Need advice on keep pool water balanced

[jolismom]

Hi. I’m still quite a novice with TffP method.
I’m using liquid chlorine everyday. I put the amount in every evening to the suggested amount to get to 5ppm FC. And I’ve even put in the amount for a 7 ppm target. But it lowers to 3 or 2 during the day. I feel like that is low and I don’t want to get algae because every year I have an algae problem but so far so good but it’s still early into the season . Last evening at dusk my fc was 2.5. I added chlorine to get to 7. Waited and tested again and it was 6. Tested this morning and it was are my current levels:
FC-3.5
CC-0
PH-7.6
CH-247
CYA-40
Above ground Vinyl pool, 13,500gal, water is clear. I have the Taylor k2006 test kit.
Should I raise my cya a little to keep it at a better level?
I’ve been testing 3 times per day when I can because I’m so afraid of getting algae again. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[jolismom]

Sorry I couldn’t figure out how to edit my post. When I tested this morning it was the same as last night. But later today it was at 3.5 PPM.

 

[Deb04]

Your target is 4-6. There's no problem with swimming at 7 or 8, or anything up to SLAM level. Since you're losing 4-5/day, raise to 8 or 9.

As to whether 4-5 loss per day is to be expected, that depends on where you live (i.e., how much sun and heat do you get.) Can you put your state or country in your profile? E.g., A 4 ppm drop in my pool in NH would be cause for concern. In AZ or TX, it might be to be expected.

Edit to add that your area of the country would drive our advice on CYA too.

 

[CreedenceTapes]

A CC of 0.0 indicates that your active chlorine isn't finding more organic material in the pool than it can quickly kill. That's good.

Don't be afraid to run your FC at the top of the range if you're nervous about algae. I and many others do so. A downside is that swimwear won't last quite as long (chlorine doesn't discriminate on whether to oxidize algae or fabric), but I gladly make that trade-off for the peace of mind.

As @Deb04 said, you're daily FC loss is going to be affected by the location of your pool, which inter-relatedly affects how high you want to run your CYA. My pool gets a ton of direct Florida sunlight. When I don't keep the CYA quite high, 4 or 5 ppm of FC loss is routine. If the bather load is high, it can be even more.

 

[Endro32]

Doesn't sound like anything serious, but the way to be sure is an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. Sounds like you may have basically already done this.

As others have said, 4ppm daily FC loss isn't uncommon if you have lots of sun. You could either raise the CYA or keep a solar cover on it to help reduce the daily loss to sunlight.

 

[jolismom]

Your target is 4-6. There's no problem with swimming at 7 or 8, or anything up to SLAM level. Since you're losing 4-5/day, raise to 8 or 9.

As to whether 4-5 loss per day is to be expected, that depends on where you live (i.e., how much sun and heat do you get.) Can you put your state or country in your profile? E.g., A 4 ppm drop in my pool in NH would be cause for concern. In AZ or TX, it might be to be expected.

Edit to add that your area of the country would drive our advice on CYA too.

So I should I up the amount of chlorine I put in at night? Or should I add more in during the day. Does the liquid chlorine dissipate faster than powder? Also does the liquid chlorine cause my Ph And alkalinity to raise because I keep having to adjust those almost everyday

 

[Deb04]

Add it when convenient, since you’re not losing FC overnight. Liquid doesn’t dissipate at a faster rate. It also has no effect on pH or Alk.