn off overnight but for the most part, if you replenish the loss in the evening, it’ll be there in the AM.

You’ll get to know how your pool is consuming in any given month. Change your ranges as needed, leaving plenty to spare. If you’re only losing 3ppm on average that week, Then hit up 6 when you know you have a lot going on the next day.

For the folks who are retired and home, or the work from home-ers looking for something to do mid coffee break, by all means keep close tabs on it. I have teens pulling us in 2 different directions, some days each one is pulling us in 2 different directions with overlapping activities. When I finally have a moment home and free, it’s a wicked thunderstorm because Murphy’s

But once you are at one with your pool you can use your skills to get around all the hiccups and have some FC still there doing it’s thing for next time you test, never touching minimum. So give yourself some safety net based upon the current demands and whatever life is throwing at you that week.

Maybe you waste $40 in chlorine that season because it burns off a little faster at higher levels. Do you even care ? If i told you I could garauntee an easy season for $40 more you’d be digging it out of your pocket before I finished that sentence.

It’s a no brainer with a small Intex pool if life is busy. It’s a stupid no-brainer with an $80k+ investment sitting in the backyard.

 

[sweetgerald]

As an aside, after adding LC in the evening, let's say, to bump FC from 4 to 8ppm, how long should I wait to roll out the solar cover? If 8 is still squarely within swimming comfort, should I give it 30 minutes? an hour? to marinate before covering? No wait at all? I'm guessing that all of those might be viable, but less wait may degrade cover sooner than consistently waiting after adding chemicals.

Currently, based on my limited knowledge, that seems to be the most inconvenient part. I'd love the cover on overnight right after adding chemicals, to retain heat, and already be there when the sun shows up next day. But I feel compelled at the moment to let the filter run for a while after adding chlorine, which means I might be pushing til 10pm or so, and at that point, I just don't feel like covering it haha. Then the next day it feels counterproductive to cover before work (I work from home now indefinitely, given the pandemic, which is convenient for this), only to open it 4 hrs later when the family wants to swim around noon or 1pm.

 

[Newdude]

Depending on your return positions you can cover it immediately after adding. (And after a quick brush of the floor in that area because chlorine is heavier than water and may puddle up below). I ran 24/7 under my cover and just had to aim the returns a bit down to not push the cover away from them.

 

[red-beard]

*also Gerald, when the time comes, MA is totally fine to eyeball. Normally poolmath zeros us in to the last drop, but it’s really not needed here with 10s of thousands of gallons. If you’re 2 cups over/under with a guess, it’s way close enough and no need to risk spillage measuring it out.

I took a 1 gallon clearish plastic jug and marked the outside with 1/2 qt marks up to one gallon. It is a bit more precise than the guessing pour. I was using this to make my LC pours a bit better. With the SWG, I only use it for MA.

On a 1 gallon jug, you can easily get a 1/2 gallon pour by tilting it on its side until it stops.