Some algae problem

[Mdragger88]

Looking at your poolmath logs it looks like u are doing well & keeping fc far from minimum for your cya BRAVO
Let ph rise to 8.0 then lower it to 7.4
Every time u do this you will lower ta a little & ph rise frequency will decrease over time.
Any ta over 60 is fine.
I buy Muriatic acid at Home Depot. It’s in a 2 gal pack.
Your ch is on the high side but it’s still possible to manage scale by managing csi.
Turn on csi tracking in the settings of poolmath .

Calcium Saturation Index (CSI)

How is CSI calculated? Very simple – use our PoolMath tool. To ensure long plaster life and save money, click here to learn more.

www.google.com

If possible, top up the pool with softened water.
Here are some options to help manage high ch

Calcium Hardness - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[ANash]

It is fine.

Higher TA and Aeration (read as "waterfall") will raise pH. The more you run your waterfall, the faster pH will rise. As you add MA, your TA will continue to come down.

Nice!

You are reading correctly. You continue adding drops as long as the color continues changing. The final drop, that does not change the color any further, does not count.

Nope, doing great!

Hi Mdragger88,

Should I not be concerned about the high calcium hardness? What is recommended for that?

 

[ANash]

Looking at your poolmath logs it looks like u are doing well & keeping fc far from minimum for your cya BRAVO
Let ph rise to 8.0 then lower it to 7.4
Every time u do this you will lower ta a little & ph rise frequency will decrease over time.
Any ta over 60 is fine.
I buy Muriatic acid at Home Depot. It’s in a 2 gal pack.
Your ch is on the high side but it’s still possible to manage scale by managing csi.
Turn on csi tracking in the settings of poolmath .

Calcium Saturation Index (CSI)

How is CSI calculated? Very simple – use our PoolMath tool. To ensure long plaster life and save money, click here to learn more.

www.google.com

If possible, top up the pool with softened water.
Here are some options to help manage high ch

Calcium Hardness - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

I will check home Depot for muriatic acid.

Though the home has water softener, I do not think the water going to pool is softened.

If adding softened water is not an option, what could be an alternative?

 

[ANash]

Looking at your poolmath logs it looks like u are doing well & keeping fc far from minimum for your cya BRAVO
Let ph rise to 8.0 then lower it to 7.4
Every time u do this you will lower ta a little & ph rise frequency will decrease over time.
Any ta over 60 is fine.
I buy Muriatic acid at Home Depot. It’s in a 2 gal pack.
Your ch is on the high side but it’s still possible to manage scale by managing csi.
Turn on csi tracking in the settings of poolmath .

Calcium Saturation Index (CSI)

How is CSI calculated? Very simple – use our PoolMath tool. To ensure long plaster life and save money, click here to learn more.

www.google.com

If possible, top up the pool with softened water.
Here are some options to help manage high ch

Calcium Hardness - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Turned on CSI. it is at 0.65.

 

[ANash]

Turned on CSI. it is at 0.65.

Salt and borates became active for logging

Should I consider adding boric acid? I do have 50lbs sitting in my garage.

 

[Texas Splash]

Right now focus on keeping the pH lower to compensate for the elevated CH. It's high, but manageable for a while longer. For now, use a larger dose of acid to bring the pH down to 7.2 which will also pull the TA down a little. Your last TA was 90 and it can easily come down to about 50-60 which will help.

Once the TA is down to around 50-60, try to keep the pH around 7.5 if you can. Adding a little acid each day or so should not impact the TA as much as the drill I noted above. Water softeners are fine for top-offs. Other than that, perhaps an occasional rainfall collection (ha ha - I know, SD, CA), but anything will help.

 

[setsailsoon]

Nash,

I had a similar problem with pH and it stabilized a lot by dropping TA to 50-60 as Pat suggests. I did eventually add borates but I would see how it goes with lower TA first. Nothing against borates just if it's not needed the pool is easier to take care of with fewer levels to manage. If you can change the plumbing to use softened water I would definitely do that as well. My new house uses very hard well water and I'll definitely be using softened water there. Another nice advantage of softened water is the resin will remove low levels of iron and sulfur as well.

Chris

 

[ANash]

Right now focus on keeping the pH lower to compensate for the elevated CH. It's high, but manageable for a while longer. For now, use a larger dose of acid to bring the pH down to 7.2 which will also pull the TA down a little. Your last TA was 90 and it can easily come down to about 50-60 which will help.

Once the TA is down to around 50-60, try to keep the pH around 7.5 if you can. Adding a little acid each day or so should not impact the TA as much as the drill I noted above. Water softeners are fine for top-offs. Other than that, perhaps an occasional rainfall collection (ha ha - I know, SD, CA), but anything will help.

Thanks Texas splash.

I thought ideal TA is between 100-120. I trust the recommendations, and I will keep the ph at 7.2 till TA comes down to 50-60.

Haha, always hoping for rainfall here in SD.

 

[Bperry]

Thanks Texas splash.

I thought ideal TA is between 100-120. I trust the recommendations, and I will keep the ph at 7.2 till TA comes down to 50-60.

Haha, always hoping for rainfall here in SD.

100-120 is only if you’re using trichlor since it’s so acidic it drops your pH much more than liquid chlorine.

 

[ANash]

Nash,

I had a similar problem with pH and it stabilized a lot by dropping TA to 50-60 as Pat suggests. I did eventually add borates but I would see how it goes with lower TA first. Nothing against borates just if it's not needed the pool is easier to take care of with fewer levels to manage. If you can change the plumbing to use softened water I would definitely do that as well. My new house uses very hard well water and I'll definitely be using softened water there. Another nice advantage of softened water is the resin will remove low levels of iron and sulfur as well.

Chris

Thanks Chris.

I will bring TA down and see how things pan out.

Unfortunately, changing plumbing is not an option at this time.

 

[ANash]

100-120 is only if you’re using trichlor since it’s so acidic it drops your pH much more than liquid chlorine.

Thanks Bperry. Good to know

 

[setsailsoon]

BTW, best price locally for MA in our area is still HD or Lowe's at about $16 for 2 gal... was $12 before covid.

 

[IceShadow]

If you ever have a rainstorm predicted you could lower the water a bit and let the rain refill. That would lower CH. Some people rig it up so their downspouts can go to the pool too.

 

[ANash]

BTW, best price locally for MA in our area is still HD or Lowe's at about $16 for 2 gal... was $12 before covid.

Thanks for that info. I will check both HD and lowes.

 

[ANash]

If you ever have a rainstorm predicted you could lower the water a bit and let the rain refill. That would lower CH. Some people rig it up so their downspouts can go to the pool too.

Unfortunately, not much rain here. But, will keep in mind the next time there is a storm.