New pool, who dis?

[THT]

What an amazing resource this place is...

First-time pool owner with a new to me home. I also fired just fired the pool guy, removed the floating tabs, and am looking to do things the TFP way. For background, I recently had new porcelain pavers and coping installed. This was done with the water level dropped low enough to work.

I had been working on getting the CL levels up but given where the pool chemistry is, I thought I'd ask for input. Thanks in advance for suggestions for where to go from here. My current tests and logs are below.

Questions:

1. What are my next steps?
2. I am assuming a partial drain and refill are necessary given my CYA and CH levels. CH from the tap is 250. Pool math suggests 77% replacement given CH levels. Could the plaster/concrete dust that settled in the pool be the reason for the high CH level?
3. I have some rust spots from grinding/cutting particles that were deposited in the pool. In what order should I address these?
4. Any other suggestions?

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Build Type: Plaster
Volume: 22000 gallons
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Latest Test Result Summary:
FC: 9.0 (4 hours ago)
CC: 0.5 (4 hours ago) - Updated typo from TC
pH: 8.2 (4 hours ago) - this is probably higher given the color I saw.
TA: 220 (yesterday)
CH: 1125 (4 hours ago)
CYA: 160 (2 minutes ago) - just tried diluting method to determine how far over 100
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Test Results 04-21-2021 @ 01:33 PM
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CYA: 160

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Test Results 04-21-2021 @ 09:01 AM
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Calcium Hardness: 1125

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Test Results 04-21-2021 @ 08:46 AM
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Free Chlorine: 9.0
Combined Chlorine: 8.5
pH: 8.2

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Chemical Addition 04-20-2021 @ 06:22 PM
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+ 121 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-20-2021 @ 04:55 PM
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CYA: 100

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Test Results 04-20-2021 @ 03:58 PM
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Free Chlorine: 8.5

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Chemical Addition 04-19-2021 @ 07:09 PM
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+ 242 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-19-2021 @ 06:55 PM
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CYA: 130ish

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Test Results 04-19-2021 @ 06:43 PM
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Total Alkalinity: 220

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Test Results 04-19-2021 @ 06:33 PM
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Calcium Hardness: 1350

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Test Results 04-19-2021 @ 06:23 PM
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Free Chlorine: 7.0

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Chemical Addition 04-18-2021 @ 05:01 PM
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+ 121 FluidOunces of Bleach

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Test Results 04-18-2021 @ 03:26 PM
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Free Chlorine: 5.0
pH: 8.2

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
With new tile and that high of CH, first thing I would suggest is to drain and refill with fresh water.
In San Diego, I would not expect you to have high evaporation as we do in the desert. Was there use of Cal Hypo in this pool?
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[CrystalRiver]

High CYA, sky high CH. Drain and refill is the first step. Target replacing essentially all of your water. If you replace too much, your levels will be a bit low and you need to add some chemicals. But if you don't drain enough, you have to deal with still-elevated numbers or drain again.

Once the pool is refilled, circulate the water for 30 minutes then retest everything and post the results.

How does your water look right now? Clear?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Before you drain, find out how high your ground water is. If its as high as your deepest point in the pool you have a risk of floating the pool. Not good! So check that out pronto.

A fresh fill will allow you to start fresh with your chemicals and tests. Enticing, huh??

Maddie

 

[THT]

Before you drain, find out how high your ground water is. If its as high as your deepest point in the pool you have a risk of floating the pool. Not good! So check that out pronto.

A fresh fill will allow you to start fresh with your chemicals and tests. Enticing, huh??

Maddie

I am on a hill so I do not believe that will be an issue. The pool is 30 years old so I do have some plaster cracking concerns. Fortunately, the weather is going to be relatively cool in San Diego for the remainder of this week.

Welcome to the forum!
With new tile and that high of CH, first thing I would suggest is to drain and refill with fresh water.
In San Diego, I would not expect you to have high evaporation as we do in the desert. Was there use of Cal Hypo in this pool?
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

I've dug into reading the Wiki and the ABC's already. Great info...I am uncertain what kind of pucks were in the floating dispenser.

Thanks for the feedback...The water is very clear at the moment.

 

[Desert Dog]

You are off to a great start. You fired the pool guy! Listen to the experts and you will have TFP in no time. In SD, generally, floating a pool is not an issue. Unless you have pool on the beach. If your comfortable draining it, that's where I would start.

 

[THT]

After doing research on the water costs in San Diego, I have opted to schedule reverse osmosis of my existing water for 5/17/21 instead of a drain and refill. In the meantime, any recommendations for maintaining a working pool given my previously posted levels?

Many thanks!

 

[mknauss]

Maintain your FC between 7.5% and 10% of CYA. So between 12-16 ppm.
Your pH test is invalid whenever the FC is above 10 ppm.

Very important to keep the water algae free. They can not RO water with algae in it.

 

[Bperry]

I’d check the FC and CC levels again. If CC was really 8.5ppm, I’d assume the water would have a stench to it?

 

[mknauss]

A CC that high is not seen from non chemical causes. You can get it if you have ammonia in the water, and with that the water would not register any FC or CYA. Or sulfamic acid can cause high CC readings. MPS non chlorine shock can also cause that result.

 

[THT]

I’d check the FC and CC levels again. If CC was really 8.5ppm, I’d assume the water would have a stench to it?

Good catch! The CC was actually 0.5. I entered what was TC as CC.

 

[Desert Dog]

I guess it depends on what water district you are in. I think I paid less than $100 to fill 15,000 gallons in April of 2020. I'm in the Padre Dam water district. I braced for impact and when I got the bill I was actually surprised.