Greetings, all!
First, a little back story. I'm >50 years old and I've never owned a pool... ever. (Well, except for that one that you drag out onto the lawn and fill on a nice Saturday afternoon so that the kids/grandkids can splash around and play for a whopping 30 minutes or so and then it's left to sit until such time that you have the energy to empty the green water from it and drag it off only to see the 5' brown circle of dead grass on your lawn - I've owned a FEW of those...) Anyway, once my pool was finished last fall, as did many of us, I did an awesome job of keeping up with all of the range chemistry throughout the winter and finally resigned to the fact that I'd probably spend the bulk of my HELOC on muriatic acid and baking soda. I kept up this pace until this past spring when, thankfully to many of you and a few other online resources, I started to learn, at least a little, about chemical relationships, balance, and managing the pH ceiling instead of chasing the pH itself, (and now the acid and baking soda are hardly touched). And just as important, I started learning about the why's of such chemicals which seems to be leading to a better understanding of the "how much's", which ultimately leads to my question.
Because I have a SWG pool and live in the hot and humid southeast, I kept my CYA levels at approx 70-80 ppm while playing "range chemist", all the while keeping pool math happy. However, I'm now finding that to be much too high for my situation and am looking for clarification. I'm currently down to 40 ppm CYA, SWG at 20%, pump running 24/7 - but at 3 varying speeds that produce 3 turnovers daily, and I still have to turn the % down on the SWG regularly to keep FC below 5 or sometimes more. For the life of me, I cannot find TFP's reasoning for suggesting that I'm much too low on CYA and why Pool Math shows me outside both the "target" and "safe" ranges. Can someone explain to me where I'm wrong, if I'm wrong? I'm curious why I should have a higher CYA level that would demand a higher FC level which would then require more % operating time on my SWG, ...all to help protect my SWG??? I'm really lost there. And if I'm not wrong, why the insistence by TFP to say the "safe" range is 60-90 ppm? Isn't it all about protecting the chlorine from being burned off by the sun? And if a lower amount works well with your situation and equipment, shouldn't it be suggested to maintain that lower level instead of flagging said lower level as being outside the "safe" range? I know, I know, first world problems, right? But then again, isn't this where we come to learn to keep our pools trouble free? So maybe there is a good reason? Well, then say so. Teach me. All I can find is that since I use a SWG instead of store-bought chlorine, I need more CYA. ... Why??? I'm going to pose a guess. Is it left over thinking from single speed pump days where the only chlorine being added was during the 6 to 12 hours that the pump was running and now that many of us are running 24/7, the preaching hasn't caught up? And I do know that many folks are still only running their pump for a certain number of hours per day, so maybe some of you can chime in. Do you see a difference in your SWG demand as your CYA changes? Is that why most in the industry suggests such a higher CYA count for SWG operated pools, to account for the 12-18 hours that the SWG isn't on?
Anyway, I'm just trying to figure it out when what I'm doing seems to be working perfectly fine in the situation in which I find myself. And if the preaching just hasn't caught up, maybe we could encourage that a little attention be placed there? But hey, then again, maybe I am just wrong, and here's where you can tell me - Why???
First, a little back story. I'm >50 years old and I've never owned a pool... ever. (Well, except for that one that you drag out onto the lawn and fill on a nice Saturday afternoon so that the kids/grandkids can splash around and play for a whopping 30 minutes or so and then it's left to sit until such time that you have the energy to empty the green water from it and drag it off only to see the 5' brown circle of dead grass on your lawn - I've owned a FEW of those...) Anyway, once my pool was finished last fall, as did many of us, I did an awesome job of keeping up with all of the range chemistry throughout the winter and finally resigned to the fact that I'd probably spend the bulk of my HELOC on muriatic acid and baking soda. I kept up this pace until this past spring when, thankfully to many of you and a few other online resources, I started to learn, at least a little, about chemical relationships, balance, and managing the pH ceiling instead of chasing the pH itself, (and now the acid and baking soda are hardly touched). And just as important, I started learning about the why's of such chemicals which seems to be leading to a better understanding of the "how much's", which ultimately leads to my question.
Because I have a SWG pool and live in the hot and humid southeast, I kept my CYA levels at approx 70-80 ppm while playing "range chemist", all the while keeping pool math happy. However, I'm now finding that to be much too high for my situation and am looking for clarification. I'm currently down to 40 ppm CYA, SWG at 20%, pump running 24/7 - but at 3 varying speeds that produce 3 turnovers daily, and I still have to turn the % down on the SWG regularly to keep FC below 5 or sometimes more. For the life of me, I cannot find TFP's reasoning for suggesting that I'm much too low on CYA and why Pool Math shows me outside both the "target" and "safe" ranges. Can someone explain to me where I'm wrong, if I'm wrong? I'm curious why I should have a higher CYA level that would demand a higher FC level which would then require more % operating time on my SWG, ...all to help protect my SWG??? I'm really lost there. And if I'm not wrong, why the insistence by TFP to say the "safe" range is 60-90 ppm? Isn't it all about protecting the chlorine from being burned off by the sun? And if a lower amount works well with your situation and equipment, shouldn't it be suggested to maintain that lower level instead of flagging said lower level as being outside the "safe" range? I know, I know, first world problems, right? But then again, isn't this where we come to learn to keep our pools trouble free? So maybe there is a good reason? Well, then say so. Teach me. All I can find is that since I use a SWG instead of store-bought chlorine, I need more CYA. ... Why??? I'm going to pose a guess. Is it left over thinking from single speed pump days where the only chlorine being added was during the 6 to 12 hours that the pump was running and now that many of us are running 24/7, the preaching hasn't caught up? And I do know that many folks are still only running their pump for a certain number of hours per day, so maybe some of you can chime in. Do you see a difference in your SWG demand as your CYA changes? Is that why most in the industry suggests such a higher CYA count for SWG operated pools, to account for the 12-18 hours that the SWG isn't on?
Anyway, I'm just trying to figure it out when what I'm doing seems to be working perfectly fine in the situation in which I find myself. And if the preaching just hasn't caught up, maybe we could encourage that a little attention be placed there? But hey, then again, maybe I am just wrong, and here's where you can tell me - Why???
I'm going to place some articles below to help answer that question. But yes, for the efficiency and longevity of your SWG we recommend a CYA of at least 70. Otherwise your cell will need to run longer and at a higher output and it will shorten its life. Also, pool/water turnover is not a concern for a well maintained, properly chlorinated pool. As long as you are testing with a proper test kit, that's all that matters. Checkout the links below and let us know if you still have questions.
