Introduction - David - Sonoma County California

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Fink.dw

Member
May 5, 2019
5
Santa Rosa CA
Hey Y'all,

My wife and I purchased a home with a pool (about 7 months ago) and my pool guy recently just stopped visiting even though he thought it would be great to keep charging me (solved that issue). I have read the forum a ton lately as I have decided to take over the maintenance of my pool (1960's era plaster pool, no hot tub) its kinda Kidney shape and is about 16 ft wide by 35ft long with an 8ft deep end and a 3.5 ft shallow end (about 18-20k gals from what I get). Can some of your experts please advise me on the following:

Test Kit: I have a Leslie's Deluxe DPD tester by Taylor K-1004

Numbers first: TA = 70 Calcium Hardness (Last tested at Leslies was 200); CYA = 40

1.) Is it ok to use Cal Hypo (power powder pack from Leslie's) to chlorinate my pool and have Trichloro-Triazinetrione 3" tabs in a floater to maintain the chlorine levels (I am finding I have to add about 8 oz / every couple days of cal Hypo to maintain FC at 3-4)? I have read some scary stuff about them reacting but not sure if that matters in the water of the pool.

2.) I have been noticing my PH creeps up (I am thinking its because of the Cal Hypo) and have been using Muriatic Acid to combat this, what are the safe handling methods for using MA (also read some scary stuff about MA burns etc)? Currently using about 8 oz/ week to keep PH down to around 7.3-7.4, I use a plastic measuring cup purchased from my local Leslie's and I drizzle the MA in a small stream in front of a Return jet about 18 inches from my coping toward the center of my pool, usually don't bother with gloves or anything just sunglasses (is this safe?)

Any Advice will be greatly appreciated

Thanks,

David
 
Hi David and welcome! :wave: In CA with hard water, don't use Cal-Hypo. You don't need anymore CH. Also be very careful about using tabs for much longer as they will increase your CYA way too fast. Best to use regular bleach at this point. For your test kit, I would recommend obtaining the FAS-DPD to enhance your current set-up. It will basically make it a K-2006 which is one kit we recommend. Test Kits Compared

PH generally increases from aeration (i.e. water features) of perhaps a lot of new water added. Also if the TA is too high, but yours is not. I would avoid the pool store testing if at all possible and trust your own tests. You'll see much better/consistent results. Let us know what else we can do to help.
 
Hello and Welcome to TFP! from one David to another!

the TA=70 is fine. no need to adjust it.
I would recomend using liquid chlorine to add FC to the pool. it doesn't add CH or CYA to the pool. Cal-hypo and trichlor could react it mixed together, but you should never do that. No need to use both types at the same time. Don;t mix them in the same floater.
For the pH rise, using muriatic acid is the best way to lower pH. Using 8oz a week is not too bad. You are adding it correctly to the pool by adding in front of the return with the pump running. MA is a very strong acid so you should use caution. You should use eye protection, but other than that, not much else is necessary. If you get some on your hand, just wash it off thoroughly. Try letting the pH stay bit higher and see if it reduces the need for MA.

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Texas Splash said:
Hi David and welcome! :wave: In CA with hard water, don't use Cal-Hypo. You don't need anymore CH. Also be very careful about using tabs for much longer as they will increase your CYA way too fast. Best to use regular bleach at this point. For your test kit, I would recommend obtaining the FAS-DPD to enhance your current set-up. It will basically make it a K-2006 which is one kit we recommend. Test Kits Compared

PH generally increases from aeration (i.e. water features) of perhaps a lot of new water added. Also if the TA is too high, but yours is not. I would avoid the pool store testing if at all possible and trust your own tests. You'll see much better/consistent results. Let us know what else we can do to help.
Click to expand...
Hey so I decided to dump some bleach in my pool and all i had was about a gallon of the outdoor concentrated Clorox... just realized from trying to find out the percent that maybe this isn't the best stuff for my pool... I put in almost the whole jug.... will this be an issue?
 
Fink.dw said:
I put in almost the whole jug.... will this be an issue?
Click to expand...
You should be okay. If you see some minor foaming or something odd, it's probably the Clorox polymers reacting. It should get oxidized in time by the chlorine.
 
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