Need Help!

[Newdude]

So my water is finally clear

You sure ? Cuz TFP clear will redefine the word for most. Should be able to tell heads or tails on a nickel in an above ground pool.

I pass, do I test anything else and let it come back down to normal levels

Let it drift down and test FC daily, preferably twice daily (morning/evening) while you learn your pools habits. Once you are trusting that you know how the pool reacts, once daily is ok. At some point you will just become one with the pool and will walk out there thinking that yesterday was XYZ event (rain/sunny/party) and today should test like ABC. The first couple of times that happens, you will be happy that you guessed right. After a few times, they won’t be guesses because you are then one with your pool. You can test every other day and just dose by your gut feeling in between. It takes a minute. Be patient and vigilant in the meantime.

 

[PoolStored]

So my water is finally clear! I’m going to do my overnight test this eve. If I pass, do I test anything else and let it come back down to normal levels?

Nice!!! Was going to ping you to see!!!

Add your last LC an hour before you test. Keep pump running. Test after sunset.

When you test in morning, test before sunrise. Make sure you test CC if you pass OCLT. Yes, let it drift back down, only if you pass all three criteria!

After FC gets back below 10, post your Chems here and we’ll help you balance!

good going!!!

 

[PoolStored]

Pics please!!!

 

[Charity1981]

You sure ? Cuz TFP clear will redefine the word for most. Should be able to tell heads or tails on a nickel in an above ground pool.

Let it drift down and test FC daily, preferably twice daily (morning/evening) while you learn your pools habits. Once you are trusting that you know how the pool reacts, once daily is ok. At some point you will just become one with the pool and will walk out there thinking that yesterday was XYZ event (rain/sunny/party) and today should test like ABC. The first couple of times that happens, you will be happy that you guessed right. After a few times, they won’t be guesses because you are then one with your pool. You can test every other day and just dose by your gut feeling in between. It takes a minute. Be patient and vigilant in the meantime.

I’ll try it when I get home.

 

[Charity1981]

Pics please!!!

Will post later. Heading out for awhile

 

[Charity1981]

Pics please!!!

Don’t judge!! I haven’t been able to vacuum in a few days. On the agenda for tomorrow. But I did the nickel test and can clearly see it. As you can see, I still have some of the dust but it is slowly filtering out.

 

[PoolStored]

Don’t judge!! I haven’t been able to vacuum in a few days. On the agenda for tomorrow. But I did the nickel test and can clearly see it. As you can see, I still have some of the dust but it is slowly filtering out.

There is no question that you have a grip on this thing now. How did your OCLT go? What was your FC loss? What was your CC?

I'm really impressed how you wrassled this thing...Great Job!!

 

[Charity1981]

There is no question that you have a grip on this thing now. How did your OCLT go? What was your FC loss? What was your CC?

I'm really impressed how you wrassled this thing...Great Job!!

That will happen this evening. Thank you! Now if I could just get the kids to swim I’m sure it will this weekend.

 

[Charity1981]

There is no question that you have a grip on this thing now. How did your OCLT go? What was your FC loss? What was your CC?

I'm really impressed how you wrassled this thing...Great Job!!

Passed all 3! No loss at all. I will post all levels when it gets down to 10! Hopefully by tomorrow morn, supposed to be sunny all day here.

 

[PoolStored]

Passed all 3! No loss at all. I will post all levels when it gets down to 10! Hopefully by tomorrow morn, supposed to be sunny all day here.

WOW!!! Congratulations!

 

[Charity1981]

WOW!!! Congratulations!

Okay, here are my current levels:

fc 7
Cc 0
Ph 7.8
Ch 225
TA 150
Cya 50

 

[PoolStored]

Okay, here are my current levels:

fc 7
Cc 0
Ph 7.8
Ch 225
TA 150
Cya 50

Great!! But what does it look like?

 

[Charity1981]

Great!! But what does it look like?

Looks good, nice and clear. When I entered into pool school, it said I need to lower TA by adding muratic acid, so I’m assuming I follow that?

 

[PoolStored]

Looks good, nice and clear. When I entered into pool school, it said I need to lower TA by adding muratic acid, so I’m assuming I follow that?

Congrats on your Graduation from SLAM. Now you are going to College.

pH and TA cannot be changed individually without effecting the other (except one way I'll explain).

Having a lower TA will help keep your pH more stable. Muriatic Acid will lower your TA and Lower your pH. If you use pool math, you can go to the menu and choose "Effects of Adding." That will show you what happens when you add XX amount of acid.

If you use Borax Mule Team 20, or Soda Ash/Washing soda to then get your pH back up, it will also raise TA. It is a zero sum game. You will be back where you started.

You should read this--> Lower Total Alkalinity

The simple answer is that you should add enough MA to reduce pH to 7.0 and Aerate. When the pH goes back up to 7.4, add acid again and aerate. Do this cycle until your TA gets to about 70. May take several days. I built one of the suggested aerators on top of a sump pump. Took me about 4 days to get TA down from 140 to 70. Now I'm good.

There are examples of Aerators in the link above. You can also google "pool aerator." The trick to having the aerator be super effective is to have it make LOTS OF SMALL BUBBLES. Aeration releases CO2 out of the pool raising pH. CO2 outgasses (is released) at the highest rate when pH is betwee 7.0 and 7.4. That is why you reduce pH to these levels.

This is what I built ... See Post #4. DIY Aerator

 

[PoolStored]

@Charity1981 I'm glad you asked the question. Good pieces of advice are 1) Don't add ANYTHING TO YOUR POOL, until you READ THE INGREDIENTS and understand what it in it, and 2) Know exactly WHY you are adding it and WHAT you expect to accomplish.

If you don't understand what you are doing, re-read ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and read all the articles here: Pool Care Basics.

Or ask your question here, just like you did. You now get CYA and FC. You get testing. Now you are going to add pH and TA balance to your resume!

 

[Charity1981]

Pics please!!!

Congrats on your Graduation from SLAM. Now you are going to College.

pH and TA cannot be changed individually without effecting the other (except one way I'll explain).

Having a lower TA will help keep your pH more stable. Muriatic Acid will lower your TA and Lower your pH. If you use pool math, you can go to the menu and choose "Effects of Adding." That will show you what happens when you add XX amount of acid.

If you use Borax Mule Team 20, or Soda Ash/Washing soda to then get your pH back up, it will also raise TA. It is a zero sum game. You will be back where you started.

You should read this--> Lower Total Alkalinity

The simple answer is that you should add enough MA to reduce pH to 7.0 and Aerate. When the pH goes back up to 7.4, add acid again and aerate. Do this cycle until your TA gets to about 70. May take several days. I built one of the suggested aerators on top of a sump pump. Took me about 4 days to get TA down from 140 to 70. Now I'm good.

There are examples of Aerators in the link above. You can also google "pool aerator." The trick to having the aerator be super effective is to have it make LOTS OF SMALL BUBBLES. Aeration releases CO2 out of the pool raising pH. CO2 outgasses (is released) at the highest rate when pH is betwee 7.0 and 7.4. That is why you reduce pH to these levels.

This is what I built ... See Post #4. DIY Aerator

Hoping you can help since you all helped so much last summer! I started a thread and didn’t get much response so I’m hoping here may work. We have water coming this evening but currently have an inch or so in the bottom, algae of course. We have removed and leaves, twigs etc…I got my kit out to get prepared to test and realized I was out of the 0870 & 0871. So I’ve ordered that. But now what should I do in the meantime? I assumed I would have to slam but since I won’t know my FC, how much chlorine should I add? I hope that makes sense!

 

[PoolStored]

Put a quart of LC in each day until your test kit comes! Welcome back!

 

[Newdude]

 

[Charity1981]

Put a quart of LC in each day until your test kit comes! Welcome back!

Perfect! Thank you!

 

[Charity1981]

Put a quart of LC in each day until your test kit comes! Welcome back!

Needing help. Got the stuff I needed this afternoon and just ran tests. Levels below. I’m not sure where I go from here. Water is aqua blue. The CYA went to the top and I could still see the black dot so I marked 20.