Kids Eye Burning and Red

[mbeavers1]

Hi all,

Just got my pool all SLAMed and SWG up and running. This weekend was the first time we have been in the pool. All my chemistry seems to be almost perfect sonI cant figure out why the kids eyes are so red and burning. I just tested and here are the numbers.

PH = 7.8
FC = 8.5
CC =0
CYA = 50
TA = 70
CH = 420
Salt = 3800
Temp = 84
CSI = 0.04

My FC is a bit high as I am still working my way down tweaking SWG and increasing CYA. Any ideas what could be causing the irritation?

 

[Newdude]

Any ideas what could be causing the irritation

With those #'s, i have a very good idea. Either last years sunscreen, or they changed the formula for this year.

 

[mbeavers1]

Lol, pretty sure no sunscreen involved

 

[Newdude]

A Ph of 8 or above will bother some people, as will CCs. Until anyone has a better idea, i'll double down that something got into their eyes VS their eyes got into irritating pool water. Hang tight for more thoughts

 

[Mdragger88]

The ph of tears is about 7.5 so maybe it being a little high @ 7.8 is irritating sensitive eyes.
Try adjusting that & see what it yields u.
Also just swimming & rubbing the eyes alot can get u after a while. I try to remind them (& myself) not to rub. The fc isn’t crazy high & we’ve been in higher at that cya level w/ no irritation. No cc’s (which is a usual culprit) so that’s good . The salt is a little high (as 3600 is ideal for that unit) but that shouldn’t be an irritation issue.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Two questions -

1. Are you running the SWG while they are in the pool?

2. How long are they playing in the water for?

 

[mbeavers1]

Two questions -

1. Are you running the SWG while they are in the pool?

2. How long are they playing in the water for?

1. Yes. It was running at 70%.
2. They were only in it an hour or 2 yesterday before getting very red eyes. Today was about 3 hours.

I will also say, they swam for hours and hours when I used liquid last year. Pollen is possible because ita crazy here in Houston now, but it doesn't do this when they are not in the pool.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Turn off the SWG while they are in the pool.

Enforce breaks. 20 mins or so in the water and then they come out for 10 mins to rest and rehydrate. Then back in again. Children are not good at knowing their limits in a pool and will not only exhaust themselves physically but also spend way too much time under water with their eyes open. I guarantee that if you swam under and around water with it splashing in your eyes for 2 hours straight, you would have red irritated eyes too.

 

[PoolStored]

IC-60, with a 22K pool, at 70% may be your issue.

Do you run your pump 24/7? Or for shorter periods of time at a high output?

You may want to run your pump at lower speeds, 24/7, and reduce the % output on the IC-60. Will reduce the $$ on electric for the pump, and reduce the FC load/impact of running @ 70% for shorter periods of time.

See: SWG Run Time Calculator

 

[Newdude]

Long swims got my kids everytime. They were thrilled to never need their goggles, but a few hours later they hurt anyway. Half from impromtu drying/rubbing like @Mdragger suggested and half from only coming up for air 3 times in 2 hours like @JoyfulNoise said.

They looked different too. It was more irritated/ puffy / pink / allergy looking than the traditional CC bloodshot eyes that they would have had in 15 mins in anyone elses pool.

 

[kul]

My daughter gets the red eyes because she likes to swim under water most of the time and not take breaks. She is not great about her goggles. It’s an uphill battle so I just use non medicated eye lubricant drops if needed afterwards and it seems to help her. I think she’s going to have to grow out of this phase on her own.
Maybe try starting with turning off your SWG first and if it doesn’t work enforce some breaks?

 

[Newdude]

I think she’s going to have to grow out of this phase on her own

Me waiting for 13 and 17 to grow out of it

 

[mbeavers1]

IC-60, with a 22K pool, at 70% may be your issue.

Do you run your pump 24/7? Or for shorter periods of time at a high output?

You may want to run your pump at lower speeds, 24/7, and reduce the % output on the IC-60. Will reduce the $$ on electric for the pump, and reduce the FC load/impact of running @ 70% for shorter periods of time.

See: SWG Run Time Calculator

Hi, yea I know it seems like way overkill, but its what I need based on my FC burn rate. My pool is full sun all day. Using liquid with a CYA of 40, I burned 4-5ppm per day. Even now, with the current 70% setting, my pump runs at 1320 rpms for 12hrs. Now my FC is a bit high so I should probably be at about 50%.

I used that calculator spreadsheet when I sized the unit (along with advice from the team here). I could have gotten an IC40 but I would be running it to death.

I know I have no organics because I SLAMed 2 weeks ago before starting my new Swg. I passed all criteria. I have been working my way down in % from the SLAM being careful not to go low then I will increase CYA. Hopefully, I will get that number down more.
For now, I am still checking FC at least 2x per day until I get confident in the system.

As summer gets going, I will be running 24/7 with my Glacier cooler running at night so I will be able to lower the pump speed more so I will drop the % accordingly.

 

[Flying Tivo]

Try running Ph around 7.2-7.4 with hotter temp you will need it anyways to control your CSI.

 

[mbeavers1]

Try running Ph around 7.2-7.4 with hotter temp you will need it anyways to control your CSI.

Actually, I cant get that low. With a pH of 7.6 and a CYA of 70 (planned), my CSI will be -0.21 assuming my other numbers stay the same at 84F. My water wont get a lot warmer than that with our cooler.

I am going to bring it down to 7.6 and see what happens tho