Just too far out of wack....I need help!

[JBJ4L]

I've been a TFP practitioner for the past 3 years and I have to tell you, our pool in south Florida couldn't have been better. But recently I moved Southern California and my new home has a 22,500 gallon pool with an automatic cover. Pump and DE filter appear fine, but today I got my new TFP test kit after leaving my old kit for the new owners, and I've got to tell you the numbers are scary, and I'm not sure where to start.

PH 7.5
CL- 16.5
CC- .5
TC- 17.0
Calcium 800
TA 130
CYA 100

The system has a auto chlorinator (pucks) which is going to have to go as I intend to use 10% Sodium Hypochlorite. I'm worried about the Calcium levels (the pool has scaling) and the chlorine/CYA levels. Using the Pool Calculator I'll need to drain 68% of the water to get them both down and I "think" I know what I have to do. But I'm looking for some experience/wisdom. Do I remove the scale first, drain the pool 70%, fill and start testing to get balance? What would you do?

 

[Richard320]

Where in SoCal?

How bad is the scaling? Unsightly, or capable of giving you roadrash?

If it's capable of drawing blood, then you might as well bite the bullet and have it acid washed or bead blasted or something.

If it's just ugly but you can live with it, lower CYA to 70-80 for now, and get the TA down to 60-70. That plus the lower CH plus maintaining pH at the low end of safe will keep the CSI negative to neutral and stop further scaling. It might even loosen some of the existing scale. Then periodically drain off another inch or two onto the lawn and use the irrigation water to refill and slowly bring the CYA down further. You might want to rerun the CYA test using the dilution method just to see how far you're above 100, if at all. SoCal pools are open year-round, but they don;t get the rainwater dilution you'd get in Florida, so it's quite common to start with CYA above 200. I did.

 

[woodyp]

What is the hardness level of your fill water?