Starting Over

[Klose09]

Hey everyone,

I just found this site, about 4-5 days ago, I think I have been on it non stop ever since.

I live in Arizona, we built our pool 4 years ago, I will admit, my methods for maintaining my pool, have been pretty bad. Add Chlorine, keep coloring tabs full, occasionally forget to add chlorine tablets, go to pool store, buy all $200 of recommended their brands of chemicals use them until pool looks good, and repeat all over again.

We had a ton of calcium build up on our tiles, waterfall barely worked, and the pool looked horrible, so we had it drained, cleaned, pump looked at etc. All is good. Pool is sparkling, water is clear and looks great, tiles and waterfall are like new.

Decided I would like it to look like this all of the time, and actually take care of the expensive hole in the ground in my back yard.

Read through lots of posts, read the starting point articles, etc.
Purchased the Taylor k-2006c kit, speed stir is showing up today.
Did my first test on everything this morning, took me forever, because I have never done any of that before. I am sure I will get quicker with it.
But I am unsure of where to go from here, I am interested in going the liquid chlorine/bleach route, but seemed overwhelming. (its probably not)

Anyways here are my test results, if any one could possibly point me in the right direction, based off of them and what to continue to do I would greatly appreciate it! Sorry for the long post! Glad I found this site! Lots of great info.
I am using the Pool math app to keep track and input results.

FC: 3.0
PH:7.6
TA:140
CH 250
CYA 25
CSI:0.07

Thanks!

 

[Jimrahbe]

K,

Welcome to TFP.. a great place to find the answers to all your "How do I Start Over" questions...

All and all your number look ok... but here are a couple of things to think about..

With a CYA of 25 the sun will pretty quickly burn off your FC... In AZ you need to get your CYA up to about 40 or 50...

The key to the whole TFP pool care process is to make sure you maintain your FC/CYA relationship... See this chart.... [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] The higher the CYA the higher your FC needs to be...

Switching to bleach/Liquid Chlorine is just as simple as removing any tablets you still have in your dispenser(s) and start using the liquid.

Your pool will use between 2 and 4 ppm of FC each day.. With tablets you just dump them in and walk away.. Using liquid chlorine takes a little more effort as you will need to add chlorine every couple of days. More often at first just until you get a "feel" for how your pool works.

The Pool Math app will tell you how much chlorine to add...

Thanks for posting and keep asking questions..

Jim R.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Welcome...we are in the same boat regarding our prior maintenance practices. Fortunately for YOU, you have not permanently screwed up your water. I'll leave the chemistry tips to the experts, but you should start reading up on lowering TA and raising you CYA.I have a lot extra CYA in my pool if you want to stop by.

Good luck,

Mike.

 

[Flying Tivo]

Your pool setup looks good for a SWG, just make sure to get the IC-20(double capacity). If you go with the SWG you will need to drop the TA below 100 for better PH control.


Felipe

 

[Klose09]

Jim: Ah okay that makes sense, so according to the chart if I raised my CYA to 40-50 my FC should be 3-4

Bleach/Liquid chlorine. I read about the differences, is there typically a significant cost difference?
I dont mind needing to put in a little more work, it will help me stay on top of it, as opposed to what I was doing before.

Thanks for the info!

- - - Updated - - -

Flying Tivo
SWG: I have thought about going that route, but not sure I want to spend the money upfront at the moment. trying to do some more research. We just paid for the draining, powerwashing of the pool, our intellibright light is no longer showing colors, just white, and flickers a lot. So that might end up being another larger cost. But I like the idea of SWG

 

[Jimrahbe]

K,

Depending on where you buy your chlorine, there can be a lot of differences in both price and/or quality.

For example.. here in the DFW you can buy 10% Liquid Chlorine at big box stores, but they tend to keep in outside and buy in huge qualities so it can be in stock forever.. The longer it sits, the lower the % becomes, until it is almost just expensive water...

I have a SWCG, so only use Liquid Chlorine over the winter.. Since I don't use much, I just buy from a local non-chain pool store. It costs me about $20 for four full gallons of 12.5% Liquid Chlorine. Many people use Wal-Mart Liquid Chlorine... Grocery Stores used to sell 8.25% bleach, but my understanding is that the manufacturer has change to just 6%.

You will just have to find the best deal in your local area...

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[DeanP66]

Klose,

when following the CYA/FC chart, you want to keep your chlorine in the target range. So for CYA 40, you want to dose FC in the 5-7 range and never let it get below 3. For CYA 50, FC should be in the 6-8 range and never below 4. Also, the lower the CYA is in your pool, the faster the FC will burn off on a sunny day. So, if you only keep CYA at say 40, with your daily burn off (2-4 PPM/day), you could be close to or even under your minimum FC amount at the end of the day. And being that you are located in Arizona where the heat can get intense, you are better off raising it to at least 50 or maybe even 60. This will slow down the FC burn off and keep you in a safer FC range until you can add more.

I use liquid chlorine from Home Depot. It's 10% and it has a julian date on the outside of the box. That's the manufacture date. It's best to get it as fresh as possible, but in my experience, anything within 30-45 days is fine. Just be careful because some Home Depots store it outside in the garden section. As long as it's not in direct sunlight, it should be fine. Definitely check the dates though. I've seen pallets and pallets of the stuff that is older than what they have for sale on the actual floor.