Hayward Blue Essence - how to Read/too much Chlorine

When your kit comes run all the tests & post them up here in this thread.
Fc
Cc
Ph
Ta
Ch
Cya
Salt
Hopefully the copper result is wrong. Has it consistently been 0.3 or is that new?
Have you noticed any staining or green hair/fingernails?
You said in a previous post that you used Leslie’s perfect weekly. Any other pool store potions? 🧪
The tolerance on the copper test is 0.3ppm so maybe a false positive. I got the same result from Leslie’s with brand new water.
 
A sudden copper result of 0.3 without previous measurable amounts & no copper containing products used or low ph instances is suspect.
If you had one of those other things you could reasonably assume you had a problem but the 1 copper test alone is not definitive.
 
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Thx. Looking back I have gotten 0.1 multiple times. Hopefully margin of error. Zero clue how it would have gotten in. Everything is brand new and nothing funky has gotten in. Hasn’t even been swam in, in 2 months.
 
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Great job ordering one of the recommended test kits!

While you are waiting for your test kit to arrive, fill out your signature with
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This assists us in providing you help without needing to ask you each time.
 
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Just did all my testing with my new kit before 3 inches of rain. Here are the numbers:

FC- 7
CC- 0
TC- 7
CH- 500
TA- 80
CYA- 47

Open to any thoughts. Thanks.
 
Just did all my testing with my new kit before 3 inches of rain. Here are the numbers:

FC- 7
CC- 0
TC- 7
CH- 500
TA- 80
CYA- 47

Open to any thoughts. Thanks.
I don’t see ph?
Your cya counts as 50 for chlorination purposes. (Always round up if between two lines)
So your fc is fine
FC/CYA Levels
Cya of 50 in a swcg pool is a little low but ok for wintertime if you’re swcg is maintaining ok (which it seems to be doing) once things start warming back up & the high uv days return you’ll want 70ppm or so.
IMG_8558.jpeg

IMG_8559.jpeg
It is ok for people, equipment, & surfaces for fc to be anywhere between minimum & slam level for your cya so don’t sweat being a scootch above target 🎯 (although we don’t recommend skirting minimum as that risks algae & nasties🤢)
What % & run time are you currently set at?

Your Ch is a bit high especially for 5 month old water.
What is the ch of your fill water?
Have you used any calcium containing products?
 
PH is about 7.6. It’s always on the high end.

Swcg is set at 5% and runs 8 hrs.

Again, pool was a bit low when I pulled this water so not sure if there would be much of a difference now that we had 3 inches of rain here overnight.

The only thing I have ever put in the pool has been “perfect weekly” from the early pool store days. And cyanuric acid powder/conditioner
 
Also, I am getting a CH of 400 for my fill water.

To bring the cya level up a bit, especially once weather warms, any advice on the best way.

Given my numbers I have shared, please let me know if anything I should address or adjust. I’ll test again next week and post new figures. Thanks
 
Also, I am getting a CH of 400 for my fill water.
That’s pretty high.
Do you have a softener for your house? If so you’d do best to top off with softened water & also take advantage of calcium free rain water when possible.
You should use PoolMath & turn on Csi tracking to be sure you don’t get into scaling territory which can effect your surfaces & equipment. You’ll need to enter your water temp as well.
Your current ch is manageable but it will only continue to rise if you don’t get a deliberate plan about making up for water lost to evaporation.
To bring the cya level up a bit, especially once weather warms, any advice on the best way.
We recommend granular cya via the sock method 🧦
Goes like so👇
- Put the PoolMath
prescribed amount in a sock & tie a knot in the end
(skimmer sock/panty hose/ old gym sock etc)
- hang said sock infront of a running return jet away from the pool wall
Some people use a rope or a stick or even a pool dipper net to achieve this.
- squeeze said sock periodically to help it dissolve
**Sneak up on your target in increments of 10ppm so you don’t risk overshooting.
Test 24hrs after each addition.
PH is about 7.6. It’s always on the high end.
Any ph in the 7’s is fine 👍🏻 when it rises to 8 bring it back down to mid 7’s.
Swcg is set at 5% and runs 8 hrs.
Here’s what that yields each day.
IMG_8563.png
You may want to turn that back up a little touch now to maintain what you’ve got and stay in target 🎯 range
FC/CYA Levels
especially if you don’t plan on testing for a week. If you need more fine tuning you can adjust run time.
Here’s a quick video of how to play with the calculator for figuring runtimes & %

Given my numbers I have shared, please let me know if anything I should address or adjust. I’ll test again next week and post new figures. Thanks
Everything looks fine 👍🏻
Remember that while there’s no reason to set the swcg to make excessive amounts of chlorine a little extra is ok. It means you have a buffer.
Being too low however,
(below minimum for your cya)
is asking for trouble.
Also Note*
If/when your water temp falls below 50 degrees the swcg cell will shut off & no longer produce chlorine.
At this time you will need to manually chlorinate with liquid chlorine.
Some people alternatively choose to use trichlor chlorine tablets if they can take the cya rise & are ok with managing their acidic effects.
 
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-I do have a water softener so I can possibly top off once some rain water evaporates. She’s full!
- water temp is about 65. I’ll be kicking on the heater soon as I’m in Tampa and we will be using it all winter.
-I have the granular CYA and do the sock method. I’ll do another application and test.
-I’ll up my SWCG to 10 and see where we go
From there.

Thank you for all of the tips. I’ll be back with an update as I learn. Appreciate it.
 

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Many are able to hang out with cya around 60 in the winter as the uv exposure is much lower so no rush to increase cya.
Remember that as cya increases so does the necessary fc level. Always follow the chart FC/CYA Levels.
You’ll experience some evap in winter but the summer time is when you’ll have the most usually.
If you’re covering the pool (which we suggest if you’re heating) this will help reduce evaporation & also retain fc as it lowers the uv exposure. Many who cover also find their ph rise will slow.
 
Just tested after a week. Earlier in the week I did 1 cup of CYA using sock method. The pool was 66 degrees at the time. I recently turned the heater on so this tested water for the past few days has been 82. Here are the numbers below. TC is up from last time. Alkalinity down and CYA down. Am I not adding enough CYA? Anything else I should be adding/doing? Thanks

FC- 9.5
CC- 0
TC- 9.5
CH- 500
TA- 70
CYA- 40
 
Also, for the cya test… not sure how strict the “can’t see the dot” rule is to get an accurate number…

+/-10 is the expected accuracy on the CYA test and round up. Call it as you see it and move on.

Keep your FC on the high side of the FC/CYA chart and you will be fine.


CYA_End_Point.png


 
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