New Pool Owner, tests are in

[calebmallen]

Hey guys. I bought a home in January with a large 40,000 gallon pool. I have had a pool guy buddy of mine come out the last month or so and help get me started, but have taken over responsibility as of this week. I got a TF100 test kit in and ran the tests today.

Can you guys give me some recommendations on what I need to get the water in good shape for summer? I do notice a bit of cloudy water, but it isn’t green. The SWG is currently set to 100%. I do have an auto pool cover.

Cl - .5 -1
pH - 8.2
FC - .5
CC - .5
CH - 375
TA - 290
CYA - 30

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Will you be using the auto cover every day? Have you been? How many hours is your pump running. What SWCG do you have?

First is to get at least 5 ppm FC in the water using liquid chlorine. Cloudy water means algae.
Lower the pH to 7.4. It will rise quickly with your high TA.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[calebmallen]

You are lightening quick, thank you for the welcome.

I do use the pool cover every day. Unless we are in it or just outside enjoying the sun it will be covered. I’m in Lubbock, Tx.... so we have constant blowing wind that carries dirt everywhere. Imagine living in the middle of a cotton field with 15mph winds every day.

I have a pentair intellichlor running at max. The pool runs every day for about 15 hours currently. I’ll throw a gallon of muriatic acid in this afternoon and add some liquid chlorine.

 

[Oly]

What are the dimensions of your pool?

 

[mknauss]

I have a pentair intellichlor running at max.

Which one? Please add that and that you have an auto cover to your signature. More detail the better.

When the cover is closed, the sun is not eating up any chlorine you are creating. So if the cover is closed most of the time, and you have the SWCG running that much, you have algae.

 

[calebmallen]

What are the dimensions of your pool?

It’s 45’x20’

 

[calebmallen]

Which one? Please add that and that you have an auto cover to your signature. More detail the better.

When the cover is closed, the sun is not eating up any chlorine you are creating. So if the cover is closed most of the time, and you have the SWCG running that much, you have algae.

That makes sense. Ok, so time to add chlorine. I’ll get you the model in a bit. I’m headed to the store for liquid chlorine now. I just added a gallon of acid.

 

[calebmallen]

Side note - I’m not going to need to SLAM, correct? Just add chlorine until FC is at 5?

 

[mknauss]

Side note - I’m not going to need to SLAM, correct? Just add chlorine until FC is at 5?

Do not know. A Overnight Chlorine Loss Test should be done. But if your pool is consuming that much chlorine each day with a cover over it, it is very likely you need to SLAM Process

 

[mknauss]

I just added a gallon of acid.

Hopefully you use Poolmath with your current water chemistry to determine how much of a chemical you need.

 

[calebmallen]

Yessir, I’m using the pool math app.

 

[mknauss]

Yessir, I’m using the pool math app.

Great. Be sure to save your water testing data in it. And record your chemical additions. Really helps us help you when you have chemistry questions.

 

[calebmallen]

No problem, I can do that. I just updated the log To reflect adding 219oz of muriatic acid. I will add the chlorine this evening assuming the pH is balanced. Already set up the pool to run 24/7. I think I’ll also need to add salt after all this is done with as well.

The app says that FC, pH, TA, and CYA are all out of limited range.

Pentair IC40, by the way.

 

[mknauss]

Great.
You should do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test soon. You will want to be sure the SWCG is off during the test period.

Do you have an automation system? Be sure to include that in your signature if you do.

 

[calebmallen]

I’ll update that as well. Yessir, it’s a Pentair EasyTouch. I’ll do the overnight test tonight.

I added the acid already, how long will I need to wait before testing pH again?

 

[mknauss]

If your pump is running, should be well distributed in an hour or so. You have a big pool so may want to brush it well to be sure it well distributed.

 

[calebmallen]

Ok, pH I down to 7.4 and I added the recommended 230oz of 10% chlorine. I covered the pool and will test it this evening for the overnight test.

 

[calebmallen]

Overnight test failed before I even went to bed. Beginning SLAM.....

Logged additional chlorine. Will update in the morning.

 

[Newdude]

Overnight test failed before I even went to bed. Beginning SLAM....

This is one of those times where you want to FAIL if you're gonna fail. Many times it's questionably on the fence of pass/fail. We generally tell the OP to SLAM for good measure and some listen, some don't.

But when you fail-fail........ there's no question.

SLAM and ask away if needed !!

 

[wireform]

I'd keep the cover closed as much as possible with a location such as yours at CYA 30 and lots of sun. Keep the slam level up there as much as possible and arm yourself with enough chlorine on hand so it doesn't drop too much. Get to know where you can run to grab some more as there's no telling how long or how much is needed from the get go. Make sure you input the correct strength % chlorine in the app to get proper results. Just so you know SWCG work with much higher CYA like 70-80 but do nothing until slam and OCLT are complete. Your IC40 is a bit undersized as we recommend 2X pool capacity and yours is sized 1:1. No surprise the FC is low and that you have algae.