Phosphates v chlorine question.

[Piperca]

I recently had Leslie’s test my pool water. Showed phosphates over 1000 ppm. I have been noticing the chlorine has been difficult to balance. I have the swg set at 60% and it struggles to keep the chlorine level at 5 ppm. Current cya is 65; I know I need to raise it a little. Could the phosphates be causing the chlorine issue? I occasionally have to supplement with liquid chlorine. Should I treat the phosphates? The pool water is beautiful and clear.

Also, Leslie’s read the alkalinity at 64. I tested with my Taylor kit and got 90. The guy at Leslie’s tried to tell me the reason is my higher cya level. He said the test is a false indication of the actual level and that I should subtract 30 to account for the cya level. I’ve never heard of such a thing; is this accurate?

 

[mknauss]

Phosphates rarely are an issue with pool water chemistry. So ignore them.
How long do you run your pump each day?
Poolmath uses TA. Not adjusted alkalinity. CYA does add to the TA, but Poolmath manages that.

Stay out of pool stores.

 

[Piperca]

Pump runs 8 hours a day @ 2450 rpm/45 gpm, 13500 gallons capacity.

 

[mknauss]

Pump runs 8 hours a day @ 2450 rpm/45 gpm, 13500 gallons capacity.

That is 2.5 ppm FC per day. That is not enough. Target 4 ppm per day generated and see how things go. Adjust if you get above 8 ppm FC.

To get 4 ppm per day at 8 hours, set the SWCG to 100% generation.

 

[Piperca]

can I lengthen the run time to avoid having to peg out the swg?

 

[mknauss]

Sure. There is no harm in running the SWCG at 100%, but if you would like to leave your SWCG at 60%, increase the run time to 13 hours.

 

[JimMarshall]

can I lengthen the run time to avoid having to peg out the swg?

Whether you run the SWG 8 hours at 100% or 16 hours at 50%, youre still using up the same amount of cell life. Better to run the cell at 100% and save the money on electricity with a shorter run time.

 

[Piperca]

Thank you for your input, I’ll follow your advice.

 

[Newdude]

+1 to both above. The cell just does what you tell it. It never 'pegs out' or 'works harder' it's either on or off the % of the time which you tell it. Such a helpfull little bugger, he even computes all the maths for you and turns himself on 90% of the time in his run window.

Also, this is the peak season for everyone. It doesn't matter if you are in Texas or Canada. Whatever demand you had in April/May has increased. The days are getting shorter now but this is the time everyone is realizing that they weren't keeping up. Increase the runtime or %. Increase both if need be.

Soon you will be over producing as the season continues to wind down. Pay attention to the weekly/daily trends and be ready to adjust when necessary. Over the season, plan on adjusting up a couple of times (about once a month) until the mid season, and then adjusting down a few times on the back half. Open. Up. Up. Up. Down. Down. Close. Something like that.

 

[mknauss]

SWCG will operate pretty close to all year in the OC. Water might be too cold in late December through February.

 

[Newdude]

Nice catch. So

Chlorine
Chlorine
SWG on low
Up
Up
Up
Down
Down
Chlorine