You can use MA & lower pH now. I don't think there would be a problem to wait an hour or so and then add calcium tonight if you want. But, since I'm not sure, I'd wait til tomorrow. :?
Slight algae problem and CC is at 0.5
- Thread starter DanaSC
- Start date
How long should I run the pump after adding the MA? Geesh. One question leads to another five! Ack!
Does muriatic acid lose effectiveness over time? I have a few bottles of it from last season that I was planning on using today. I'd prefer not to buy more if I can help it.
MA has a long, long shelf life. You will always know how it is working when you retest/confirm pH.DanaSC said:
Well, I have good and bad news. Current readings:
FC: 4.5
CC: 0
pH: 7.5 (down from 7.8 earlier today)
TA: 100 (down from 110 the other day)
CH: 180
CYA: 50
Good news: I calculated my MA amount based on 13,500 gallons (instead of previous 22,000) and it lowered the pH to just about where I wanted it (was shooting for 7.4)...leading me to believe we really have 13,500 gallons.
We have finally put in the calcium just this evening (had to wait until hubby could brush the pool) so we'll find out tomorrow if based on 13,500 it was the right amount.
Bad news: I'm seeing some algae in our spa. I'll admit, I didn't end up doing the OCLT because we had water leaking from our backwash drain thing and we had to replace the spider gasket, so the morning that I was going to test the water as the follow-up to the evening test I couldn't do because my husband didn't want to turn the pool on until he could fix the problem. I have a CC read of 0...but maybe the OCLT would have come back as more than 1 ppm loss of FC and maybe that's why the algae is coming back again?
At any rate, we're going to shock the pool again and see. Having husband add enough to bring us up to 20 ppm tonight and then if I can test before I go to bed, I will...(how long should I wait for it to be an accurate read...an hour?) and if not then I'll do the OCLT tomorrow night.
Any input is great. If not, I'll just do it as I'm able.
Thanks!
FC: 4.5
CC: 0
pH: 7.5 (down from 7.8 earlier today)
TA: 100 (down from 110 the other day)
CH: 180
CYA: 50
Good news: I calculated my MA amount based on 13,500 gallons (instead of previous 22,000) and it lowered the pH to just about where I wanted it (was shooting for 7.4)...leading me to believe we really have 13,500 gallons.
We have finally put in the calcium just this evening (had to wait until hubby could brush the pool) so we'll find out tomorrow if based on 13,500 it was the right amount.
Bad news: I'm seeing some algae in our spa. I'll admit, I didn't end up doing the OCLT because we had water leaking from our backwash drain thing and we had to replace the spider gasket, so the morning that I was going to test the water as the follow-up to the evening test I couldn't do because my husband didn't want to turn the pool on until he could fix the problem. I have a CC read of 0...but maybe the OCLT would have come back as more than 1 ppm loss of FC and maybe that's why the algae is coming back again?
At any rate, we're going to shock the pool again and see. Having husband add enough to bring us up to 20 ppm tonight and then if I can test before I go to bed, I will...(how long should I wait for it to be an accurate read...an hour?) and if not then I'll do the OCLT tomorrow night.
Any input is great. If not, I'll just do it as I'm able.
Thanks!
An hour with pump on high should be fine.DanaSC said:
Make sure you are circulating water to both your spa and pool to get the algae.
Thanks Linen. How do I know if the spa is getting the water circulated there? I've wondered if it is...but it has a spillover into the pool...so I have figured that it must be because otherwise the water wouldn't spill over, right? Also just in case this evening I tested the spa's FC and it was the same as the pool...(just out of curiosity).
Yep, if it is a spillover you are returnig water to the spa. Is there a separate return going to the pool as well to help circulate that while the spa is in spillover mode? You want to be moving both bodies of water so that the algae can not hide from the flow.DanaSC said:
Well, I'm not sure I'm answering you correctly...so first off, sorry if I'm not...but the returns are pushing water in the pool at the same time as the spillover is happening from the spa to the pool...does that answer you? If not, maybe you can word it differently so I can understand. I'm getting the chemical part of pools down but I REALLY don't get the mechanical part! 
G'mornin'!
First off, I have to say that I am making my husband sick with all the "pool talk" lately. :blah: I find I can't wait to turn on my computer every free chance I get so I can read the boards and learn more about how pools work. It's actually more fun to me than watching tv and wasting time on facebook. I think I need a bumper sticker that says "I'd rather be testing my water" or something. LOL
Good news and bad news today.
Good news: I believe we have finally confirmed our pool size. I tested FC last night before bed and it was at 19.5, just .5 shy of the 20 I was going for when I shocked based on 13,500 gallons. AND I tested CH this morning and it's at 220...exactly what I wanted! Awesome! Guess I'll be changing my signature.
Bad news: I think I did mess us up by not finishing last week with that OCLT. FC was at 19.5 last night, and this morning at 17.5.
Here are my questions:
1) Do I bring up FC to 20 again this morning and then just keep doing that as I can throughout the day? I'm leaving at noon today and won't be back until tonight to retest.
2) Is it better to leave the pump running at night when performing the OCLT or does it matter?
3) We are concerned that we're seeing slight algae in our spa maybe due to poor water circulation in there. It has a spillover feature into the pool and that is running just fine, but is it possible that the returns in the spa may not be pushing water very well? Just wondering if there's anything there we should be concerned about.
First off, I have to say that I am making my husband sick with all the "pool talk" lately. :blah: I find I can't wait to turn on my computer every free chance I get so I can read the boards and learn more about how pools work. It's actually more fun to me than watching tv and wasting time on facebook.
I think I need a bumper sticker that says "I'd rather be testing my water" or something. LOLGood news and bad news today.
Good news: I believe we have finally confirmed our pool size. I tested FC last night before bed and it was at 19.5, just .5 shy of the 20 I was going for when I shocked based on 13,500 gallons. AND I tested CH this morning and it's at 220...exactly what I wanted! Awesome! Guess I'll be changing my signature.
Bad news: I think I did mess us up by not finishing last week with that OCLT. FC was at 19.5 last night, and this morning at 17.5.
Here are my questions:
1) Do I bring up FC to 20 again this morning and then just keep doing that as I can throughout the day? I'm leaving at noon today and won't be back until tonight to retest.
2) Is it better to leave the pump running at night when performing the OCLT or does it matter?
3) We are concerned that we're seeing slight algae in our spa maybe due to poor water circulation in there. It has a spillover feature into the pool and that is running just fine, but is it possible that the returns in the spa may not be pushing water very well? Just wondering if there's anything there we should be concerned about.
DanaSC said:G'mornin'!
First off, I have to say that I am making my husband sick with all the "pool talk" lately. :blah: I find I can't wait to turn on my computer every free chance I get so I can read the boards and learn more about how pools work. It's actually more fun to me than watching tv and wasting time on facebook.
:lol: We KWYM
Good news and bad news today.
Good news: I believe we have finally confirmed our pool size. I tested FC last night before bed and it was at 19.5, just .5 shy of the 20 I was going for when I shocked based on 13,500 gallons. AND I tested CH this morning and it's at 220...exactly what I wanted! Awesome! Guess I'll be changing my signature.
Good job.
Bad news: I think I did mess us up by not finishing last week with that OCLT. FC was at 19.5 last night, and this morning at 17.5.
Here are my questions:
1) Do I bring up FC to 20 again this morning and then just keep doing that as I can throughout the day? I'm leaving at noon today and won't be back until tonight to retest.
Yep, raise to shock and hit it when you get back home.
2) Is it better to leave the pump running at night when performing the OCLT or does it matter?
Doesn't matter. But, most folks try to filter 24/7 during shocking.
3) We are concerned that we're seeing slight algae in our spa maybe due to poor water circulation in there. It has a spillover feature into the pool and that is running just fine, but is it possible that the returns in the spa may not be pushing water very well? Just wondering if there's anything there we should be concerned about.
Make sure to brush the spa. Someone else will help you with the returns pushing the water question.
I've got a few questions about the OCLT. Instructions say to test the water in the morning before there's any direct sunlight on it. I tested the water at 9am this morning...sun was definitely up but no real direct light on the pool. Is that too late? Should I really be doing it maybe before 8am or something? Just wondering because I'm afraid my sleeping late is affecting the test. We've had some late nights around this house lately! Not good timing!
If testing at 9am doesn't influence the test, then we failed by 3ppm. CC is still at 0. I don't see anything that resembles algae anymore in the pool, which is good. Next question is: is it possible that the pool not being vacuumed in a couple of days could affect the results? Again, we've been real busy. We plan to get the pool as clean as humanly possible today for sure so when we perform the OCLT tonight it should be good to go.
We've only failed the OCLT two times, but I'm just wondering if I'm not doing things as best as I should and maybe that's why. We have a party next Saturday so I want to make sure I get everything situated beforehand.
Otherwise, everything is going fabulously!
Happy Memorial Day weekend!
We've had some late nights around this house lately! Not good timing!If testing at 9am doesn't influence the test, then we failed by 3ppm. CC is still at 0. I don't see anything that resembles algae anymore in the pool, which is good. Next question is: is it possible that the pool not being vacuumed in a couple of days could affect the results? Again, we've been real busy. We plan to get the pool as clean as humanly possible today for sure so when we perform the OCLT tonight it should be good to go.
We've only failed the OCLT two times, but I'm just wondering if I'm not doing things as best as I should and maybe that's why. We have a party next Saturday so I want to make sure I get everything situated beforehand.
Otherwise, everything is going fabulously!
Happy Memorial Day weekend!
Any sun on the pool will affect the test.
Since you failed the test I'd get up earlier and test it.
Since you failed the test I'd get up earlier and test it.
Thanks to everyone who helped me out. I got up at 7 and tested the water this morning and finally passed the OCLT. Yay!
