No clue in NE Missouri.

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rumpunch said:
Will do, thanks.

Also, I planned to add 60 oz. of Borax to help raise the pH level closer to 7.6. Is this a good idea?
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Is the water making the boys eyes red or sting? You can add a bit of borax to raise the pH. The CYA you add is mildly acidic so it will lower your pH a smidge.

Test the pH, TA, and CH of your fill water if you have not. That will tell you what effect it will have when you add water due to splashout from the kids getting a bit crazy in the pool.
 
rumpunch said:
Also, I planned to add 60 oz. of Borax to help raise the pH level closer to 7.6. Is this a good idea?
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Personally, I'd hold off on that. Most pool owners fight high pH more so than low, and 7.2 isn't what I'd consider low anyway. Anything between 7.2 and 7.8 is fine. With boys splashing around, the pH will tend to rise on its own.

One thing at a time - let's get your CYA and FC stable first. Then we can tweak the other less important things like pH and TA.
 
BattleOfYakima said:
I liked you better when you were pestering us. :geek:
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Well, I'd hate to disappoint you guys, so...

This morning's test numbers were:
FC-- 6.5
pH-- 7.4

I'll check those daily and check the CYA on Saturday for the first time. I'm curious to see what the CYA numbers are. Today I'll read some more to figure out how much conditioner will equal 10 ppm CYA and add that tonight per Marty's recommendation. And don't worry, I'm sure I'll have a question or twelve as I'm studying.

- John
 
We've had a couple of inches of rain this week which has really lowered the water temperature, but the pool is still crystal clear and inviting. I ordered a solar cover which should be here today, so hopefully I can get that temp up to a comfortable level.

This morning's numbers:
FC-- 4
pH-- 7.4
Water temp-- 75

Tomorrow I'll run all the tests and post my numbers. That will be the first time I've tested for CYA, so I'm curious to see that number. Based on the chlorine/CYA chart, I think I'll need to get my FC up to around 6 or 7 if my CYA is where I think it is. I'll add another 60 ounces of 8.25% bleach tonight which should do it.

Thanks to the guidance you guys have provided, it's actually been a fairly painless process. I attribute that to TFP-- specifically Pool School and the help and encouragement you guys have offered. Thank you.
 
Today's test results:
FC-- 4
TC-- Didn't test because I spilled the sample and was anxious to get to CYA, so I didn't redo it.
pH-- 7.4
TA-- 100
CYA-- 57

The CYA test wasn't near as difficult as I had feared-- possibly because I'd read all about it on here prior to testing. Based on these numbers, I think I need to raise my FC to around 7. I'll add around 40 ounces of 8.25% bleach this morning. It's supposed to rain this afternoon and tonight and I'm not sure how that will affect the Amount of bleach needed to hit my target number.

Should I put on the solar cover prior to a rain, or will that just be a waste of time? Thoughts?
 

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Round up your CYA to 60. Did you add that much powder to raise it to that level? Want to make sure you have been using the right pool volume.

Definitely raise your FC target. Be sure your minimum FC for the day is within the target range for your CYA

Rain does not have much effect unless it is of ark building proportions. Your solar cover will reduce your FC loss if it is sunny.
 
Yes, I accidentally added that much CYA. In one of your earlier posts you suggested adding 10 ppm of CYA. When I went to add it, I remembered your recommendation as 20 ppm, so I added more CYA than I was supposed to. Once I realized my mistake I figured my total CYA would be around 55 when I tested it. I knew that was higher than what I'd originally been shooting for, but I thought I could make it work if I keep the FC a little higher that it's been.

I just added enough bleach (45 oz.) to bring the FC to 7. Should I go even higher? Today is overcast and it's supposed to rain after lunch.
 
Thanks for clearing up my confusion on the CYA! I thought your pool shrunk by a couple thousand gallons all of a sudden!

Your goal is to have your FC within the target levels shown on the chlorine/CYA chart at the time you test each day. So you then have to add enough chlorine to go above that level to compensate for the sun, swimmer, and other organics loss of FC during the next 24 hours.

The typical loss for a pool in the summer is 2-4 ppm. So lets use FC of 8 as your target. When you add your chlorine, you need to aim for 11 or 12 to compensate for the loss of FC over the next 24 hours. The next day it might test at 9, so you add enough to get back to 11 or 12, etc.

Hope that helps.
 
Nope. All good. You can start testing FC and pH daily, TA weekly, and CH and CYA monthly.

Until such time as you close the pool for winter! I have NO experience in closing a pool for winter!
 
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