Starting up chemicals after a drain

[mavrick6382]

Hello,

I am in AZ and just finished draining my pool (just under 15K gal PebbleTec pool). Our calcium is pretty high here and I seem to have to drain about every 2 yrs. For context my Calcium Hardness was about 750 prior to the drain. I drained the pool on Wed, 4/29 and had it almost filled back up the same day. On the morning of Thurs, 4/30 I started off the chemical process by adding liquid chlorine and stabilizer (utilizing the sock method) and ran the pump all day. That same evening around 6p I tested the chemicals with the following results:

Chlorine = 6.5
pH = 7.4
Total Alkalinity = 190 (high)
Calcium Hardness = 300
CYA = 0 (hadn't finished adding the stabilizer yet)
CSI = ~0.21

I let the pump run overnight to finish dissolving the stabilizer. Ran another test this morning at about 6:45a and got the following results:

Chlorine = 4
pH = 7.6
Total Alkalinity = 200
CYA = 40
Temp = 76
CSI = 0.42

The chlorine seems to have increased too much for it being a 12-hr period, and the TA and pH are up as well. TA is way too high; according to recommended levels it should be 60-80. IF it was at 70 I'd have a CSI of -0.08, and I'd assume the pH and chlorine levels would be more stable. High TA is my issue and I need to start bringing that down ASAP? Thanks in advance for the help. Love this site.

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Have you seen this article from Pool School?

Lower Total Alkalinity

A lower Total Alkalinity level can help a pool owner stabalize their pH increase. We'll explain how to lower TA with a little help from muriatic acid.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mknauss]

If you have the time and the ability to aerate, then follow what Mike posted. But in reality, it is not a rush. Test your pH every other day or so and drop it to 7.2 from wherever it is when you test and the TA will fall. You may want to raise your CYA to 50 fairly soon. If you have some trichlor pucks, you can use them or the dry stabilizer again.

Do you have a water softener? If you can use that for most of your fill water from here on out, your CH will not rise as fast.

 

[mavrick6382]

Have you seen this article from Pool School?

Lower Total Alkalinity

A lower Total Alkalinity level can help a pool owner stabalize their pH increase. We'll explain how to lower TA with a little help from muriatic acid.

www.troublefreepool.com

Yes!! I am familiar with the process. I've added muriatic acid and turned on my aerator. I'll do this until I get TA down.

I went ahead and added a little more dry stabilizer to bring CYA to 50.

I do have a water softener. I run two hoses (one from my backyard, once from my front side yard) when I re-fill. The front side yard hose is water from the city so it's not softened. The backyard water might be, not sure. So the fill might be a mix of softened and unsoftened water.