Spending a fortune on Chemicals

[Richard320]

If CYA is truly 300, you'll be hard pressed to get enough FC to kill the algae. Forget cleaning out the shelves at Costco, you'll be needing a source of 55 gallon drums!

Again, IF CYA is 300, you only have two realistic options: drain and refill, or reverse osmosis, which is not widely available.

 

[ColdAirGuy]

I'm still a big time rookie and can't really help much however I know your PH can be brought down with Muriatic Acid but your Cyanuric acid can only be lowered with water replacement....you should recheck that cyanuric acid test, that really doesn't sound right

 

[crek31]

I'm a bit of a newbie so I don't prefer to be the one advising (I mostly lurk and learn) but in case none of the gurus answer tonight, I think you should slowly pour a jug of bleach into the pool, in front of the return jet, with the pump running. Having 0 FC is never good. That said, your CYA is the highest I've seen reported, if it is accurate. If your CYA were 100 you would need to have a minimum of 7 FC AT ALL TIMES to have a sanitizer doing its job in the pool. If your CYA is correct you'll likely be advised to drain a portion of the pool (1/3 to 1/2 from what I gather). In the meantime though, I'd guess you should at least put in the jug of bleach duraleigh recommended. Won't do any harm and is cheap if you end up draining it out in a few days. Hopefully someone else is still up to tell you if you should add bleach and/or the muriatic acid (of course, I don't mean to add them simultaneously). Good luck from from your neighbor to the West!!

Just read the two prior posts (they typed while I was) -- for the mods who might look in, can you tell us how the CYA test was done and if you tested it more than once? Sometimes they recommend using the same solution and pouring it in a second or third time to compare readings.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I'm not aware of a test for CYA that goes up that high - can you elaborate on how you arrived at that number?

 

[dmanb2b]

We're still willing to help .While you are waiting for your Tf100 kit from Dave..you want to get that PH to around 7.5...if your test is at all reliable???. Second you need to add some bleach ASAP to raise FC, until you figure out the issues with the SWG. A salt pool is a chlorine pool...if your SWG is not putting out enough chlorine to raise FC at the moment, you need to supplement with Liquid chlorine.

 

[Butterfly]

Hi LoraMae,

We understand that it is a lot of information to absorb and it just takes some time.
Don't worry, we'll be around to help.

Things will get much better when your test kit arrives.
A good test kit is the best investment we made in our pool.

I wanted to make sure you saw this link for instructions on the CYA test so that you will have it handy when your kit arrives:
http://www.taylortechnologies.com/Chemi ... ntentID=36

It will be helpful to those responding if you add your pool and equipment specs in your sig.
Here's a link to the info we like to have in your profile and sig and how to add it: Pool and equipment specs and city/state location

Keep working on lowering the pH. As Jason mentioned, add MA as often as every half hour to hour, circulate, retest and adjust. Somewhere in the mid 7's would be great.

You were correct in your first post when you said that you thought having the SWCG would cut out lots of chem costs.
We are going to help you take control of your pool. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen soon.

Welcome to the forum

 

[MomUv5]

If anyone is still willing to help, we're still struggling. . . .

I've ordered a good test kit from Duraleigh. Meanwhile, we seem to have black scungy stuff in the corners of the deep end and all around the perimeter of the pool where there is caulk. It looks disgusting and we cannot get a brush to get into that 90 degree crevice. I know it's because our FC level was 0 for the past five days. Our cheap test kit indicates this:
Total Hardness 1000
Total Chlorine 0 -- it was .5 this afternoon
FC 0
pH 8.4
Total Alkalinity 240
Cyanuric Acid 300

He's added 2 gallons of muriatic acid since Saturday. He added 300 lbs of salt last night. He added shock last night. It seems we cannot get the pH, alkalinity, and cyanuric acid to drop. He went out and put the SWG on boost again. I will read more on Pool School before bed tonight. I feel so dumb... and I'm not. The water is crystal clear and beautiful. I fear the black scungy stuff on the caulk is algae and I don't want that to get out of control. It's too early in the pool season to fight with this.

LoraMae, I'm a newbie, but I've been spending a lot of time reading here. If that CYA number is correct, it's a huge problem. I think you might hold off of adding any more salt until after you get your good test kit. You might have to do a partial empty and refill and you'll lose salt from that.

When do you expect to get your test kit?

I hope the experts will chime in here, but don't add anything labeled "shock" right now. It will just raise the levels of unneeded chemicals.

 

[LoraMae]

Thank you to all. Could I have been wrong about the CA??? I guess so... . We just tested this morning in the pouring rain and here are the results:
Total Hardness 1000
Total Chlorine .5
Free Chlorine 2
pH 7.8
Total Alkalinity 240
CA 0
We have well water, which means that a partial drain wouldn't be a huge expense just more work. We have stabilizer hanging from tube socks into the pool. By the way, in our frustration this morning, he said to me, "Who cares about the algae on the caulk and on the sides of the pool, the water is crystal clear." I care...it looks bad. Every year it looks like this near the deep end first and then it spreads. After you give me chemical advice, should I have the kids dive in with scrub brushes and try to scrub the deep end? Our long-handled brush just doesn't get into the grooves.
Our test kit should be here in the next five days, I hope.

 

[Steve456]

Your pool chemistry is way off.

How did you test for CYA? If your CYA is indeed 300 you are in trouble. Cyanuric acid “stabilizes” the chlorine making the chlorine less effective. Read this Pool School article on CYA pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock . Are you now abbreviating cyanuric acid as CA?

A chlorine level of 0 will quickly lead to an algae bloom.. It is easier and cheaper to prevent algae than to fight to get rid of algae. You need to start thinking about free chlorine (FC), and combined chlorine (CC). Pour bleach into the pool tonight.

Total chlorine is free chlorine + combined chlorine. Free chlorine cannot be greater than total chlorine.

Total hardness is high, but compared to your CYA, Cl, and pH problems this can wait. You should measure calcium hardness (CH) with your new test kit.

Total alkalinity is high. For recommended levels see pool-school/recommended_levels .

If your CYA is high as you first reported you will need to replace water to get your CYA down to an acceptable level. This will also lower your too high total hardness and total alkalinity.

Here is a link to the abbreviations used on this site. pool-school/read_before_you_post

Black algae is the worst algae. I hope you do not have black algae.

 

[JasonLion]

You should test the TA and CH levels of your well water.

 

[LoraMae]

Whew...we're getting there! Tonight the only abnormal readings were the hardness and the TA. We know our well water is difficult to manage and we have a water company who takes care of the indoor plumbing. I think if my husband continues to work with muriatic acid we'll manage until our test kit arrives.

 

[LoraMae]

I have my test kit. The small Basic kit showed normal range for Cl and pH. Then, I did the Chlorine drop test, Total Alkalinity test, and the CYA test.
FC 12.5
CC 0 (the black dot didn't go away in the tube)
T/A 240
CYA 20+ (off the chart)
We added 1 gallon of acid, but it seems we keep adding acid and nothing changes.

 

[esim13]

I'm confused by your results.
FC is free chlorine
CC is combined chlorine
TA is total alkalinity
CYA is cyanuric acid (this is the black dot test)

So your CC test above where you say the black dot didn't go away should be your CYA test. However, I've never seen CC's at 20+ so I'm not sure what the 20+ is for.

Could you please recheck and/or retest your numbers and repost them.

Also, what was your pH reading? Always post all test numbers, even if you say they are in range.

 

[jeepdad]

LoraMae,

Welcome to the forum. You can get all the help you need here but there's a couple of important things to deal with first..

1. One of you has to take care of the pool. Either his way or your way. If not, you'll both end up throwing things in the pool (or at each other...yikes ) that are counterproductive. Get together and decide....two people cannot clear a pool by adding different ingredients.

2. You need better advice than you are getting from the pool store.

Your pH has to be your first concern. I can't imagine how they measured it that high so I doubt that it is but, nevertheless, you need to get your pH retested ASAP.

Then, get some chlorine in your pool.

Start by putting in 1 big jug of Clorox each evening after the sun is off the pool. Do this each evening until you can post a full set of tests that should look like this.....

pH
FC
CC
TA
CYA

The CYA test (which they didn't provide) is very, very important.

The biggest leap towards taking charge of your pool is getting your own test kit and doing your own testing. Meanwhile get those test numbers, decide who's going to manage the pool, and we'll all help keep it sparkling clear and save you a lot of money.

Do this and keep at it

This place has already saved me time and money I bought the TF100 and haven't looked back

It is so nice to actually "know" and be in control of your water

Post test results as stated above it will make it easier to help, and look back often at "pool school"

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I agree, your posted results and comments are very confusing. Can you please clarify your information?
When you say you keep adding acid, what are you trying to accomplish?

 

[LoraMae]

Hi frustrated pool mom. Yes, I agree my results were confusing. I was really excited to get the pool test in the mail and I tested while my kids were swimming. I have a 7-year old with serious ADHD and she kept talking the entire time because she was curious about what I was doing. I added too must test water to the chlorine drop test. I realized this when I tested tonight after all the kids were in bed. My husband helped me, so I'm sure we did this right.
FC 5.5
CC 0
TC 5.5
T/A 210
CYA totally didn't understand this test and will keep trying
The pool looks great and the water is perfectly clear. The small blue test kit shows Cl 2 and pH 7.2. How do we know if there's enough salt in the pool? Do you think we should keep adding Muriatic acid until the pH comes down? Should the CC be higher than 0? Should the Total Chlorine be higher than 5.5?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

FC 5.5
CC 0
TC 5.5
T/A 210
CYA totally didn't understand this test and will keep trying

The pool looks great and the water is perfectly clear. The small blue test kit shows Cl 2 and pH 7.2.

How do we know if there's enough salt in the pool?

Have the pool store test it or purchase Aquachek Salt Test Strips

Do you think we should keep adding Muriatic acid until the pH comes down?

Your PH is 7.2 you don't want it lower than that. Do you mean the TA?
To lower TA, everytime the PH hits 7.8, you calculate a dose of Muratic Acid to lower the PH back to 7.2. Use the Pool Calculator to figure out how much acid that is. In time, the acid additions will lower the TA into the recommended range. High TA won't hurt anything as long as you keep the PH between 7.2-7.8. This is important - I need you to understand this point.

Should the CC be higher than 0?

No. That's ideal.

Should the Total Chlorine be higher than 5.5?

That depends on your CYA level. So lets help you figure out how to test it properly. See next post.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Its obvious there has been some confusion about this - you have recently added stabilizer Yes? And is it safe to assume the earlier post of 300 was simply error?

To do the CYA test, you take a sample of pool water and fill it to the bottom of the label on the mixing bottle. You add the reagent to the top of the label. You cap it, shake it to mix. Let it sit for 30 secs. Then shake it well again, and pour it slowly into the view tube with the black dot. You want to do this test outdoors in bright sunlight, with your back to the sun, so that your body shades the view tube.

How much CYA did you add?

Now is a good time for you to enter your pool info/specs into your signature line. Go to User Control Panel, then Profile, then Edit Signature. I need to know how big your pool is, what's it made of, etc.

 

[hawkeye]

yes the test where the little black dot disappers is the cya test do it over!!!

shes confused the ca test and cya test i think

 

[LoraMae]

06/17 results from pool store
Temp 72
CYA 26
Total Chlorine 1.1
Free Chlorine 0.8
pH 8.2
Adjusted Total Alkalinity 127
Total Hardness 240
Minerals 2900
Borates 7

Evening 06/17 we added 1 gallon bleach and 1 gallon muriatic acid
Tested again evening 06/17 with TF-100 kit
Temp ?
CYA -- didn't even attempt
Total Chlorine 5
Free Chlorine 5
pH 6.8
Adjusted Total Alkalinity 160
Total Hardness didn't attempt
Minerals ?

Using the TF-100 kit is pretty easy. I don't understand how the chlorine level could have changed so much in just a few short hours with only one gallon of bleach added. I'm inclined to trust the pool store results more than mine. I'm concerned that perhaps our pH has dropped too low now. The sales person at the pool store tried to teach me how free chlorine is different than regular chlorine in the pool water. It made no sense when she said the "good" chlorine and the "bad" chlorine need to strike a balance otherwise they will push into a serious chlorine demand. Honestly, I think I'm learning a little more each day. I'm comfortable testing. I'll take your advice and I truly appreciate your patience.