Just want to make sure my chemistry is in line

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RNeumann

Well-known member
Mar 13, 2019
73
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
HI all. First year pool owner here and just wanted to check in and make sure my chemistry looks alright. Here are my test results from 5 min ago.

fc: 6
cc: 0
ph: 8
ta: 70
ch: 50
cya: 50

I think I've got a good handle on the fc. I add about 50oz of 10% each night according to Pool Math. Temps here are ridiculously hot right now and my pool gets a lot of sun, but the pool gets pretty light swim use. Does this sound about right?

I've only ever adjusted the pH once because it was a tad low and it's always been around 7.6-7.8, this is the first time I've seen it above that. If I understand correctly lower pH is the bigger issue, so not sure if I need to adjust down now.

I've raised the TA from 30 to 70 recently and according to the app this is a good place to be.

I really have no idea about the CH so I've never adjusted it. According to the app I should be at 250.

CYA is another one that is tricky for me. Is 50 good spot to be in for the amount of sun my pool gets? I feel like 50oz of chlorine a day isn't terrible as it comes out to about $36 per month. I check it every day around 9pm and it always will drop from 6 to around 2-3. I just want to make sure it's doing its job killing bacteria.

Let me know if anything looks out of line, I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking anything. Thanks!
 
Looks good. CH in a vinyl pool is not significant unless it gets over 400 ppm. No need to add any.

You are adding 1.7ppm FC each day. That is on the low side but if that maintains your FC level in the target range for your 50 CYA, great. If you have some heavy swim days add more LC before the party.

50 CYA is fine.

As your pH is 8, I would lower that to 7.6 with muriatic acid.
 
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mknauss said:
Looks good. CH in a vinyl pool is not significant unless it gets over 400 ppm. No need to add any.

You are adding 1.7ppm FC each day. That is on the low side but if that maintains your FC level in the target range for your 50 CYA, great. If you have some heavy swim days add more LC before the party.

50 CYA is fine.

As your pH is 8, I would lower that to 7.6 with muriatic acid.
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I picked up some muriatic acid and will add it in tonight.

I do have a question regarding the FC levels. If my minimum FC level is 4 does that mean that it should never go below that level? I only test once per day at night and it's always below 4. I would have to test throughout the day to figure out how long it's out of range. Should I be trying to reach a higher FC level at night to keep it above 4?
 
If your minimum is 4, try targeting 7 every day for a couple days. If your FC stays at 4.5 or better, then target 6.5. Then 6. Whatever it takes. Just try to set it so you don't dip below minimum for your CYA. And note that as things warm up and the pool gets more use, you'll lose more FC every day. In a couple weeks you'll have learned your pool's personality and appetite.
 
I will bump up the numbers tonight and see how it goes tomorrow. I've been targeting 6 so I'll probably shoot for 8. My pool gets a lot of sun all day long, would raising the CYA help the chlorine in this instance or would I just end up having to use even more lc to maintain levels? Is there any danger in letting the FC fall below the recommended minimum if the pool is clear and no signs of algae?
 
RNeumann said:
I will bump up the numbers tonight and see how it goes tomorrow. I've been targeting 6 so I'll probably shoot for 8. My pool gets a lot of sun all day long, would raising the CYA help the chlorine in this instance or would I just end up having to use even more lc to maintain levels? Is there any danger in letting the FC fall below the recommended minimum if the pool is clear and no signs of algae?
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For bleach-jug pools, 60 is about as high as you want to go with the CYA. I, personally would leave it at 50 for now so I have room to use trichlor pucks in a floater when I leave town later in the summer.

Letting FC dip too low for too long can let algae gain a foothold. And while it may stay algae-free, it may not be sanitary at lower FC levels. That said, if the pool is otherwise perfect,. missing a day is not going to condemn it to algae any more than you fasting for a day will make you malnourished.
 
Richard320 said:
Letting FC dip too low for too long can let algae gain a foothold. And while it may stay algae-free, it may not be sanitary at lower FC levels. That said, if the pool is otherwise perfect,. missing a day is not going to condemn it to algae any more than you fasting for a day will make you malnourished.
Click to expand...

I will err on the side of caution then and keep the levels a tad higher. I've seen what algae can do to this pool and definitely don't want to deal with that again! Thanks for the advice.
 

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Last night when testing CL I put my new target in at 8 instead of 6. Pool Math had me add right at a gallon of 10%. Tonight when I checked CL it was at 5 so I revised my target to 7. If it holds steady and only drops 3 ppm then according to Pool Math I'll be adding about 50oz per night. That is when the pool has no activity though so on swim days will most likely have to bump up a couple ppm. Thanks again for the advice @mknauss and @Richard320 .
 
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