Opening numbers 2022

[Deuceswild7284]

Hey TFP family,

Happy opening day 2022. My guy got out and opened our pool yesterday. First 80 degree day in Chicago.

Looking for some initial feedback on my numbers. I used the TF100 testing kit.

35k gal pool
PH 6.8
FC 31 (my guy did shock it with 4 gals if liquid chlorine as he opened it).
CC .5
CH 125
TA 40
CYA 100

I know I def need to raise my ph. What order should I put chemicals in?

I know I’ll need to drain the pool some
to lower the cya. I was planning on doing about a foot at a time and retesting 24 hours after the fill of fresh water.

Thanks in advance for the help and feedback!

Dan

 

[setsailsoon]

Dan,

I would get your pH up, anything below 7 can cause damage. Then tackle the CYA. Have you been using tablets previously? 100 CYA is pretty high for a newly opened pool. This level is well above the recommended level.
FC/CYA Levels

Chris

 

[Deuceswild7284]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I did use tablets last year and the cya has been up since then. Planning to move to strictly liquid.

Ok. I plan to add 11 lbs of borax based on then pool math app. Is they the first thing I should add right away?

 

[Mdragger88]

Have you done the diluted cya test? If reading over 90 this is recommended so u are sure u are draining enough.
step 8

CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test

Cyanuric Acid (CYA) is the chemical name for what is commonly referred to as Stabilizer … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

The small drains will use much more water than a drain & refill- w/ vinyl liner you must be careful not to drain too low or the liner will shift.
Here’s some more info on safe water exchange methods

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Mdragger88]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I did use tablets last year and the cya has been up since then. Planning to move to strictly liquid.

Ok. I plan to add 11 lbs of borax based on then pool math app. Is they the first thing I should add right away?

Yes

 

[setsailsoon]

Should be pretty quick to get the pH adjusted. You just need to get it above 7.0 since it will rise on it's own as you use the pool due to aeration. Read carefully the reference on draining with a vinyl liner and ask any questions before you start.

 

[TexEdmond]

Before you go making any drastic changes you might want to consider doing the partial drain / refill first because it'll help with FC as well as CYA. pH drop tests aren't accurate over 10ppm FC, but I don't know which way it skews. You might invest in an electronic pH meter for something like this; I believe there are some recommendations here on the site. Until you know you've got an accurate measure for pH, it might not be necessary to add 11 lbs of borax... what was the PoolMath target pH when you calculated it? You don't need to get the pH way up there, just enough to protect your heater and pump and other metals from corroding in the near term while you dilute your CYA down. Unfortunately, with 100ppm of CYA, it's gonna take a LOOOONG time to get your FC down below 10ppm so you can reliably test pH. I hate to say it, but one of the only ways to neutralize massive amounts of FC in a short amount of time might be... urine. Now just so we're clear: I'm not necessarily telling you to start peeing in your pool...

 

[setsailsoon]

I agree with Tex... don't over-do the pH adjustment. That's why I would only add the amount to get to 7. Kind of a precautionary move that wouldn't hurt. The pH number is not reliable with your FC level. Any chance the pool guy measured pH before he added all that liquid chlorine? If it was above 7 you don't need to worry about adjusting 'till you get your FC down and you can focus on exchanging water that will reduce your CYA and FC.

 

[Deuceswild7284]

Thanks for all the info. No he didn’t do any testing during his openings. We moved in here about 4 years ago and this is the first time owning a pool. The owners prior to us have been using the same guy for 20 years so we just decided to keep going with him since he’s been doing it.

Pool math called for 11th lbs to get to 7.4. Based on your feed back I added 5 lbs to hopefully bring it to 7.

I think the best time to do a refill would be now since the pool temp is only in the high 50s. I’m assuming hose water would be close to that so hopefully won’t imapact anything and I don’t want to waste gas to heat it up to 80s. Just to drain it and bring that temp back down a lot.

 

[TexEdmond]

I think that's a good plan. Doing the water swap now will help dilute your FC and CYA, and depending on your fill water's chemistry might also help put some TA into the pool and raise the pH in the short term. You're going to have to do it sooner or later, might as well not run up the water bill AND throw away borax as well. Just make sure you're not draining so much as to jeopardize your vinyl liner's stability or integrity.

 

[wireform]

If your speaking of a drain and refill then it makes no difference the temp of either water but if your planning a "no drain" water exchange that will only work if there's a large enough delta T which basically means there needs to be a decent amount of temperature difference to make it work well and the easiest one to heat will be the pool. A fifteen degree difference will do it along with all the other parameters. It's a slower process but you don't float the liner or the pool shell going this method. Make sure you understand everything about it for it to be a success.