Pool hardness way too high

[tuxedy]

Hello everyone, I was away for 4 months from my pool and allowed my guard (I live in Africa) to manage my pool. When I left my CYA levels were around 40-50 and hardness was somewhere around 650.

Today I came back, and checked my readings:

CH: 925!
CYA: under 30 by a long shot, I would gather its like 0-20?
ph: 7.4
CC: 0
FC: 12
TA: 40
pool temp: 74?

I have a few dilemmas. I taught him how to do the SLAM technique which he had to do 3 times in my absence, but the only form of Chlorine we can get here is Cal Hypo 65 and Tichlor 90. No bleach. So we usually do our daily and slam with Cal Hypo. It's rained alot and that is likely why the CYA dropped so much while I was gone. But he was slamming thinking the levels were CYA 50. And we went through about 20kg of Cal hypo over the last 3 months (which is normal, with our previous way of managing the pool).

My question for you experts. When I plug in my values to CSI, I get a pretty good value despite my CH being so high. I have a concrete pool with paint. I haven't noticed much calcification but then again my pool is a white painted pool. Secondly, I plan on having our contractor empty the pool this summer to either repaint or tile the pool anyways.

Should I try to get the CYA back up to something manageable, like 30? I live in a high uncovered UV area for like 10 hours a day. However, when I kept the pool at 70,60,50 CYA, the monthly SLAMS we were doing required so much hardness adding to the pool. I am even wondering if I should just keep the pool at 0 CYA like everyone else here does, and keep FC from 1-3 and just doing a low 10 shock every now and then...

A few questions. When I use the CSI I

 

[Texas Splash]

While your CH is high, it is compensated a bit with a low pH and TA. As long as you keep those two on the low end, it will help to counter-balance the high CH. You can continue to do that until you change the water.

As for the CYA, yes, you do need some, at least 30 ppm. No CYA means the chlorine, even if 1 - 3 ppm, will be exceptionally harsh. A low CYA makes the chlorine susceptible to the sun's UV. So I would increase the CYA to 30 and balance the FC according to the FC/CYA Levels. Hope that helps.

 

[tuxedy]

Thanks!!!

 

[tuxedy]

Again, as a disclaimer, I live in Africa and we don't have access to sodium hypochlorite, well at least not good quality stuff. The only pool supply company offers is trichlor powder and cal hypo 65.

I've had my pool now for a year. Initially dealt with way too high CYA levels since my crappy test strips didn't detect it, and I was adding powdered stuff CYA and using trichlor powder to bring it up, until I got my Taylor test kit and found my levels at 70 - which though in my part of the world with high UV, I didn't like having to SLAM every now and then at really high levels, introducing a lot of hardness into the pool.

I've been away for 3 months and came back to a pool with really high hardness, (925ppm,) - likely from the additional SLAMs that were done by my guard who I trained but was doing them at high CYA levels - I came back to find that my CYA has degraded to an undetectable level, at least much less than 30.

It got me thinking, CYA levels challenging to maintain, and with the really high levels of calcium introduced by CalHypo, can I simply do what everyone else here in the country does, which no one really uses CYA, every hotel pool I've seen simply keeps FC from 1-3ppm, dosing daily, and shocking when the pool becomes cloudy at 10ppm? In all honesty, when my CYA levels were high it would take a long time and a lot of chemicals to and pump time to return my pool to blue. I found that despite keeping my pool with high FC levels (never dropped levels below recommended CYA/FC levels) I still find myself needing to SLAM once every 6 weeks, each time taking 3-5 days. Whereas, when I kept the pool at no CYA one 10ppm shock overnight cleared the pool, and I was still needing to do this every 6 weeks anyway.

Second question. With a lower CYA / no CYA I understand that FC degrades quicker. I used to add 4ppm every two days via dissolving and distributing around perimeter of pool (CYA of 50, raising from 6ppm to 10ppm). Now that I have lower CYA/ 0 CYA I want to keep my target at 2-4. So that means at least adding 2ppm each day... rather than 4ppm as that would degrade too quickly. If I add daily, can I add by simply pouring the crystals into the skimmer? No inline chlorination, just a simple sand filter. That would make daily chlorination so easy.

 

[Leebo]

One big item to keep in mind is that you’re far away from “simple” due to your situation. Whatever option you select it’s gonna be more effort than normal care we teach those with easy access to liquid chlorine. That said, my initial question would be concerning your CYA level. Are they still around 30? If so I would move in the opposite direction than what you’re thinking and bump the levels up to protect the chlorine you’ve got in the water.

Second question, besides liquid chlorine, what other limitations do you have on getting normal pool chemicals? Do you have some way to get some basic items?

 

[tuxedy]

Well, it's a hit or a miss with chemicals. When they come in, I gobble them up in the bulk. Usually we have acid available but there have been months where there was no acid nor chlorine available. Thankfully it hasn't come to that point.

I am going to use my leftover trichlor (1kg) to bump up 10ppm gradually since they are out of CYA at the moment. See where I am at that time. I have CYA reagent and FAS-DPD coming with a friend in a week. Thank God pool testing chemicals cost so little.

When I first opened the pool I was able to buy the last pool hose in the country. Wasn't stocked for another 6 months! That won't fit in a suitcase readily!

 

[tuxedy]

For some reference with regards to my testing with little to no CYA
January 3 AM
ph: 7.4
CC: 0
FC: 12

January 4 AM
cc: 0.5
FC 8.5

Jan 5th AM
cc: 0.75
FC: 6.5

Jan 5th PM
cc: 0.75
FC: 5.5

Jan 6th AM
FC: 5.5
cc: 0.75

Just a loss of 1ppm from Jan 5th to Jan 6th. No swimming but a lot of sun recently.

I found that when I was using CYA at levels of 50 or more, I generally had to dose 2ppm per day. (added 4ppm every other day).

Now with such a low CYA, towards the lower levels of FC I am only losing the same, if not less. If I am adding 2ppm anyways each day, what difference does CYA do other than make it so expensive to SLAM at higher FC levels?

 

[Texas Splash]

With next to no CYA, your FC at 5, 8, or 12 is extremely strong and not recommended. The amount of FC loss you have experienced would vary based on several factors. CYA, amount and intensity of UV, bather's load, and organics in the local area all play a factor on why our FC loss each day can change. As long as you have no algae, maintaining the normal FC target range is recommended once you get the CYA up to at least 30. Using the tabs is a good idea, and hopefully you will be able to maintain the pH level with acid to compensate for the elevated CH level. Good that you have been resourceful to this point with other items. Supply issues are hitting the U.S. as well.