So, as title says, I have just taken over the pool maintenance as it didn't seem like there was a real value for what we were paying many hundreds of dollars a month for to a pool service. Once upon a time I had a degree in chemistry, not that I use it any longer in my every day life, but I feel like this is something I should be able to do. We live in coastal San Diego county. Our SWG has been at 60% for a couple of weeks, but I did turn it up to 80% yesterday late morning. Normally we run the pumps for 6-8 hrs overnight (electricity is cheaper during the wee hours) and we vacuum daily with the robot and the spa gets dumped daily into the pool. We do have a labrador that swims whenever he manages to gain access to the pool, but he has not been in the pool lately.
Our water is clear, but there is a very mild amount of yellow/green algae on some of the walls in the more shady parts of the pool now that it has warmed up a bit. We really didn't use the pool at all over the winter.
I purchased the TF pro salt test kit and took some initial readings yesterday. I also have the C-600 pH and salt meter. For curiosity sake, I also took a sample to the pool store yesterday to compare their results with mine.
Results were as follows:
TF test kit
FC-2
CC-0
CYA- low (<30)
TA 100
pH 8.2
CH 500
Salt 3600 (ideal for our system)
Leslie pools results
FC 0.93
Total chlorine 1.2
pH 7.9
TA 78
CH 377
CYA 22
Iron, copper, phosphates - 0
Salt 3600
So, some discrepancies between the two results- after reading on here I am inclined to trust the results I received with my own test kit over the pool store results. Due to the algae I was thinking I needed to SLAM the pool, but as the CYA was low and the pH high it seemed as though I needed to bring those into spec first before raising the chlorine.
I added one gallon of the instant liquid conditioner yesterday and brushed all surfaces of the pool and did remove all visible algae. I have let the pump run continuously since yesterday morning and its been about 18 hrs since I added the conditioner. I also made sure to run the vacuum until every leaf had been removed from the pool.
This morning the pool looks crystal clear. I took another set of readings with the TF pro salt and they are as follows
FC-7
CC-0
pH 8.2
CYA 50
TA 100
Salt 3600
CH- did not recheck today
So, a couple of things. I did not add chlorine, but it went from 2 to 7 overnight. How is this possible? Is turning of the SWG and adding CYA enough to raise it that much? I ran the test three times and got the same result each time, so I feel the QC is good. I was aiming for an initial CYA of 40, so overshot the mark a little, but pool math app says 60 is ideal so I am not sure if I should just let this one ride for now. I still need to address the pH and am planning to do that today with muriatic acid. I was planning to take it to 7.2 in prep for a SLAM.
I guess that leads into my next question, which is, withe the FC now at 7, is it reasonable to keep it right around here for several days and just keep aggressively brushing the pool, or do I really need to bring to FC all the way up to 20 (recommended level for CYA of 50)? I am planning to recheck the CYA and FC again later this afternoon and after the sun sets. I likely won't do anything else today other than adjust pH until I see if those readings are consistent.
So, what say the pool experts? Is SLAM necessary? Or wait and see and only if the mild algae is coming back should I SLAM it. Is 60% on the SWG a reasonable setting for a very sun exposed pool that will get almost daily use once its warm? Or do I need to be adjusting this often based on my readings?
Thanks in advance- I know its a long post but I wanted to include all the relevant information. I am sure I have overlooked something.
Our water is clear, but there is a very mild amount of yellow/green algae on some of the walls in the more shady parts of the pool now that it has warmed up a bit. We really didn't use the pool at all over the winter.
I purchased the TF pro salt test kit and took some initial readings yesterday. I also have the C-600 pH and salt meter. For curiosity sake, I also took a sample to the pool store yesterday to compare their results with mine.
Results were as follows:
TF test kit
FC-2
CC-0
CYA- low (<30)
TA 100
pH 8.2
CH 500
Salt 3600 (ideal for our system)
Leslie pools results
FC 0.93
Total chlorine 1.2
pH 7.9
TA 78
CH 377
CYA 22
Iron, copper, phosphates - 0
Salt 3600
So, some discrepancies between the two results- after reading on here I am inclined to trust the results I received with my own test kit over the pool store results. Due to the algae I was thinking I needed to SLAM the pool, but as the CYA was low and the pH high it seemed as though I needed to bring those into spec first before raising the chlorine.
I added one gallon of the instant liquid conditioner yesterday and brushed all surfaces of the pool and did remove all visible algae. I have let the pump run continuously since yesterday morning and its been about 18 hrs since I added the conditioner. I also made sure to run the vacuum until every leaf had been removed from the pool.
This morning the pool looks crystal clear. I took another set of readings with the TF pro salt and they are as follows
FC-7
CC-0
pH 8.2
CYA 50
TA 100
Salt 3600
CH- did not recheck today
So, a couple of things. I did not add chlorine, but it went from 2 to 7 overnight. How is this possible? Is turning of the SWG and adding CYA enough to raise it that much? I ran the test three times and got the same result each time, so I feel the QC is good. I was aiming for an initial CYA of 40, so overshot the mark a little, but pool math app says 60 is ideal so I am not sure if I should just let this one ride for now. I still need to address the pH and am planning to do that today with muriatic acid. I was planning to take it to 7.2 in prep for a SLAM.
I guess that leads into my next question, which is, withe the FC now at 7, is it reasonable to keep it right around here for several days and just keep aggressively brushing the pool, or do I really need to bring to FC all the way up to 20 (recommended level for CYA of 50)? I am planning to recheck the CYA and FC again later this afternoon and after the sun sets. I likely won't do anything else today other than adjust pH until I see if those readings are consistent.
So, what say the pool experts? Is SLAM necessary? Or wait and see and only if the mild algae is coming back should I SLAM it. Is 60% on the SWG a reasonable setting for a very sun exposed pool that will get almost daily use once its warm? Or do I need to be adjusting this often based on my readings?
Thanks in advance- I know its a long post but I wanted to include all the relevant information. I am sure I have overlooked something.
