PH, Alkalinity, and CYA need to go up

[johnnierotten]

I’m a newbie, and have several things off at once, so want to be sure the order of things don’t matter too much.
Numbers using Taylor 2006:
FC - 4.8
CYA - 32
Alkalinity - about 30 or 40 (changes)
PH - 7.0 but starting to get more light orange versus yellow, but just slightly

Pool is about 3700 gallons so we just added an additional 1lb stabilizer in a sock hanging off steps tonight. Just started running the SWG last night at 4 hrs per night (liquid chlorine before that whole setting everything up). Water is clear right now, but has some sand in the bottom until we can figure out how to get an attachment to be able to connect Intex auto vacuum.
We need the PH and Alkalinity up some, so after reading PS and searching topics, I thought we could put baking soda (increase PH, no need to dissolve first) and borax (increase alkalinity, pre dissolve and brush around) in ... but I’m not sure. I also saw aeration for increasing PH but I’m not sure how we accomplish that on a little 15x 48 blow up pool other than playing in it and that hasn’t been working. We have been using a solar cover to keep the heat in when not in use and to keep the bugs and funk out too.

 

[Richard320]

Raise the alkalinity with baking soda first. Then see where pH ends up and adjust it with borax if needed.

Do it in that order. Low TA can make pH changes very unpredictable. If you overshoot just a little with the pH adjustment it will have a huge effect.

TA adjustment doesn't have to be exact. Target 70, and if the dose is some odd amount, round up or down to an even number.

 

[johnnierotten]

FC was 3.0 tonight, CC 0 and CYA was up to about 51(from 32). There was a little more stabilizer in the sock and I squeezed it out as it was mush. This makes 1.9lbs total Robelle Stabilizer. The baking soda hasn’t come in yet, so waiting on that. The pump has been running for like 4 days now so that all the salt and stabilizer would mix in good. We ran the chlorinator last night for 4 hrs. I’m wondering if it is okay to keep running the pump 24/7 so the new pound of stabilizer gets mixed in good or if it’s going to wear the pump out running it so much? And also, do we need to run the SWG longer since the FC is only 3.0? Should I add some of our liquid chlorine granules to help it along? Could the chlorine be lower (4.8 before for a couple days) because we swam all weekend and all the sunscreen and stuff eats up the FC?

 

[Richard320]

Yes, you should increase the SWG on time so that you stay well above minimum for your CYA. Chlorine usage will go up with swimmers and sunlight. That's why you test. So you know. In a few days or weeks you will know your pool's appetites as well as you know each child's.

Pool pump only really needs to run long enough to keep the water clear and allow the SWG enough run time. Determine Pump Run Time - Trouble Free Pool You're not really hurting the pump any, but it will run up the electric bill.

 

[johnnierotten]

Added 2 lbs baking soda yesterday and let pump run a while. New numbers this evening were:

FC - 6.2
PH - 7.2
Total Alkalinity- 70
CYA - about 75, one try was a little over 70, second try was 80...so it’s somewhere between 70-80.
Salt - 3200 (using Taylor salt kit)

I think the pump needs to be backwashed because the psi went up from 7 to 9/10. But l also noticed a lot of air in the pump basket, I think because it rained a lot the last two days and made the solar cover go on top of the skimmer. This extra air seemed to aerate the pool though because I see bubbles all along the inside walls of the liner. I’m nervous about the backwash because we totally screwed it up the first time and backwashed into the pool and it was all sandy and cloudy. But we will try sometime tomorrow.

I’m having a hard time reading the colors on the PH, I think it is 7.2 but maybe inching to 7.4, I just cannot tell. I think the salt number is okay. I do taste a saltiness, but it's not really bad, and I would think the banking soda would taste salty too. I think we are okay on everything now except a little over on FC and under on PH. Should we wait some time or go ahead and try to move up the PH? Is the FC okay being a little high? Any advise on the backwashing?

Also, I got chemicals on one of my fingers and it’s stained and the nail is stained blackish/brown...is there any way to get it clean?

 

[mknauss]

pH is fine. No reason to chemically do anything with it. I would not call that over on FC with a CYA of 80.

The stain should wear off. Scrub it good with soap and water.

 

[johnnierotten]

Hi!

my FC is up to 9.0 and my CYA is down to about 65/67. Is the FC to high to swim? Or can we just lay off the SWG for a day or two and let it ease down but still swim? I had to do a backwash at the beginning of the week and lost water and had to add a couple inches back. It also rained one day before I could get the solar cover back on.

Lastly, should I have created a new post for this question?

Thank you for all the help

 

[johnnierotten]

Hi!

my FC is up to 9.0 and my CYA is down to about 65/67. Is the FC to high to swim? Or can we just lay off the SWG for a day or two and let it ease down but still swim? I had to do a backwash at the beginning of the week and lost water and had to add a couple inches back. It also rained one day before I could get the solar cover back on.

Lastly, should I have created a new post for this question?

Thank you for all the help

Oh, and the CC was zero. I didn’t check the PH or Alk this time. PH was 7.4 about 5-6 days ago and I think the Alkalinity was 70.

 

[mknauss]

You can safely swim in a pool as long as the FC is above the minimum and at or below SLAM level based on your CYA. You must also be able to see the bottom of the pool in the deep end of the pool.

If your CYA is 70 (round up) your SLAM level FC is 28 ppm. You can safely swim up to that level.