New pool owner, looking to balance everything

[Randall6]

I put up a new 15x30 oval this year, late May. Sharkline with all Circupool gear (1.5 Hp VSP, 150 sf cartridge filter, RJ-120 SWCG). It's a 54" sidewall, and I estimated the gallons to be approx. 11500. I hard plumbed everything in 2" PVC and got the pool filled and up and running. Set the pump to run most of the day at low speed, and there are two cycles of higher RPM (1500 and 2500). Set the SWCG at 30%, and the water has been clear and beautiful ever since. I have not added a single thing after the first balance and salt additions. I have mostly monitored and tested with strips, until the TF100 arrived today, so I immediately washed everything out, then sampled the water and naturally there are a couple of questions. My FC level is 10, pH is 8.2, TA is 190, and CYA is 40. I knew the chlorine was a little high, but 10 ppm seems REALLY high. Is there some major adjustments that need to be made? The water still looks great, feels great, but either I did the tests wrong, or I don't know what. Any insight?

 

[Mike1162]

The only thing I can think of that would give you a false high reading is taking way too long to complete the test. Did the OTO test look like it way over 5 ppm?

 

[Randall6]

Mike,

Yes the OTO test appeared on the high side (deep yellow). I have never done the task of figuring out how/what to adjust to get the numbers in the correct range, but it seems like I should turn the SWCG down a few percentage points, and decrease the pump run time in an effort to produce less Free Chlorine. Other than that, if I add CYA, won't that lower the pH? Should that happen before trying to adjust the TA? Not sure of the order of operations.

 

[Mike1162]

Yes, adding CYA will bring down PH slightly. PoolMath app will tell you how much.