Phosphates Debate

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Interested. Not sure what my phosphate level is but assuming currently low. I would like to eventually track for curiosities sake more than anything. Thanks Leebo for the information re the test you used and your experience. I’m also interested if there is any residual nasties left in the pool since I’m TFP-ified on adding any potion to my pool. I think this is interesting for those struggling with a pool’s behaviour.
 
How about a video instead......


Full faith in advertising however, my experience was NOWHERE close to this video. I did have some clouding but nowhere even close to what’s shown here.

A warning needs to be added here IMHO. Stay away from the cheap pool store rubbish. Some of them add a clairifier to help address this clouding issue. Depending on your filter type this clairifier can mess some stuff up. Additionally the pool store stuff is weak. A liter of “Natural Chemistry” will only remove 2000ppb phosphates from a 10,000-gallon pool while a product such as Orenda PR-10000 will remove 10,000ppb phosphates from a 10,000-gallon pool.
 
Leebo said:
I think it’s safe to say we can all agree that chlorine has a lot to deal with when addressing issues in a pool. I also think we can all agree that over the last ten years the FC/CYA ratio has proven itself as being more than capable of handling these issues. But can phosphate removers be of some assistance when used in clear pools?

Over the last year I’ve used a phosphate remover in my personal pool. I kept having difficulty finding reliable information on the Internet and thought it would be appropriate for me to learn more about it. As is I’m not ready to fully print my findings however I can easily say that I had reduced my phosphates from over 1000ppb to almost zero and now have a more forgiving pool. I learned not to fear the bottom portion of the FC/CYA ratio as I have in the past and feel my pool is more forgiving to my errors than in the past.
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Hate to jump the gun... but.... just curious... has your daily FC loss been reduced?
 
Right, thanks Winnie. So the "waste" from the process collects in the filter. But do we know if there are any other residual chemicals (on a molecular level that can pass through the filter). Like Riley, other than what humans and birds have left behind, my water has never had anything added to it other than CL, MA, CYA and the original batch of sequestrant.
 
Dirk said:
Right, thanks Winnie. So the "waste" from the process collects in the filter. But do we know if there are any other residual chemicals (on a molecular level that can pass through the filter). Like Riley, other than what humans and birds have left behind, my water has never had anything added to it other than CL, MA, CYA and the original batch of sequestrant.
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So I’ll give ya the short answer, nope. Basically phosphate removers are a metal that gets added to the pool and reacts with phosphates in the water. The metal then either gets vacuumed to waste or caught in the filter.


Winnie-the-Pool said:
Hate to jump the gun... but.... just curious... has your daily FC loss been reduced?
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Part of my reasoning for me testing was to see how phosphates work in pools and learn what bit of advice is legit and what bits of truth are being blown out of portion. Before I answer this question I want to make sure I’ve got a seasons worth of data to fall back on.
 
Lee,

But how will you ever know for sure?? There are tons of people that keep their FC much lower than what we recommend and they never get algae.. So are they just lucky or what?

If your normal FC is say 6 and after you remove all of the phosphates you are able to run your FC at 3 is that because you removed the phosphates or would you still have been able to run at 3 with the phosphates still in the pool???

To be clear, I am not against using phosphate removers.. I am just not sure how anyone can prove there is a real cause and effect.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Leebo said:
Part of my reasoning for me testing was to see how phosphates work in pools and learn what bit of advice is legit and what bits of truth are being blown out of portion. Before I answer this question I want to make sure I’ve got a seasons worth of data to fall back on.
Click to expand...

That's what I suspected, hence the way I prefaced my question. I look forward to your findings. Thanks!
 

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I've been following the phosphate debate for a couple of years now and last year I decided to try reducing the phosphates in my pool. My pool has always been very reactive to getting algae, even though we follow the FC/CYA chart, and we test the FC daily as the pool is used for lessons. Every year I have needed to SLAM the pool at some time during the year. Last year I decided to lower the phosphate level, was over 2000ppb, and it was the first year that I made it without having to SLAM the pool. I ran out of phosphate remover after I reduced it so I let the pool go without any phosphate reducer this year. Guess what, I had to SLAM the pool a month ago. I checked the phosphate level this week and it is 1000+ppb.

Once the lessons stop, back to using phosphate remover in my pool.
 
In the end, isn't that what we are all about? TFPC has a set of things that we know work for a great majority of folks. But there are always going to be outliers. The key is to know what you are putting in your pool and what it's effects are. Those in the phosphate debate are in a position to know quite a bit more then the average pool owner.
 
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