Second Water Test & ready to start "tweaking" with chemicals! Order of additions???

[The Houlagans]

Hi TFP peeps,

Here's our second water test run on TF-100 test kit + K-1766 Salt Test. Where do I begin with tweaking chemistry?

Note: pH fell somewhere between 7.2 & 7.5. When I inputted the average (7.35) into Pool Math app, it rounded up to 7.4.


We had to have skimmer repaired so partially drained pool 5 days ago and had it topped off with 3000 gallons of water delivered (not our normal well water top off). We ran pump for 6 hours after delivery yesterday and tested again today to get ready to start balancing. Our water is still clear and I have brushed and vacuumed 3 times since opening pool on 4/15.

In what order do I address things? I don't want to mess up!
Thanks, Newbie in NH

 

[scottts]

Follow TFP guidelines. I'd raise salt to 3600ppm for the IC-40 so it can generate, get CYA up to 70 (because you have an IC-40), and keep chlorine at proper FC/CYA ratio. TA will be fine. CH is fine.

 

[The Houlagans]

Thank you!

It is our very first full season with a pool (we bought house just before pool closing last year), so please bear with me.

My thoughts on order of addition are...
1) CYA (waiting for our 100% pure granules to arrive)
2) then chlorine based on cya levels (but I am scared to let the chlorine levels stay too low for too long)
3) then salt
4) then borate

It's too cool here (water temp below 55) for our salt cell to work properly, so I have time to address salt level. Until I can rely on SWG to produce chlorine, I guess I will need to add bleach or liquid chlorine on a daily basis?

I have done alot of reading here, but don't understand why some people SLAM their pools and others just add recommended levels of chlorine based on Pool Math. Am I not slamming because my water is clear? I just want to understand.

 

[scottts]

Ah, I overlooked the location. Air temp at my pool is 104F right now - 89F water temp.

Yes, then CYA and Chlorine first - you don't need/want 70ppm CYA if you're not going to use the SWG yet. Probably start lower at 30-40 until you're sure you don't need a slam.
Chlorine is an immediate and constant need. Use liquid or since you need CYA, use trichlor pucks too for now (make sure they don't have any copper or "blue" additives) but they will dissolve slow.
Salt when you want to switch to the IC-40. I have IC-40 so I know the preferred level is 3600ppm. Mine generated fine at 55+ water temp during the winter.
I know nothing about Borates.

There are criteria to determine if you need a slam. If your water is clear, once you add chlorine to the proper level you can do an overnight chlorine loss test to determine if you have anything consuming chlorine.

 

[The Houlagans]

Soooooo jealous of your water temp, but not so much your air temp! We are hoping for a nice Spring here, but so far just rain! LOL!

Once the CYA arrives, I will add to the levels you recommended. We are attempting to stay as "pure" as possible here and not use mixed chemicals (with multiple ingredients), so I can carefully measure the effects of each addition we make to the pool. So, once I get CYA up to 30-40, I will then add chlorine. What should my target chlorine level be for a CYA level that low? 3ish?? Think that will require me to add daily doses of bleach until temps are high enough to run salt cell?

I read somewhere on the forum that we should keep salt levels 200-400 ppm ABOVE preferred level for SWG, so I have my goal set now to 3900ppm. Sound okay to you?

The only knowledge I have on borates came from TFP -- supposedly helps control pH "drift" -- which might be helpful to us here. TBD.

 

[scottts]

Yeah, you don't want our air temps, trust me.

You can find the target chlorine levels here FC/CYA Levels. Target 4-7ppm for 30-40ppm CYA. Its the Bible for FC levels. Depending on how much sun your pool gets at your water temps, you may only have to add every other day. Just test daily until you get a feel for the right frequency.

The IC-40 has a pretty wide range for salt levels. I've not heard of any reasons to go above the 3600. Salt levels will climb naturally as you use liquid chlorine as well so no reason to overshoot.

 

[The Houlagans]

Thanks again!

I was looking at that chart, but didn't see levels listed for SWG pools with CYA levels below 60. Are you saying until I turn the IC-40 on, that I should just follow levels for the NON-SWCG pool?

Our pool is in FULL SUN all day, so I suspect chlorine levels will be a bit of a challenge to maintain, but I hope getting chemistry as perfect as possible before the real swim season starts here will be helpful. We will also have 5 dogs here swimming regularly, so I suspect that will add to the challenges.

The homeowners who we bought the house from 100% did NOT understand pool chemistry like everyone here does. Our pool looks better the first day we opened then it did when the old owners were swimming in it last year!

Just checked status of my online order and looks like my CYA won't arrive until next week. Until then I guess I can just add some bleach to get the levels of chlorine a bit higher and hopefully keep the water clear and algae free. I find brushing and vacuuming therapeutic right now, as we are on home quarantine until 5/31 now in NH, so will keep that up as well.

Appreciate all the tips.

 

[scottts]

Yep, keep the CYA lower while you're on liquid chlorine, treating the pool like a non-swg pool. If you get up to 40ppm CYA you'll be getting most of the benefits of CYA, but if you find you need more because you can't maintain the FC level through the day, you can add it. I just am recommending keeping it on the lower side for now in CASE you wind up with Algae or need to slam. The slam level at 70ppm CYA is way harder to reach than at 40ppm. Once you get familiar with what it takes to keep the chlorine in the right range and you're sure you don't need to slam, then go ahead and raise the CYA in prep for the SWG turn on.

It will be interesting with 5 dogs worth of organics to contend with!

Good luck with the lock down. Crazy times.

 

[The Houlagans]

"organics" -- ha ha ha! Such a polite way of referring to grossness.

All 5 dogs are AVID swimmers and hopefully won't actually POOP in the pool. That said, since our normal place we take them for baths (bathe them ourselves there) has been closed, they are a bit dirtier than usual. They might get the first dip when water temps are too cool for humans to enjoy, but just about right for pups. Test subjects -- yea, that's it.

Crazy times indeed. Stay healthy!

 

[mknauss]

Something for your memory banks. Dogs tend to bring dirt into a pool. Dirt can contain bacteria. So FC management is very important. Test CC more often than most of us, as ammonia based organics can cause real chemistry problems.

Have fun!

 

[The Houlagans]

Thanks, Marty!

I figured this would be a bit of a challenge with the dogs, but I am happy to run tests more frequently.
Right now my FC is 0.5, so that is clearly an issue.

Do you agree with my proposed order of tackling the chemical additions? Remember that I can't rely on SWCG until temps get higher here.

My thoughts on order of addition are...
1) CYA (waiting for our 100% pure granules to arrive)
2) then chlorine based on cya levels (but I am scared to let the chlorine levels stay too low for too long)
3) then salt
4) then borate

My cya can't come quickly enough! LOL.

 

[mknauss]

Add chlorine now! CYA just protects it. So add 3 ppm daily now. It may be consumed but cold water retards algae growth so that combination should be fine.
I would be careful about borates. We suggest running your pool for at least a full year to see if they are really necessary. They can be detrimental to the health of animals that drink the pool water.

 

[The Houlagans]

Thanks Marty! I read stuff on here in regards to dogs and borates, but now I am a bit confused. Some posters say they would need to consume ALOT for it to be harmful. Can you point me towards the best link/resource to read. I would hate to hurt them with that addition if not necessary.

Thanks

 

[mknauss]

I suggest doing a search of the forum put dogs and borates in search bar. Select G for the best search.

 

[IceShadow]

Thanks Marty! I read stuff on here in regards to dogs and borates, but now I am a bit confused. Some posters say they would need to consume ALOT for it to be harmful. Can you point me towards the best link/resource to read. I would hate to hurt them with that addition if not necessary.

Thanks

Here you go:

Borates in pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

The takeaway for me is to watch the levels carefully so they don’t go higher than recommended, but like Marty said, maybe don’t worry about Borares this year.

Start some FC in the pool so you don’t get a bloom. CYA and chlorine can be added simultaneously.

 

[The Houlagans]

Thank you both!

I am in the process of adding chlorine daily, based on Pool Math recommendations & your advice here. Waiting on CYA to arrive later this week.
Water still looking great and getting warmer each day