Pool Newbie with new SWG & Mineral Springs Gunite Pool

[bostonpool]

Hi folks:

My wife and I recently purchased a home which has a 32,000 gallon, gunite, in-ground pool. We have never owned a pool before.

Over the winter we installed an Aqua Rite 120 Salt Water Generator as we'd prefer salt water chlorination vs traditional.

We opened up the pool a week ago and did the typical shocking, etc. It was pretty green. The day after we opened it we dumped in 20 bags of Mineral Springs beginnings. (We chose the Mineral Springs Route since we are new and it is easier. This could change at some point in the future.)

The Aqua Rite Seems to be working fine.

Here's the problem...we can't seem to generate a proper amount of Free Chlorine. The values are VERY LOW when measured by a "Salt Scapes" dip stick and also as measured in our pool company's lab. We turned the generator up from 30% to 80% and run our pump 22 hours a day.

Yesterday, I got hte manual for the Aqua Rite 120 and realized the installers set the wrong cell size in the software. It was set to "T-9" and should have been set to "T-15". I made this change. This made the salt content showed on the display to drop to a level that was more consistent with the Salt Scapes salt concentration test strip. It was reading 4600 ppm when set on T-9 and has dropped to the appropriate 3200 ppm on T-15 setting. The cell is a T-15 cell btw.

Water temp is 69 degrees. Last week it was high 50's but our heater has been warming it up.

Anyway, since fixing the "T-15" setting on the Aqua Rite I've also set it to "Super Chlorinate" to try to bring the FC levels up. As of this AM it is still not good. Still too low.

I'm wondering what I can do to speed this up. Did running the Aqua Rite on T-9 for a week damage my T-15 cell? I can't see why it would damage it. If it was set on T-9 for a week I can totally understand why we don't have enough free chlorine as the system thought my cell was smaller than it really was...so no chlorine was being generated.

What else can I do? Is there any way to speed this up? How long should it take to bring levels up?

I should state that all other levels on the Salt Scapes test strips are in the range they are supposed to be.

Thanks...just learning about this stuff.

 

[Richard320]

A SWG will take forever to raise the FC from zero, especially if there's any residual algae in the pool eating it up as fast as it's generated.

I suggest you boost the FC to the [FC/CYA]proper level for your CYA[/FC/CYA] (You did add some CYA, didn't you? Without it, every bit of FC you generate will be destroyed by the sun in an hour or two) with bleach and let the SWG take over from there.

As an aside, test strips are generally pretty useless. A huge pool like yours deserves a grownup test kit.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

SWGs work slowly, hence when they're brand new the plan is to take your water up to goal level FC with bleach (yup, plain old household non-scented, non-fancy-fied bleach) and then let the SWG maintain that level for you.

SWG also have a limited lifespan, so its best to avoid using the chlorine boost option and just dose with bleach when you need an immediate "ooomph!" of FC. Such as a diaper disaster in the pool or something. Bleach is your back up buddy!

Maddie

 

[bostonpool]

I've got some chlorine tabs left over from previous owners. Pool company says to add 3 tabs into the skimmer basket. Any problems doing this with the SWG?

I had two tests done last week from my water lab at my pool company. The first showed CYA at 83. The second at 93. Both are about 2x where I want them.

How do I reduce??

 

[Richard320]

I've got some chlorine tabs left over from previous owners. Pool company says to add 3 tabs into the skimmer basket. Any problems doing this with the SWG?

I havent measured CYA. How do I do that? I thought Mineral Springs Beginnings / Renewal did that for me.

Three 8 oz trichlor pucks in a pool the size of yours will only add 5 FC by the time they're dissolved. That could take a couple days. Not enough fast enough. And they'll also raise CYA by 3 but we don't know if that's good or bad without knowing the current CYA level.

The MSDS shows some small amounts of CYA in that Renewal stuff, but not specifically how much. 0.1 - 3 % is pretty vague. A proper test kit will be able to read the CYA. That is what we preach here: test your water yourself and adjust accordingly, adding only what the pool needs.

 

[bostonpool]

So my CYA on the lab test sheet from Wednesday (before I dumped in 1.5 bags of Renewal) was 93!!. It was 83 earlier in the week. Seems too high. How to lower?

How do I reduce CYA down to 40-50 without having to drain 1/2 of pool?

Also, if I add liquid bleach to my pool how much to raise FC?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

The only way to lower CYA is to drain and re-fill. Sadly pool stores fail to mention how products they sell cause problems down the line.

Look up top here and learn to use the PoolMath app. One side column on the left is your current levels, the column to the right of it is where you input where you want to be. Make sure you list your pool's gallons at the top, and at the bottom tell it you want to follow "Trouble free pools.com", how your chlorinate and what your pool surface is. Then the program gives you suggested values above those columns...... check it out. It will be your new best friend

Maddie

 

[Richard320]

Slow down!

You have a SWG so the CYA should be 70-80. You're not terribly high if the pool store test is right --- and more often than not, they aren't. I wouldn't do anything today except order a test kit so that you can take control of the pool and add some bleach.

Bleach is the generic term we use for liquid chlorine. It can be Chlorox, or store brand laundry bleach (plain unscented, not splashless, nothing fancy) or "liquid pool shock" or "Pool Chlorinating liquid." It's all the same stuff, just different strengths. This time of year you might find a good deal on the pool stuff at the big box stores. If it's laundry bleach (8.25%) pick up half a dozen jugs. Only add 4 today and keep the rest for a quick boost later. If you find the pool-strength stuff (10-12.5%) 4 gallons should be enough, but only add 3.

 

[Vickery]

Hey bostonpool - Welcome to the forum.
If you truly want to have the absolute easiest and best pool ownership experience, read "Pool School" at the top of the home page. About three times is a good start. While you are there, check out "Handy References". Then look at "Pool Chemistry" and compare test kits, because you really do want to have a good one. Pool $tores will cost you money, time, effort, frustration and you will still not have a sparkling, easy to manage pool. Following the guidelines on this forum and paying attention to the advice and you will have the cleanest, brightest pool in the neighborhood, with embarrassingly easy maintenance. Or you can have a pool $tore pool. A good test kit (I prefer the TF100) will save you many times the cost of the kit in NOT buying unnecessary chemicals.

It really is that easy!

 

[bostonpool]

Thanks Richard. Wish I read this before hand. I just added what I had left of Bio guard supersol which I didnt realize increases my CYA even further. Grrr.

Ok no more Supersol. Liquid bleach it is.

I'm also going to order the good test kit here and start to take control of this.

Any opinions on Mineral Springs? I like the simplicity and convenience but am worried I'm gonna lose control. On continue to raise CYA.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Mineral Springs is just expensive CYA, borax and salt. All easily found individually which makes them cheaper and easier to tweak levels of on their own.

Save your bucks. Buy a pool toy instead

Maddie