Newbie here with recurring staining, high CYA and FC levels

[Chatty Cathy]

Guess I should update my pool data to show it is 9 years old next month. I have recurring stain problems. My pool service says it is NOT algae, but in summer, it helps algae to grow on those areas easier, I've noticed. I want to order a TF100 test kit and supported the site and it said I could get a discount, but not sure where to order or how to get the discount, so could use some help there. I also have had a long history of high CYA levels in my pool. Usually between 100 and 150. The pool supply store says I need to keep them below 100, and the best way is to drain 1/3 to 1/2 the pool and refill. That will be a really expensive water bill, as they charge us by gallons used and gallons to the waste treatment system as two separate charges on my water bill. That means up to an extra 10k gallons out and another 10k gallons to refill. We typically use about 5k gallons a month and the bill is already about $90 for that. That means I would have about a $500 water bill to drain and refill half the water. We also get a high water usage penalty if we go over 10k gallons in a month. I need some expert advice here before I take such an expensive step. I am in the Houston, TX area, and do not have a heater on my pool, so we typically use it from Memorial day through October, unless we have a long Indian Summer, and can sometimes use it into early November. I would really like to get it balanced well before summer because it's tough to keep the chlorine levels up when it gets hot. Also, what should I do when I travel? We are planning a trip to Canada for a month in August and it will definitely need attention every week while we are gone. We do not have an auto filler so we have to manually add water frequently in the summer to maintain the level due to evaporation.

I am on a sharp learning curve also, as my husband used to do all the pool care but he had a brain injury and now has short term memory issues and cannot do it any more. I have paid pool service companies (4 in the past 5 years) and they start out great but it seems they have high turn over with their employees and it shows in the dwindling level of service and care. I have decided I need to do this myself if I want it done right, so I appreciate any and all help as I learn. So glad I found this forum! Look forward to hearing how to order the test kit so I can get started doing this myself.

 

[woodyp]

Welcome to the forum.
CLICK HERE to Become a TroubleFreePool.com Supporter!! There's you a link to our Supporter Status and the test kit you need.

Replacing water is the most feasible way to lower your cya. How are you chlorinating your pool? If using tablets with stabilizer in them------STOP and switch to plain old liquid bleach. With luck, you'll get a lot of rain between now and swim season. We'll worry about Canada down the road~!

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry good place for you to start so we can speak the same language.

Can you post us a picture of your "stain"?

 

[Chatty Cathy]

Yes, there are 3" tablets in the chlorinator on the discharge line of the pump and the pool man puts small ones in the skimmers every Friday. Should I ask them to only use liquid bleach I supply and tell them no more tablets, or should I just stop the service and do this myself? I don't think they're even testing the water each week. I watched him from a window when he was here today and he just brushed, vacuumed, emptied the skimmers and threw in some tablets and left. Never tested the water or even checked the equipment in the pump house, so I know he did not empty the pump basket. I am paying $160/mth for weekly service and don't feel I am getting my money's worth if they are not testing the water and checking the equipment EVERY time they come. From what I read in pool school, I need to test it more often than once per week, so if I am going to be checking it myself on a more frequent basis, I may as well do it all and save the $160/mth. Going to Walmart tomorrow and picking up liquid bleach and Borax. We have a gallon of muriatic acid in the pump house. I will order my TF100 test kit now. Thank you!

 

[woodyp]

Skip the borax for now.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[needsajet]

A lot of people end up becoming a supporter here. It's a modest one-time, tax deductible donation. Among other things, you get a discount at TFTestKits. So least money in the long run is to become a supporter and then order the TF100 test kit.

I can't say if this is how it works where you are, but in some areas, they use your water consumption in one winter period to decide how much to charge you for sewer. They do it that way because it's reasonable to assume you're not watering your garden. If you can find out when that is, and avoid the drain/refill during that period, you might not suffer the increase in sewer rate.

You will save a considerable amount of money by testing and taking control of your pool compared to using a pool service, but the best part is that your water will be safer and nicer to look at

 

[clambert1273]

Link in my sig for test kit [emoji106][emoji106] sorry you have to go through this but if it was me I would stop with the pucks, pull all of them out, stock up on chlorine (bleach).... you can do this and it is easy once you get the knack of it. The people here are GREAT at hand holding until you figure out your pool!

Sadly, the only thing I can say is get the test kit and test your own water esp CYA.. if it is high, you sadly will have to replace water [emoji17][emoji17] which there are options for.


Christina
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[duraleigh]

Look at your rate per 1000 gallons on your water bill. Many people pay around $6/1000 so you could drain 1/2 your pool for around $60........not too devastating.

 

[woodyp]

That $160 per month will replace an awful lot of water between now and summer!

 

[kimkats]

Cathy! I am so glad you found us! We understand where you are coming from. We will get the pool looking better than it ever did before and it WILL be Trouble Free once we get things all set. Your wallet will be happy as well!

For now we will work on getting the water balanced. Then we will work on the "stain". Once that is done we will talk about your trip.

Kim

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Chatty Cathy, I noticed you said you keep your MA in the pool house. Muriatic acid is in bottles with caps that vent the fumes out. If you have that bottle in an enclosed space the fumes can cause rust and damage to equipment nearby. And more importantly you do NOT want it anyplace near chlorine... bad things happen when MA and chlorine mix.

Is there any place outside that you can secure the gallon of MA?

Yippee

 

[Burnthorne Pool Service]

Chatty Cathy, I noticed you said you keep your MA in the pool house. Muriatic acid is in bottles with caps that vent the fumes out. If you have that bottle in an enclosed space the fumes can cause rust and damage to equipment nearby. And more importantly you do NOT want it anyplace near chlorine... bad things happen when MA and chlorine mix.

Is there any place outside that you can secure the gallon of MA?

Yippee

Also a reminder to never mix chlorine. You're not supposed to mix old with new, and you're not supposed to mix different kinds. Keep them far away from each other. Not sure what the OP may have around, so just wanted to be sure to note this as well.

Yes, there are 3" tablets in the chlorinator on the discharge line of the pump and the pool man puts small ones in the skimmers every Friday. Should I ask them to only use liquid bleach I supply and tell them no more tablets, or should I just stop the service and do this myself? I don't think they're even testing the water each week. I watched him from a window when he was here today and he just brushed, vacuumed, emptied the skimmers and threw in some tablets and left. Never tested the water or even checked the equipment in the pump house, so I know he did not empty the pump basket. I am paying $160/mth for weekly service and don't feel I am getting my money's worth if they are not testing the water and checking the equipment EVERY time they come. From what I read in pool school, I need to test it more often than once per week, so if I am going to be checking it myself on a more frequent basis, I may as well do it all and save the $160/mth. Going to Walmart tomorrow and picking up liquid bleach and Borax. We have a gallon of muriatic acid in the pump house. I will order my TF100 test kit now. Thank you!

Winter water conditions are usually fairly stable including many of the chemicals in the water (Calcium Hardness, Alkalinity, etc). If they don't think that these items are drifting at all, they may not be testing for them "routinely." They should at least be checking the chlorine and pH weekly, especially with how warm it's been getting. As far as the equipment goes, that should definitely be (at the very least) scanned over every week. Tablets in the skimmers are technically a no-no if you're not running your system all day every day, and even still it's not considered the best idea. CYA levels are definitely a result of the overly-used tablets. High FC levels (as indicated in your title) will be a result of tablets and the already high CYA levels. There is a CYA/FC chart (<-- link) that you can check out (tells you that when your CYA is x, then your FC should be kept at y). Be careful with what the pool store tells you... "Keep it under 100" isn't the best advice. Your CYA should definitely be kept between 30 and 50 for most regular chlorine pools. In your case, 60-70 may be manageable (though not optimal) if you don't want to drain too much water.

Do you know what kind of chlorine they are using aside from the tablets? Calcium hypochlorite is the cheapest for services in my region. If they are using cal-hypo but not testing CH at least every now and then, high calcium levels might be of concern. It seems to me that they are not very concerned with the long-term effects of the chemicals they use in your water. High calcium harness levels would also be addressed when you do a partial drain/refill.

Once you get the water partially replaced, the pool should be quite easy to maintain. Before you start buying a lot of bleach, be sure to compare the cost/concentration with liquid chlorine; others here on the forum will have some good insight on that. Testing several times in a week may be necessary to get started, but once you point the pool in the right direction, this will become a slightly less frequent practice. Rest assured that TFP will be here with you every step of the way to get your pool back to normal!

-Eric

 

[kimkats]

Great catch Yip!

Kim

 

[Swampwoman]

Welcome, Cathy. Once you have your kit and get comfortable with the testing and balancing your water, we will also help you with the staining. I just don't want to overwhelm you with info when you're on the early part of the curve, but do feel free to reach out once you have everything balanced.

In the short term, if your ph tests high once you have your kit, lowering it to 7.2-7.4 using Muriatic Acid will slow down or even stop staining. High ph can cause metals suspended in solution to "oxidize."