Just getting started in Keller Texas

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ajones02

ajones02

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Feb 4, 2010
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Keller, Texas
hello everyone, i'm new to the forum and was referred here from a pool building forum (gardenweb) by numerous members on that site. i did take time to read pool school and it gave me crazy head. but after reading through it again it made considerably more sense. brief history, pool was completed around the 1st of february and started up, salt was added after 6 days to my dismay and concern but luckily no issue have arose with our pebblesheen interior. we had pool school in the middle of february and i took a water sample to the local leslies pool supplies to have it tested since i did not have my test kit (TF100) in hand. the first full test was completed on the 28th of february and i have since gave it the full test twice since then. here are the results of all test and dates they were completed: also i have tested the chlorine and PH at least 5 times each week.

02/28 (Leslies)
FAC .5 (added 4 lbs of shock)
PH 7.6
TA 80
CH 230
CYA 20
pposphates 100
salinity 3800

03/10 (test completed by me)
FC 7.5
CC 1.0
TC 8.5
PH 7.6
TA 110
CH 260
CYA 20
salinity 3450 (reading from remote)

03/22 (tested by me)
FC 8.5
CC .5
TC 9.0
PH 7.6
TA 90
CH 270
CYA 20
salinity 3600 (reading from remote)

the FC seems to be a bit high as there are times where i can actually smell the chlorine. the SWG is set at 60% and although we had some cooler weather over the weekend, temps have been in the 60's for the past couple of weeks. do i need to lower the % in the SWG to get the chlorine level down or is this reading ok?

anything else jump out at you that i need to address immediately?

thanks everyone for your feedback and look forward to any responses good or bad that i may get!

:cheers:
 
The only other thing that jumps out at me is that you need to have more CYA for an SWG. Somewhere around 80ppm is what's recommended. Your owners manual wil have a suggestion as well. In hot Texas it won't be long before you'll need that CYA to protect the chlorine you're producing.
 
Your FC is too high; I would suggest decreasing the %. Increase your CYA to about 60-80 and turn the % down a little each day until you reach the ideal levels according to the SWG section of the CYA/FC Chart.

Edit - if you don't see the FC dropping just turn the unit off for 24 hours or so until the level comes down.
 
thanks for the quick response. i have reduced the SWG to 50% so i will continue to monitor that. it appears that i will need 8.25 pounds of stabilizer to bring my total up to 75 PPM per my owners manual. i was reading on this site that i should add this to a sock and place in the skimmer or is there a different way to add this based on the amount needed? also, if i'm understanding this chemistry thing, if i keep my CYA at 60-80 i should potentially be able to reduce my % of chlorine output with the SWG because the FC will not be used up as quickly?
 
Hi,

ajones02 said:
the FC seems to be a bit high as there are times where i can actually smell the chlorine. .......................................
anything else jump out at you that i need to address immediately?
Click to expand...

Well, you reported CC of 1.0 which indicates the need to shock. Also, the chlorine smell sounds suspicious.

I suggest you do the overnight test to rule out organics.

Welcome to the forum :wave:
 
ajones02 said:
thanks for the quick response. i have reduced the SWG to 50% so i will continue to monitor that. it appears that i will need 8.25 pounds of stabilizer to bring my total up to 75 PPM per my owners manual. i was reading on this site that i should add this to a sock and place in the skimmer or is there a different way to add this based on the amount needed? also, if i'm understanding this chemistry thing, if i keep my CYA at 60-80 i should potentially be able to reduce my % of chlorine output with the SWG because the FC will not be used up as quickly?
Click to expand...
8 lbs is about right. The sock in the skimmer is for convenience; you might try adding it in batches over a number of hours -- with or without sock. It will take longer to disperse in cold water than when the water is at swimming temperature, so adding over time probably makes sense. The CYA keeps chlorine in reserve so you'll probably notice the FC level climbing. At that point you can reduce the SWG enough to maintain target levels.

Please do the overnight free chlorine test first, per Butterfly, before you add any CYA. If you find that shocking is required, it will be a bit faster and easier with low CYA.
 
Ok, so to recap:

Do an overnight FC loss test. If the FC holds, you don't need to shock. If you lose more than 1ppm, you need to shock. Do this before you increase the CYA level, because you'll require less bleach for the shock process.

We recommend a sock for the CYA, so that you can clean/backwash the filter if necessary, without losing any CYA. If you were to pour CYA directly into the skimmer, it would sit in the filter dissolving slowly. If you then backwashed, some of it could be lost.

You can tie the sock off in front of a return as well. I found better results this way on my pool. Once you add the CYA, do not retest it for 5-7 days, as it takes that long to completely register on tests.

Yes, you will be able to keep a lower setting on the SWG by maintaining the recommended CYA level.
 
thanks again everyone, i will perform the test tonight and in the morning. forgive me for asking as i'm sure the answer is on the site somewhere. butterfly mentions above that because i had a cc reading of 1.0 that indicates that i need to shock. is there a chart located somewhere that would a) tell me when i need to shock the pool and b) how much bleach to add to my size of pool for the shock process? also, my PB has stated to not buy anything from a pool store in regards to shock or chlorine and to just crank up my SWG to 100% for about 24 hours but in reading here on this site, that process doesn't raise the FC quickly enough and i will follow the directions here.

thanks again for all of the information!
 
ajones02 said:
thanks again everyone, i will perform the test tonight and in the morning. forgive me for asking as i'm sure the answer is on the site somewhere. butterfly mentions above that because i had a cc reading of 1.0 that indicates that i need to shock. is there a chart located somewhere that would a) tell me when i need to shock the pool and b) how much bleach to add to my size of pool for the shock process? also, my PB has stated to not buy anything from a pool store in regards to shock or chlorine and to just crank up my SWG to 100% for about 24 hours but in reading here on this site, that process doesn't raise the FC quickly enough and i will follow the directions here.

thanks again for all of the information!
Click to expand...
Generally, if your CC test .5 or above, it is an indication of a need to shock. The fact that you smell chlorine (most likely you are smelling cc's) is another indicator.

It is all in Pool School :wink: You can read How to Shock Your Pool and it will give you some guidelines of when to shock.

For how much bleach to add to your pool to shock it, you need to use Jason's Pool Calculator. Link in my sig.

If you have any problems figuring out how to use the calculator or how much bleach to add to shock, or any questions about the overnight test, please post back and someone will be here to help you. :-D Not a problem. That's why we are all here.
 
thanks butterfly for the quick response. everyone on this site has been amazing and i can't begin to tell you how much i appreciate it. i think i have the overnight test figured out. here are tonights results and i will post the morning results before heading off to work.

FC 6.0
CC .5
TC 6.5

thanks again everyone!
 

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ok, here are the result from this mornings test:

FC 5.5
CC .5
TC 6.0

what kind of pictures should i post according to casey?

not sure i've mentioned it but the pool water looks perfect.

thanks again for any and all assistance!
 
also wanted to mention in case it matters is that when testing for CC's after adding the R003 solution, the water does not turn dark pink like it appears when first adding the powder. this morning it was a very shade of pink. not sure that matters.

thanks again
 
You are golden, the loss was only .5 so you don't need to shock. :goodjob:

We like to "observe" other folks' pools. So any pic that displays it in all it's glory will do. :mrgreen: (Use Photobucket.com or a similar photo host site, then copy and paste the IMG code.-select the "large" size when uploading.)

Is the "smell" better or gone?
 
ajones02 said:
also wanted to mention in case it matters is that when testing for CC's after adding the R003 solution, the water does not turn dark pink like it appears when first adding the powder. this morning it was a very shade of pink. not sure that matters.

thanks again
Click to expand...

Sounds normal for the result. If the CC were higher the pink would likely be darker.
 
i didn't notice the smell at all this morning so that's a great thing. also, guess i can move forward with adding the conditioner/stabilizer?

here are a couple of pics of the pool





Thanks again everyone!
 
thanks all for the compliments and a special shout out to flower mound, really nice area and better golf courses!!!!!!!!

i will get by the pool place tomorrow or the next day and begin to add the stabilizer over the weekend.

again, thanks for the assistance, it's really appreciated!

i'm sure i will be back on here before long!
 

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