New to us home and pool!

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YippeeSkippy said:
oh yeah.. and we're gonna need a pic of this new watering hole ;)

Yip :flower:
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as requested,





We are still in the process of unpacking and settling in, been a crazy week but I have been diligent on getting at least the basic test results daily and so far so good. Keeping the FC up above 7 and just added some MA to get the PH back in check. The CCs have been in check too around 0 or .5 Have not started working on the other values yet but I think we did ok on getting on it asap after moving in!
 
I figure I will post here instead of starting a new thread....

Now that we are finally settled I wanted to make sure Im on track to a TFP pool! I have only stepped foot into a pool store for the stray o-ring/small part I needed same day and can say I feel very lucky not to have to deal with the goof behind the counter for testing! I cant believe the amount of stuff they sell unsuspecting people getting their testing done! I am no pro by any means but I think I have a pretty good handle on things thanks to this website and poolmath!

So my most recent numbers as of yesterday evening, These reflect a slight overshot in bleach which is ok since I have been running a tad on the higher side lately with the weather dumping a bunch of dirt and debris in the pool during monsoons. Over the course of a month or so I have been dropping the TA(started over 200) slowly and watching how the PH reacts. The current PH reading is reflecting the previous addition of MA which has got me down to a TA of 70.

Previous owners had the pump running about 12 hours or so. Ive got it down to 8 and plan to drop it further once we get out of the monsoon season

FC 10.5
CC 0
PH 7.2
TA 70
CH 300
CYA 80
Temp is about 85 degrees or so
Water clarity is great as far as I can tell!

So my question is should I be concerned much with my CH of 300?, It does look like its in the acceptable range for a plaster pool if I am not mistaken? I did have the guy that cleaned all the calcium scaling off the tile say that I probably should drain and refill to keep it from building up again. Think this was just a standard comment he makes to his customers since he has had them call back in a few months with the same issue. He did not test my water just cleaned the tile. He did however have to drain a few inches below the tile so that helped my numbers some. FYI our fill water source has a CH of 170

Obviously the CYA is a bit high so a partial drain might be in order, question is should I wait until the CH rises higher to kill two birds with one stone? or do it now? It really hasn't taken much bleach(10%) to maintain the require FC for my CYA level. However would the usage be substantially less with a lower CYA of say 60? If and when I do a partial drain I will wait until we are out of the summer heat as not to hurt the plaster

As always thanks for the help! I plan to become a TFP supporter soon!
 
Your pool looks great and I hope you get some swimming/lounging in between all the moving efforts!

All else being equal, you'll actually consume less chlorine day-to-day at the higher CYA. The only reason to lower your CYA would be if you need to do a SLAM, so I'd be inclined to leave it alone.

Down at the bottom of PoolMath, you'll see the CSI number. If you keep that around -0.2 to -0.1 your plaster will last a very long time and it's unlikely you'll see scale again. I haven't entered the numbers, but I suspect if you let the pH settle somewhere around 7.5 you'll be very close. In my opinion, and barring an algae bloom, you'll be fine without a drain/refill for quite some time.
 
needsajet said:
Your pool looks great and I hope you get some swimming/lounging in between all the moving efforts!

All else being equal, you'll actually consume less chlorine day-to-day at the higher CYA. The only reason to lower your CYA would be if you need to do a SLAM, so I'd be inclined to leave it alone.

Down at the bottom of PoolMath, you'll see the CSI number. If you keep that around -0.2 to -0.1 your plaster will last a very long time and it's unlikely you'll see scale again. I haven't entered the numbers, but I suspect if you let the pH settle somewhere around 7.5 you'll be very close. In my opinion, and barring an algae bloom, you'll be fine without a drain/refill for quite some time.
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Thanks! We sure are enjoying the pool between all the moving and projects to be done. It has been great to be able to jump in and cool off after working all day in the heat! There have been some minor bumps in the road but nothing that is too crazy. Just catching up on some maintenance the previous owners let slide.

Leaving the CYA alone has been my thought for now as everything seems manageable currently, I have noticed a big difference in ambient temps and chlorine usage as well. Just 10* makes a big impact it seems. It only used 1.5 yesterday which I thought was odd so I rechecked to make sure I didn't make an error. That's two days I did not have to add anything to the water! I have been watching the CSI numbers at the bottom and played around with them some. I am close to that .2 mark but a TA of 80 make it better. Ill run it as is for a week or so and see how the PH stabilizes. So far I have had to add MA every 4-5days.

borjis said:
what a score! Pool looks great.

It's possible you'll lose some CYA over the winter.
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Thanks! Yeah I was hoping I would looks some over the winter time and regular back flushing but not sure at what rate. Think the best course of action is run it as is and see what happens!
 
We bought our house in Tempe about a year ago and it came with a CYA of 80 or so. Between back washing and splash out it worked it's way down to under 50 this summer. I like keeping it in the 60 range and have added stabilizer as required. Although this last time it somehow got up to 70 and I'm managing it there right now. I blame the CYA test (or tester) for an artificially low reading before I added. It's no problem really and the daily FC usage doesn't seem to change all that much. I just have to make sure I stay on top of it as I certainly don't want to SLAM at this level.
 
Bringing this thread back from the dead to give a little update on my thoughts with TFP... Its been just about a year now since we bought our home with a pool and I took a chance with the TFP way rather the the pool store. Following the pool school basics we have not had one bit of trouble with our water. I can honestly say I have no idea why more people do not maintain their pool the TFP way! Seriously its easy and straight forward, once getting your head around the basics its a no brainer! I have only stepped foot into a pool store twice and that was to pick up 2 small parts I needed that day, The little bit of time I was in there it was amazing to listen in to the sales pitch unsuspecting customers would receive! Everyone here at TFP is super helpful and eager to show a newbie the way so I say thanks to you all for keeping my pool trouble free!

I do have a quick question. I am seeing my CH rise a bit over where its been a year ago. (was 300, now 475) fill water is only 175-200 last I checked. What can cause this and when should I be concerned of it being too high? Also CYA has also dropped over the course of the year. I started around 80 and now currently at 60, so those who mentioned it may drop over the winter time where correct. I am still dialing in my FC levels based on the new CYA of 60. Ive been keeping a baseline of 6 and shooting for a daily 8 or so. higher based on swimmer demand. With our swim season here in AZ in full swing with day time temps well in the 100s its time to put daily tests, and additions back in motion. During the cooler months I was able to go every other day testing and sometimes up to 3-4 days before needing to add anything.

Current numbers are as follows

FC 6.5
CC 0
PH 7.6
TA 110 (currently working on dropping this a bit. ph seems to like 90-100TA)
CH 475
CYA 60
Temp 86


Again to anyone thinking of trying the TFP way ask yourself what do you have to lose? It really does work and make your life as a pool owner trouble free!
 
You live in one of the hottest and driest parts of the country. I'm not that far from you. The southern AZ climate has an annual evaporation of well over 90" per year (in Tucson, it can be over 100" in some years). Your annual rainfall, by definition of living in a desert, is 10" or less per year. In an uncovered pool with an average depth of 5.5 ft (66"), you can easily evaporate an entire pool volume away in one year. So that means, whatever your fill water CH is, that's about how much your pool water CH will increase in a year.

As for CYA, the average monthly loss rate is about 5ppm per month (gave or take a bit). I typically find that I lose about 10-20ppm per year from oxidation and splash out.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
You live in one of the hottest and driest parts of the country. I'm not that far from you. The southern AZ climate has an annual evaporation of well over 90" per year (in Tucson, it can be over 100" in some years). Your annual rainfall, by definition of living in a desert, is 10" or less per year. In an uncovered pool with an average depth of 5.5 ft (66"), you can easily evaporate an entire pool volume away in one year. So that means, whatever your fill water CH is, that's about how much your pool water CH will increase in a year.

As for CYA, the average monthly loss rate is about 5ppm per month (gave or take a bit). I typically find that I lose about 10-20ppm per year from oxidation and splash out.
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That makes sense and adds up the the number trends Ive been seeing, Thanks for the explanation and the trend I am seeing is normal so thats good to know.
 

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YippeeSkippy said:
DieselD, it's great to hear how well you've done and how easy you find TFP way to be. We appreciate hearing this!

If by chance you feel so inclined (and of course we hope you do) you might choose to support this ADVERTISEMENT FREE website as a supporter. We are a tax deductible organization which needs financial help to keep the lights on and the data processing gerbils running in that wheel thingie.

There are also benefits to donors!

CLICK HERE to Become a TroubleFreePool.com Supporter!!

Maddie :flower:
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Thanks, I will have to do that, Its the least I can do for all the free advice that is here on this site!
 
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