My first pool, am I doing this right? Please be gentle

[cpye2]

Hello all. This is my first go around with a swimming pool. Here are the criticals:
30,000-32,000 gallons, vinyl, in ground, outdoor, Non-SWCG (not saltwater), full sun most of the day

Currently I use the BBB method I have learned about on this forum (baking soda, borax, and bleach)

When I moved into the home in January the owner had left the water sparkling clean. Over the winter some leaves got into the pool and I figured out how to vacuum them out, clean the skimmers, and backwash/rinse the sand pump. The owner left several bottles of gimmicky pool supplies and a 5 gallon bucket of 3 in tabs, bottles of bleach, boxes of borax, and several test kits and strips. I took pics of everything and read up on what everything was, and how to vary the levels of the readings from the Taylor test kit.

I haven't had a problem testing / balancing the pool water, however, when I first measured the CYA it was really high. I assume in the 400s after my diluted attempts. I googled and decided to pump water out and refill. Water is back up to level now and these are my current readings:
FC: 7
TA: 70
PH: 7.8
CYA: 42

All that seams to be right on par with PoolMath table and I am happy with the way the pool looks. I feel it is safe to swim once the weather warms. I never shocked the water after adding new water from the city tap. The current water temp is 70 degrees F and it will warm up much more in the near future. I live in south east Georgia and the heat will get up 95-100 for several months this summer. My concern is how much bleach I am adding daily to maintain a level of 4-7. Each night I raise the FC level up to 7 and by the next day its back down to 4. Today I tested the CC with the Taylor kit and CYA again. CYA was right at 42 and after adding the 5 drops to test the CC the water was still clear. I assume it is 0. I used one of the test strips to be safe and the TC was somewhere between 3-4, which makes since since my FC reading with the Taylor kit was 3.8 before adding bleach. I use the CYA/FC chart on this site to get my FC goals. My concern is, is adding a gallon of bleach a day normal? I use Great Value 6% and its about $1.80 a gallon after taxes. Obviously I'm happy with the pool, but trying to save some money on bleach. Any help or recommendation would be useful. Thanks!

 

[Mr Bruce]

Hi cpye2, welcome to TFP! Everything looks good to me, just a couple things. Could you edit your signature with your pool info: size, filter, test kit (I know you mention Taylor but the exact one matters). Also, I wasn't sure where "Martinez" is but I see that's in SE GA from your post. If you could add that to your location that would be great for future readers of your posts.

Just to be clear, anything that isn't a Taylor 2006 or a TFP test kit, especially the strips, is not worth keeping. The tabs can be used for vacations and organic stain removal.

To answer your specific question, a gallon of 6% bleach per day (especially in the spring) seems to be somewhere between reasonable and and a little high. An Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT) would rule out anything that could be consuming your chlorine above a "normal" demand. Great job on doing the homework and being informed beforehand!

 

[Jimrahbe]

c,

Welcome to TFP... A great place to find the "Gentle" answers to all your pool questions...

Pools use between 2 to 4 ppm of FC each day.. With a 30K pool, that will require about 128 oz. of 6% bleach each day.. just to maintain an FC usage of only 2ppm.

This is why so many people choose to go with saltwater pools... Instead of buying and dumping chlorine in each day, the SWCG makes it for you. The overall cost is about the same, but you don't need to make all those trips to the grocery store...

One thing you can do is increase your CYA to 60 and see what that does to your daily usage..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[cpye2]

The test kit is a Taylor 2006. I only use the test strips one time a week to verify accuracy of my Taylor test kit readings (kind of like getting a second opinion). Martinez is right outside of the Augusta, GA. Thanks for recommending a link, I'll give it a read. I'm not keen on throwing the tabs in after getting the CYA back below 50, but I am going on vacation for about 4 nights in 2 weeks and will have to do something.

 

[cpye2]

Hi cpye2, welcome to TFP! Everything looks good to me, just a couple things. Could you edit your signature with your pool info: size, filter, test kit (I know you mention Taylor but the exact one matters). Also, I wasn't sure where "Martinez" is but I see that's in SE GA from your post. If you could add that to your location that would be great for future readers of your posts.

Just to be clear, anything that isn't a Taylor 2006 or a TFP test kit, especially the strips, is not worth keeping. The tabs can be used for vacations and organic stain removal.

To answer your specific question, a gallon of 6% bleach per day (especially in the spring) seems to be somewhere between reasonable and and a little high. An Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT) would rule out anything that could be consuming your chlorine above a "normal" demand. Great job on doing the homework and being informed beforehand!

I'll give that a night test a try tomorrow, would have done it today but just added bleach to get back to around FC 7.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hey there Cype2, I just wanted to mention another option for your 4 nights away. You can raise your FC up to the SLAM level with bleach and use a cover over the pool and when you return it should be in good shape.

Do you have cover?

Remember that when doing the CYA test, if the result is over the line (say over 40 where you *want* to say it's like 45) it is 50. There are no half ways or partial results... it will be always be the next higher number.

And finally... making it out to the course this week??

Maddie

 

[cfherrman]

Throw the test strips away, they are not accurate and will lead you in circles.

 

[cpye2]

Hey there Cype2, I just wanted to mention another option for your 4 nights away. You can raise your FC up to the SLAM level with bleach and use a cover over the pool and when you return it should be in good shape.

Do you have cover?

Remember that when doing the CYA test, if the result is over the line (say over 40 where you *want* to say it's like 45) it is 50. There are no half ways or partial results... it will be always be the next higher number.

And finally... making it out to the course this week??

Maddie

No Masters for me, still havent found that magical ticket connection yet. I may go downtown to the concert tonight 'Major Rager' as they call it. I do have a tarp in the shed that I assumed the previous owner used as a cover. Thats not a bad idea about the SLAM. I was considering doing a SLAM if the overnight FC test shows something is consuming my chlorine overnight. The CYA test is not near 45, its closer to 40 thats why I say 42. I put a little water in last night since we havent gotten a good rain in a while.

 

[bdrums]

Just as a reference, here in the Houston area I use about 1/2-2/3 gallon of 8.25% bleach per day in my 16,000 gallon pool that gets full sun all day. So your pool's demand seems consistent with mine.

For reducing cost look for a bulk chemical outlet/store. Not far from me is a place that has a tank of 12% bleach and they will fill your containers. I used to take 2 - 7 gal aqua tainers (check Amazon) and get filled up. Saved quite a bit of money and reduced recycling. However, these things are HEAVY when full and I decided not to hassle with the weight anymore.

 

[cpye2]

Just as a reference, here in the Houston area I use about 1/2-2/3 gallon of 8.25% bleach per day in my 16,000 gallon pool that gets full sun all day. So your pool's demand seems consistent with mine.

For reducing cost look for a bulk chemical outlet/store. Not far from me is a place that has a tank of 12% bleach and they will fill your containers. I used to take 2 - 7 gal aqua tainers (check Amazon) and get filled up. Saved quite a bit of money and reduced recycling. However, these things are HEAVY when full and I decided not to hassle with the weight anymore.

Sodium Hypochlorite That Performs–Olin Chlor Alkali <-These people are right by my office and offer a sodium hypochlorite that starts at 5% on up to 30%. I dont know if I can get my hands on it, but guess its worth a try. 1 gallon of 30% would probably cut my pour 80%.

 

[triptyx]

That 25% will degrade very quickly - don't buy too much of it at once (not more than a few gallons at a time depending on your daily usage needs).

 

[cpye2]

Hi cpye2, welcome to TFP! Everything looks good to me, just a couple things. Could you edit your signature with your pool info: size, filter, test kit (I know you mention Taylor but the exact one matters). Also, I wasn't sure where "Martinez" is but I see that's in SE GA from your post. If you could add that to your location that would be great for future readers of your posts.

Just to be clear, anything that isn't a Taylor 2006 or a TFP test kit, especially the strips, is not worth keeping. The tabs can be used for vacations and organic stain removal.

To answer your specific question, a gallon of 6% bleach per day (especially in the spring) seems to be somewhere between reasonable and and a little high. An Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT) would rule out anything that could be consuming your chlorine above a "normal" demand. Great job on doing the homework and being informed beforehand!

Added a gallon of bleach Friday afternoon to know I'd be back around FC 7. Tested the water at 7:45PM Saturday and FC was 7.5. Tested this morning at 11:15AM and it was 7.5. Its been cloudy the past 2 days, very little sun light so I will contribute my bleach usage to sun burn off.