so far so good, what next?

[schirico]

thanks for all the help over the past few days - I have taken steady readings and this is what I"m seeing:

date.......TC.........FC.........CC..........PH.......TA............CH.......CYA actions
24-May....5....................................6.8
25-May....10........10..........0............6.8.......180......................30
26-May....18........13..........5............6.8.......200......................30 added PH up
27-May.....12.......11.5.......0.5..........7.2.......290.........220........30 set chlorinator to 4
28-May......9........8.5........0.5..........7.2.......240.......................40 set chlorinator to 2
29-May......4........4...........0............7.2.......310......................25 set chlorinator to 3

a few things - can you tell me if I'm right (I need validation on if I'm a-learnin this stuff right).
1. seeing the FC go up a lot, and then down - this looks to be a combination of me fiddling with the chlorinator (trichlor), sunlight/bather usage, and the chlorine killing stuff...is that right?
2. seeing CC go up and then down, shows me the chlorine did a lot of killing and now pool is clean, so less stuff dying?
3. apart from TA of 310 and maybe the pool could use a tweak of PH - but the numbers looks really good? I ask, as I think they do, and the pool is gorgeous and a pleasure to swim in (84 degrees!).
4. looks like when I added the PH UP - alkalinity also went up - that makes sense....but now PH is stable, why did alkalinity go down and is back on the rise...should I be concerned with that 310 number?
5. I am using TriChlor pucks only right now (planned to switch to liquid chlorine once I hit 50 on CYA) but CYA went down...I didn't think that was possible without a water change, the ONLY thing that happened on 05/28 was about 10 swimmers and 2 dogs in the pool all day....could that lower CYA?

based on all of this here is what I"m thinking:
1. one more pound of PH up - inching closer to 7.5
2. keep chlorinator on 3...and keep measuring FC, CC - I want to stabilze FC based on CYA chart - so 4 or 5 is a good reading I believe.
3. should I worry about TA at this point?
4. sweep sides every day (if possible)
5. vaccuum once a week (pool has electric opaque cover).
6. I will test TF-100 everything every day - but I think once I see a stable set of numbers for a week, maybe go to 2x per week?


thoughts? and thanks in advance.

 

[Bama Rambler]

1) Probably some combination of that.

2) NO! Having high CC means the chlorine is killing stuff but having zero CC's doesn't mean it's done. There could be lots of stuff in there to be killed and you never have CC's.

3) f we only look at the last set of numbers they don't look too bad (sans the TA). But given the rest of the numbers I'd suggest you run and OCLT to see if there's something going on still.

4) Instead of adding pH up try Borax. It'll raise pH and only affect the TA a tiny bit.

5) I'd suspect a testing error. In fact I'd suggest running all the tests again thoroughly going through the instructions.

You don't need to test everything every day; only pH, FC, CC and anything you're having trouble with or adjusting.

 

[schirico]

thanks - I will run the OCLT and see how that goes.

regarding the CYA droppage - the only difference other than bather load is that when I read it yesterday it was overcast...and today it was bright glaring sun out - so it was probably easier to see the dot and hence took more material to hide it, yielding a lower number...that test is the most subjective and there are a lot of factors, visibility, vision quality of the tester, etc.

I will get Borax to the PH up.

 

[jblizzle]

Since all the numbers seem OK except for TA, why raise the pH with borax? Why not just start following the Lowering Total Alkalinity process?

 

[mckay]

10 swimmers and 2 dogs usually equalls alot of splashout.
Maybe you lost some CYA due to this?

thanks - I will run the OCLT and see how that goes.

regarding the CYA droppage - the only difference other than bather load is that when I read it yesterday it was overcast...and today it was bright glaring sun out - so it was probably easier to see the dot and hence took more material to hide it, yielding a lower number...that test is the most subjective and there are a lot of factors, visibility, vision quality of the tester, etc.

I will get Borax to the PH up.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Because I really suspect a testing error or interference. If your TA was really that high you wouldn't be having to add pH + to get the pH above 6.8. That, and you shouldn't worry about anything else until you've passed the OCLT.

 

[jblizzle]

Because I really suspect a testing error or interference. If your TA was really that high you wouldn't be having to add pH + to get the pH above 6.8. That, and you shouldn't worry about anything else until you've passed the OCLT.

I see now. Thanks.

 

[schirico]

do you suspect an error in all my TA readings, or just the last one?

It was 31 drops = 310 ppm.

to get PH from 6.8 to 7.2 I added about 8 lbs of PH+ over a 2 day period - does that account for the TA rise from 200 to 310?


I will do the OCLT tonight...and report back onto this thread, and measure, but not worry about TA until I am...

1. clear water & OCLT passed & the 3rd thing that I can't remember but will review in the signature!

-Steve.

 

[RobbieH]

CC under .5

 

[schirico]

okay - here are my OCLT results
last night (7:30 PM) -
......................TC.....FC.....CC.....PH.....TA.......CYA
last night......3.5.....3.......0.5.....7.5.....310.....25
this morn......3.0.....2.5....0.5.....7.2......220....25

I didn't take the pool cover off yet - just slid it back a little to get the reading this morning, it rained cats and dogs last night and I didn't sump it all of yet....shallow ened looked clean and clear...but we'll see about the deep end later which has had an ever dimishing greenish tint....

I think based on these numbers...I seem to be stabilizing and I want to get into maintenance mode now...so maybe add enough chlorine to bring the FC to 4?

should I wait until the weekend to start tackling TA per Pool School?

 

[duraleigh]

should I wait until the weekend to start tackling TA per Pool School?

Or even a little longer....there's no real rush on TA at this point.

1. Are you going to keep cover on quite a bit? If so, the CYA of 25ppm makes sense

2. Bumping FC to 4 is a good plan (no higher)

3. I would focus on getting FC additions fine tuned (so your FC hardly varies), watching your pH, and watching the clarity of your water....maybe for another 5 days or so. Then I would lower your TA according to the process in Pool School.

 

[schirico]

okay - I will add the liquid chlorine to get FC to 4 and not worry about the other items (I will see what PH does over the next day as 7.2 should be okay?).

the cover will ALWAYS be on except when swimming - too many very young kids around and it's a safety issue - this is already raising the temperature quite a bit...water was 85 yesterday! (not complaining!!!!!)

 

[JasonLion]

If you ever have CC problems, remove the cover for a day.

 

[schirico]

Thanks Jason (and everyone else) - I just added liquid chlorine to the pool - I took a 5 gallon bucket and added about a quart and a half of liquid, stirred adn then poured while walkikng around the pool - I read in pool school to pour it slowly in front of the wall return - which I read AFTER I did the walk around....

vinyl liner - is my process okay or should I switch to slow pour in front of deep end wall return?

thanks.

 

[schirico]

by the way - I would like to show the forum what you've been helping me with.

pic wp_00023 is from a month ago -
pic wp_00150 is from today -

both days were kind of overcast...

LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE!!!!!!

I want to work on Borates soon - been reading a lot of good things, maybe in June or July.

 

[duraleigh]

Very nice work on your pool! Satisfying, isn't it? :lol:

vinyl liner - is my process okay or should I switch to slow pour in front of deep end wall return?

pour it in fromt of a return (doesn't have to be a deep end return and full strength is ok) The return will diffuse and dilute the bleach very quickly and there should be much less splash than walking around the pool.

 

[schirico]

will do, interesting that you said that, there was some splash and I made sure to pour a bucket of water on the tile so hopefully it won't stain - direct method from now on, thanks!

I posted the pic of my pool in the pics section, hopefully will see it in the slide show - I'll take one from the roof one sunny day and repost.