My neighbor across the street just moved out of his house and told the new homeowners to consult me about how to manage their new pool. Truth be told I was excited because I lead the boring life of a TFPer who does little more than add chlorine to his own pool and ask the neighbor above me how sparkling clear my water looks from his vantage point. As the new neighbor had not moved in yet, I thought it would be prudent to take a water sample to see what I was dealing with. The pool was covered with a solid blue solar cover which I pulled back to reveal some staining and a slight smell of chlorine. My knee jerk reaction was algae and some CC's. Then seeing the water was clear, I attempted to rub the spots and they did not come off easily, if at all. These are the test results using my Taylor K-2006 FC 13 CC 0 TA 160 pH 8 CYA 0 CH 60. A little bit of info on the pool as left by the owner. 20x40 IG vinyl liner, previous owner says its 33K gallons, Hayward SWCG with the dial set to 30 and the slide button set to superchlorinate, single speed pump running 24/7, sand filter, and public water source. The liner is only 4 years old but looks rough and bleached out on the water line. I know he told me he used magic erasers on his liner at times which may account for some of that damage.( I'm still not entirely sure he ever figured out he was damaging his liner) This is the first time I've seen the pool this year. The bleaching of the liner is nothing new, but the staining is. I knew he was a fan of running an ionizer for as long as I can remember so I had the pool store check for copper, they said none. After getting 6" of rain from IDA, I lowered the water level and tested FC this AM. It had risen to 14. Knowing I wished to remove the solar cover entirely in another day, I added 12lbs of CYA which according to pool math should bring me up to 44. I figured that level will suffice for now until we get the pool cleaned and address the staining. I didn't want to touch any equipment without the new owner being present but I did turn the SWCG button back to AUTO and dialed it back to 15 for now. I was going to shut if off to let FC levels drop further, but I will discuss it with the new owner tomorrow.
So my questions are 1) How is it possible for FC to get this high with no CYA? Would a solid color solar cover provide enough protection against UV degradation? 2)While I understand the superchlorinate button runs for 24 hrs is it possible it may cycle again if the button is not turned back to "auto"? 3) Although it tested for no copper, Is it possible this staining is still copper caused by high FC levels with no CYA? 4) Is iron staining a possibility on public water? We live in a cul de sac where the water line ends. As such, we get more than our share of the rust collecting in the lines until it gets flushed. Perhaps my first course of action should be to test the spots with Vitamin C (Iron) and Dry Acid(Copper) to see if that's what I've got? Any ideas and input are appreciated.
I've already sent the new owner TFP links and told him we'll discuss getting him his own test kit. That will make 3 TFPers in the cul de sac!
So my questions are 1) How is it possible for FC to get this high with no CYA? Would a solid color solar cover provide enough protection against UV degradation? 2)While I understand the superchlorinate button runs for 24 hrs is it possible it may cycle again if the button is not turned back to "auto"? 3) Although it tested for no copper, Is it possible this staining is still copper caused by high FC levels with no CYA? 4) Is iron staining a possibility on public water? We live in a cul de sac where the water line ends. As such, we get more than our share of the rust collecting in the lines until it gets flushed. Perhaps my first course of action should be to test the spots with Vitamin C (Iron) and Dry Acid(Copper) to see if that's what I've got? Any ideas and input are appreciated.
I've already sent the new owner TFP links and told him we'll discuss getting him his own test kit. That will make 3 TFPers in the cul de sac!
