Safe to Swim? Family dying to get in but high TC!

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isipwater

isipwater

0
Nov 7, 2015
50
Tucson, AZ
Hi,

My pool started turning teal and mustard algae was becoming a daily problem no matter how much scraping. I was keeping my daily chlorine tests to 5-10 but the problem would not go away.

So, I went to the local pool store and they told me that my phosphates were the problem. The pool store's full results were:
TC = 7
CH = 450 (high but normal for Tucson Arizona's hard water)
CYA = 250
TA = 130
pH = 7.6
Phosphates = 1000

The pool store lady tried to sell me some algae product but I politely declined and went home and poured 2 gallons of bleach (13%) in the pool.

Today my TC = 18

The family wants to go into the pool, is it safe?

Thanks
 
Your signature show you have a TF100 with a Speedstir! What are YOUR results?

IF your CYA is 250 ----- NO -- your pool is not safe to get in.

You will need to lower your CYA to 50 or so to get ahold of your algae issue. So do your own CYA test -- use step 8 under CYA in Extended Test Directions in Pool school.

Take care.
 
It is safe to swim when
FC is above minimum and up to shock level for your CYA, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
PH is between 7.2 and 7.8
And you can see the bottom of the pool

FC would need to be above 20 ppm to keep the pool safe and sanitary to prevent person to person disease transmission.
 
Hi,

Thanks, I tested my own CYA and it appears to off the charts, 200-300. Long-term, I know I need to drain and refill. So, given my CYA, the TFP chart does not go up that high, so it is safe, what do you think, thanks.

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Thanks, I tested my own CYA and it appears to off the charts, 200-300. Long-term, I know I need to drain and refill. So, given my CYA, the TFP chart does not go up that high, so it is safe, what do you think, thanks.

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So, I think you are saying that the TC is not to high to swim, right?
 
Your TC - which is a combination of FC and CC is not high enough for that CYA level.

I would strongly suggest not swimming in this pool. You need to run your own tests and then drain/refill to battle your algae using a SLAM Process and get your pool in a sanitary state.

Take care.
 
Hi Marty,

I think you are saying we should not swim in the pool, NOT because the TC is too high, right?

You are saying the TC level is not high enough given the CYA, so people could get sick, right?

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The CYA has been this high for a couple years and no one has ever gotten sick. We typically keep the TC around 5-7 and have no issues. Do you really think there is a high risk of sickness with our current TC = 17 and the CYA is 200-300? Thanks in advance.
 
There is a very real possibility of person to person disease transmission. It is of course, up to you as the owner of the pool, to do as you wish.

Why would you even consider keeping your CYA so high? It creates a large number of issues, including driving your CSI to the scaling point and obviously allowing algae a breeding ground.

Take care.
 

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Ha, excellent question. Bought the house 2 years ago. My first pool. In the first year, I realized CYA was around 500, a nice well intentioned TFP person told me to do a partial drain since it was too hot (risk of plaster cracks). Followed directions, drained about 66%, refilled, CYA was still 200. Learned lesson the hard way. Now waiting for weather to cool so I can do full drain. Thx for your curiosity :)

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what is CSI? Thanks.
 
Calcite Saturation Index. It is calculated in PoolMath. You should run PoolMath or use the PoolMath app every time you run your tests on your pool water.

I hope you are using your own testing to determine what chemical additions are needed. You have a quality test kit. Please do not follow pool store recommendations.

Take care.
 
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