Need Some Guidance

[cgoodwin24]

Our pool was finished Feb of this year. As the weather has been warming I've been having trouble understanding what to do to keep my FC up. My CYA is at 70 so I'm shooting for FC of 5. I've got my SWG running at 60% during daylight hours.

I added chlorine on Sunday because the FC had dropped to about 1.5 due to high bather load Saturday evening then electricity went off and pump didn't start running automatically Sunday morning. So about lunch time on Sunday I turned pump on, tested water and added the amount of chlorine recommended by the Pool Math app.

Yesterday we also had a high bather load. The pump turned off at dark. I tested water this morning and it was at 2.5. So here's my question....pool builder told up to run the SWG on boost whenever we have a high bather load. For us that's a couple times a week. So last night, should I have turned the SWG to boost to let it run through the night? Is it normal to have to run SWG on boost that frequently? Should I bump my SWG % up? We really didn't get good training on that. Is there anything else I should be doing to keep my FC up?

 

[JJ_Tex]

I keep a jug or two of liquid chlorine (Pool Essentials from walmart is my best deal). That way I can bump up chlorine before/after heavy bather loads for a $1 or so, and not put an extra burden on my SWCG and in theory shorten its life.

 

[Oly]

I agree with JJ, use liquid for high demand (pre and/or post party) to rapidly keep your FC in the safety zone. Only adjust your SWG to keep up with normal daily demand.

 

[cgoodwin24]

Thanks! So would "normal daily demand" be when no one gets in the pool that day? How do I know what % I should set my SWG to?

 

[JJ_Tex]

Thanks! So would "normal daily demand" be when no one gets in the pool that day? How do I know what % I should set my SWG to?

There is no magic number and your average daily demand changes through the year depending on who is swimming, temperature, etc.

I used the Pool Math app (highly recommended) and your SWG running 24/7 at 60% in a 40k gallon pool will raise FC by 2.2 each day. I would assume your would burn 3-5 FC on a daily basis.

Just play around with it, testing often and make adjustments to your % and run time through the year and supplement with liquid chlorine when you need.