Newbie levels question

[Sivartb000]

Hey guys, this is my first year opening my pool from winter hibernation. It's a small little guy, 4600 gallon above ground. I brought it from cloudy green to sparkly blue (which I'm actually quite pleased with myself about), and am super close to having my levels dialed in, but I'm at a point that I'm a little hesitant on what to do next, and how to manage my particular situation long term.

Current levels
Fc (yesterday was 5, didn't test today)
Cya 45
Ta 120
Ph 7.5
Hardness 70
Well water (my fill water) 200 ta ?
No idea on temperature, probably 60-65 ish? I had no idea this even mattered until reading through some posts on here!

Last Sunday my cya was 60, I shocked to 24 (ish, didn't actually test it, just went off pool math calc using bleach) , then drained another 1/3 of the pool (long story, dont ask) bringing my cya to 45. I didn't add anymore chlorine, so my fc has been really holding pretty dang good (I think?).

I started with ta of 170, and brought it down over 2 days with about 1/3 of a gallon of 31% ma, and brought my ph back up by aerating (last ta and ph tests were 24hrs after last time I added ma).

So my questions are 1) what should I do about the hardness. I bought 5lbs of clorox calcium hardener, and it says to add 5lbs for 10k gallons for an increase of 50ppm (so that'd give me a bit over 100ppm at 4600gal, which would bring me to probably right around 200). My concern is if this is the correct thing to do or if I have incomplete information? 1a) will this calcium hardener raise my ta? 2) should i continue lowering my ta, or let it be for a little bit and monitor it, and how often should I monitor (I've read everything from daily to a couple times a month). 3) I evaporate/splash out about 1 - 2 inches a week during hot summer days (I have a solar cover that only comes off when we swim), so I'll be adding fill water somewhat frequently. Given my well water, what would you suggest my target ta be? Should I try to go low to allow more buffer before I'm in the high range, or should I just be ok at the higher end knowing my fill water is high?

I did a terrible job at this last year (but hey, my kids didn't get any water borne illnesses so that's a win right?) And by the end of the season it was pretty dicey, my cya was absolutely through the roof before I realized all the pucks i was using was killing me. I also switched from the crappy strips to Taylor's fas dpd kit. Trying to actually care and keep it safe, clean and proper this year.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Can you add a city to your location? It is odd to have low CH and high TA fill water. Have you tested the fill water CH and TA?
Adding calcium will not effect your TA.

Normally we suggest just letting the TA ride down as you manage pH. But with very high TA, your pH can rise very quickly. So working it down to close to 100 is a good idea. When you use fill water, you will just need to be testing pH and managing that to keep in the 7's.

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.

 

[Sivartb000]

City added. Thank you for your quick response. I will keep lowering my ta to around 100, and go from there.

I have not tested CH of fill water - I will check that tomorrow.

I will also check out your links. Thanks!

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

You have an above-ground pool, so it's vinyl lined, which means you don't even need Calcium. There's no plaster to damage. You can, however develop scale if CH is too high. And if you fill water is truly 200 TA, that is a very real threat. Scale is sandpaper grown in place. Instant road rash when you scrape against it. You don't want that. Don;t add that Calcium Increaser.

You have the test kit, now it's time to really study pool school, especially ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

A whole lot of this is hands-on learning. You test, you dose, you see the results. You learn how much FC you lose in a day, how much acid your pool takes. It's just a matter of time.

 

[setsailsoon]

I did a terrible job at this last year (but hey, my kids didn't get any water borne illnesses so that's a win right?) And by the end of the season it was pretty dicey, my cya was absolutely through the roof before I realized all the pucks i was using was killing me. I also switched from the crappy strips to Taylor's fas dpd kit. Trying to actually care and keep it safe, clean and proper this year.

Siv,

Welcome to TFP!! You're well on your way to a sparkling pool and superb water chemistry balance. You've got two experts already engaged to help you every step of the way. Please do carefully read and execute their advice. It will help you to quickly learn how to care for your pool. Several things you can do to help them advise you better are:

• Add the information about your pool, equipment, and anything unique about your pool at the bottom in what we call the "signature" line. Click on you screen name at the top right of this screen then click on "signature". This will open a window that you can type in. Remember to press SAVE. You can edit this as your pool and equipment get updated.
• Get a complete test kit if you haven't already. You can read about test kits in Pool School. Most of us use the TF 100. Post a complete set of the most recent test results when you make the changes recommended.
• Ask any and every question you have. The more of this you do the quicker you'll be able to handle most of the care yourself. Of course TFP is always here to answer any question that crops up.

Siv, again welcome aboard and I hope this is helpful.

Chris

 

[mknauss]

Good catch guys - I passed right over the above ground pool in the first post. Oh to have a signature, it really helps us who scan hundreds of posts per day.

 

[Sivartb000]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I read through a lot of the articles, and have a few left. I was doing the cya slightly incorrectly (was in the shade rather than bright sun). My true cya I believe is more around 35 rather than 45.

Fc is 4 this morning (I'm surprised it's been so steady, only 1ppm drop in about 36hrs, seems to confirm I have no organics in there, also not much sun I'm sure helps). Ph is holding at 7.4. Didn't check ta.

Also happy to hear I dont need to worry about ch since its vinyl, I will skip adding the hardener I bought. Is there an absolute minimum I should keep an eye out for? And does ch typically change up or down overtime? I'll still check ch of my fill water when I get a chance, just so I can know which way itll go when I add water.

I will address my signature when I'm on a PC, cant seem to navigate really well on my phone. I'll also create a spreadsheet to keep track of each test a little more scientifically.

 

[mknauss]

I'll also create a spreadsheet to keep track of each test a little more scientifically.

Check out the PoolMath app. With a subscription it stores all your data and you can access it across all your mobile and desktop devices. See the link in my signature.

 

[Richard320]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I read through a lot of the articles, and have a few left. I was doing the cya slightly incorrectly (was in the shade rather than bright sun). My true cya I believe is more around 35 rather than 45.

Fc is 4 this morning (I'm surprised it's been so steady, only 1ppm drop in about 36hrs, seems to confirm I have no organics in there, also not much sun I'm sure helps). Ph is holding at 7.4. Didn't check ta.

Also happy to hear I dont need to worry about ch since its vinyl, I will skip adding the hardener I bought. Is there an absolute minimum I should keep an eye out for? And does ch typically change up or down overtime? I'll still check ch of my fill water when I get a chance, just so I can know which way itll go when I add water.

I will address my signature when I'm on a PC, cant seem to navigate really well on my phone. I'll also create a spreadsheet to keep track of each test a little more scientifically.

CH will slowly climb over time as water evaporates. The water leaves, the CH stays, and then you add a little more in the fill water. No minimum to worry about.