New homeowner and high pool values... need help

[jblizzle]

Good Deal!!! Those could be fun to watch and play in for some kids ... and will certainly help cool the pool.

To be clear, since you are new to this, aerating helps to raise the pH (it does not in itself lower the TA as Richard implied ... the lowering comes from adding acid to lower the pH back down).

 

[Shane1]

UPDATE: I turned the two knobs on the two small unknown lines and water shoots out of two plastic ports, like a sprinkler fashion, from either side of the pool... is this another water feature or something else that I shouldn't be messing with?

Awesome those are your aerators. You will be using them in the summer to cool the pool down and giving the kids something else to mess with while you enjoy a beverage. Keep in mind that running them will change the Ph of the pool a bit but nothing that is not easily dealt with.
PS: how about some pics of your pool...show off a lilttle bit and it will help others understand your set up a little bit easier.

 

[Shane1]

The pool has two drains and one skimmer, but I only have two lines going into the pump. If I close the one line that elbows 90 and then has a straight shot into the pump, the skimmer stops working; therefore, I'm assuming that line is the skimmer and the other is the two drains. It should be safe to drain the pool using the pool pump provided I close the skimmer line and deal with the dirty sand?

Thoughts or is the rent a submersible pump the best advice?

The two main drains are plumbed into one line under the pool (safety code). I would save the money and use the equipment you have. My friends pool drains pretty quick and he has the same filter set up as you.

 

[mwpow3ll]

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[Bama Rambler]

There actually is a difference between the cooling effect of the aerators and the water fall. The smaller the droplets the more cooling effect they have. With a water fall it's usually only a small portion of droplets and the rest is more of a sheeting effect.

 

[jblizzle]

The cooling effect has to do with exposed surface area, so the sprayers will likely do a better job.

Get your CYA low. Then you can use the tablets for vacations, etc to help keep the FC level up. They will last a LONG LONG time in a dry bucket.

 

[Shane1]

Nice looking set up, very inviting.

 

[mwpow3ll]

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[Richard320]

wow... a 3" 100ft of discharge is not cheap. It's like $1 / ft and that is without any fancy couplings. If you want couplings the cheapest I an find is $150.

3" ???

I bought a bathroom sink tailpiece for a couple bucks to make the hose nipple and bought a 2" hose at the pool store for about fifty bucks, if memory serves. It doesn't need any special fittings - with the far end wide open, there's no more than a couple psi on it. DO be careful to roll it out without any kinks, because it will blow apart if that happens. Ask me how I know.

 

[mariane]

We have a sewer drain in the back of our yard so we pieced together pvc pipe to reach the drain at one end and burried the rest of the pipe till it reaches the filter. Attached a pool hose to the discharge valve and clamped a smaller pvc to the end of the hose. When we backwash or drain, I just stick the smaller end of the pvc into the larger end and it goes directly to the drain. No flooded backyard. Now I don't know what the city thinks about it but the crew that relined the pipes last year thought the pool water would be a good thing to keep the sewer lines clearer. So far so good.

 

[mwpow3ll]

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[jblizzle]

Did you ever perform the CYA test with 50/50 split of pool and tap water to start and then double the reading to get a better idea just how high your CYA really is?

 

[mwpow3ll]

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[Smykowski]

I have to say though... my water is looking more cloudy than before since the 11" drain... the chemicals are definitely getting thrown out of whack

Don't worry about it. In your situation, pH and CYA are by far the #1 priority. You can't balance everything else until these two are taken care of first. We'll help you get it done, and get it done right, but tackle it one step at a time.

 

[BruceInCola]

Watching this thread intently. I am in the same situation - inherited pool with recently purchased house, CYA levels past 100. I used one of the packets of dichlor, I think, the night prior to the testing, because it tested at almost no chlorine (none had been added since probably middle of last year some time).

Not intending to hijack the thread, but just a quick side question - with such high levels of CYA, any danger to kids getting in the swimout (not submerging themselves or anything, but they are dying to get in the pool)? Not danger, I guess, but do really high levels of CYA cause problems? Maybe skin irritation, etc.?

Thanks

 

[jblizzle]

The CYA is not dangerous. Safe to get in as long as FC is below shock level and above the minimum listed in the shock table.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[mwpow3ll]

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[Richard320]

Ok... here's an update.

I bought some Ph reducer and added to the pool to get the following new numbers (also updated OP):

Calcium Hardness: 350
pH: 7.6
TA: 150
CYA: 110
FC: 1
CC: 0.5

I'm still trying to get that CYA down, but I think now that my Ph is in the normal, my FC and CC are out of wack.

According to the pool calculator I need 3x96 fl oz bottles of bleach to bring the FC to 8? Isn't that a lot?

Also, my book says CC should be 0.2 or lower... how can I get that lower?

No, that's not a lot to get it up. Maintaining it shouldn't take that much. Your book is overly ambitious. Around here, .5 or less is fine. The big question is how does the water look? Clear? Green? Cloudy?

 

[jblizzle]

Also, do not updated the OP, that just makes the posts after it not make any sense for future readers.

 

[mwpow3ll]

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