Post-Harvey test numbers

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DMS2014

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Jun 22, 2014
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Houston, Texas
Well, considering that we drained the pool like six times - I mean we got SO MUCH rain it was ridiculous. Sat/Sun we got up multiple times to check the level.
Anyway, I did a full run and this is what I got:
Water temp is 72 now (dropped from 90 on Thursday night - last time we went swimming)
FC 3.5
CH 325 (i was shocked by this number - thought it would be way lower)
TA 50
CYA 30
salt 1800! OMG.
pH 7.5

I am not sure that the pool store is even open. We need CH and salt. it's been a long time since my numbers have been so whacked out.
So based on those numbers, in what order shall I start upping the numbers? If I can get the CH today and salt, I will. The water temp is low so do I really need to get it to 70?
Also, because of all the rain, I was thinking up putting some bleach in....What say you smarter-than-me-pool folk????
 
You don't need CH increaser, 325ppm is perfect. Bring up your TA and pH a little and CSI will fine. CH is the last thing to care about.
 
Did you circulate and mix your water before testing? Rain water has a way of stratifying on a pool surface.

Also, do all chemical adjustments SLOWLY and in batches. Avoid overshooting.
 
If your local Walmart is open you should be able to get salt from there. If you can't find salt look for bleach. Bleach may also be hard to find right now, as people who flooded are needing it to clean up. If you can find it, grab a few gallons.
 
Same boat trying to get my pool back in balance. We were one of the lucky areas that did not get flooded. My numbers as of this morning are:

FC: 5.6ppm
CC: 0ppm
pH: 7.2
TA: 90
CH: 175ppm
CYA: 30ppm (but likely lower)

My CH has never been below 425ppm since we had our pool so I'm in uncharted territory with that. Added some chlorine pucks to my chlorinator and skimmers to push through some stabilizer.
 
Just focus on keeping your pH balanced and your FC at the correct level. The most important thing at this point is making the sure the water is properly sanitized. Raising the FC up to 10ppm and then doing an OCLT is a good idea.

CH is the least important thing to focus on right now. If your CH is low, then chlorinate with cal hypo for a little bit. It will add small amounts of CH and keep the pH up rather than using acidic forms of chlorine like pucks. Raise CYA using granular or liquid CYA.
 
the husband says that if we raise the TA, it's gonna knock our 7.2 pH down even lower.... then we have to raise it...Please explain so I can tell him. He's always fighting me.

Found salt. Leslie's is open.

JarCar, Leslie's is open. and it looks like you and I have the same problems fer sure!

I will test the chems again tomorrow - full test - to see where we are. We thoroughly cleaned the pool today - got out the big suction thing and all. it's spotless. About to add the salt. AND yes, I I will def add bleach!
 

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DMS2014 said:
the husband says that if we raise the TA, it's gonna knock our 7.2 pH down even lower.... then we have to raise it...Please explain so I can tell him. He's always fighting me.
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Ummm, no, that's totally wrong. Raising your TA using baking soda will raise your pH slowly because the amount of dissolved bicarbonate will be greater in a pool with higher TA. The outgassing of CO2 causes the pH to rise through the conversion of bicarbonate to aqueous CO2. In fact, when pH and TA are on the low side, it is often much better to add baking soda to raise TA (and slowly raise pH) rather than adding soda ash which jacks up the TA and pH at the same time.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
Ummm, no, that's totally wrong. Raising your TA using baking soda will raise your pH slowly because the amount of dissolved bicarbonate will be greater in a pool with higher TA. The outgassing of CO2 causes the pH to rise through the conversion of bicarbonate to aqueous CO2. In fact, when pH and TA are on the low side, it is often much better to add baking soda to raise TA (and slowly raise pH) rather than adding soda ash which jacks up the TA and pH at the same time.
Click to expand...

Ahhhh, THANK YOU! He was fighting me on the bleach so I just added it anyway. He's concerned about too much chlorine being bad...sigh...

BTW - i can't get 14lbs of baking soda anywhere so I bought the Lesle's TA up stuff....Normally I would NOT do that...haven't added it yet so if you tell me to wait and use BS, I will.

- - - Updated - - -

JoyfulNoise said:
Did you circulate and mix your water before testing? Rain water has a way of stratifying on a pool surface.

Also, do all chemical adjustments SLOWLY and in batches. Avoid overshooting.
Click to expand...

The pumps have never been off. Pool is crystal clear. I wish I knew how many gallons we pumped out. I thin it was Saturday night that I had drained the water to BELOW the tile line to the plaster 1/2 inch and in about 2 hours, the pool was full to the TOP of the coping. The TOP!
 
We're in NW Houston off 290 Tex-Sun (they have a little more pool-sense than L's) is open - but they're all sold out of Salt (until 4pm - hopefully) I got 6 bags this morning and need more!!!! This is ridiculous. According to my CYA our pool has gone through almost a 50% water swap! lol

My numbers today:
FC: 2.9 (I've been adding a jug of bleach a day because it went a weird green and the salt was too low for the SWCG)
CC: 0.2 (surprising!)
pH: 7.4 (Added MA a couple of days ago)
CH: 240 (I got a bucket of calcium to add once salt is back up)
CYA: 42 I don't know if I actually want to add any CYA....? Usually adding stuff to the pool brings that up. I have some powdered shock that usually brings it up.
Salt: 2000 (3200 after 120lbs of salt!)

Good luck!
 
I am up in Spring (NW Houston) and I finally decided to go through my giant overflow stack of mail... Found a flyer from TexSun for Sizzling Summer Savings. Salt is on sale (reg 12.80 - sale 6.99). We are chlorine not salt, so I have no idea if that's a good deal or not, but seemed fortituous. :)
 
updated numbers. We dumped required CH in pool and I tested today. Still the exact same number! CYA is 50 but there is still some in the sock. FC the same. I stupidly forgot to check the level yesterday so I need to do it again today after adding bleach. Salt is 3400.
 
Remind me of the order we need to adjust? My numbers:

FC 2 (been bleaching since my salt is:)
salt: was 1000 but I've added 125lbs of salt (yay costco with their cheap salt) so will probably back into operating range once it distributes.
CH 80
CYA 15
Alk 110
PH - was the charts high now about 8
Borates: probably back to 0 haven't actually tested

I've added acid, bleach and salt just so it doesn't turn to pea soup. I've got the chlorinator/shock that contains calcium - is it worth buying calciium on its own to get it up quickly or just use that chlorintor/shock until I'm back up?
 

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