Test kit in ... let the SLAMing begin!

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Turn off the SWC for a couple days. Let it fall below 10 ppm FC and then let's look at the FC extinction rate again.

Great to hear that the drain in the pit is usable right away. Any chance we could leave the pool open for a few days (only closed at night, cover immersed so fully chlorinated) and keep the temperature around 30C?
 
Yep, let the sun get at it and allow it to breathe.

You can just reduce to zero % and the pump will continue on your same schedule. Just want to get the FC down to normal level (say 4-8 ppm FC for CYA at 50 ppm), and see if the CYA protects it. If that doesn't settle it down, and it's still dropping 7ppm/day, there must still be some contamination.

Kim and Caco, the other way to go is to get right back into the SLAM, but perhaps with the pool open to the sun as well. Let us know what you think. The water is probably high 80s and gets a good deal of sun. Does 7ppm FC loss per day seem possible if it was clean?

Buba, is the pool getting real heavily used through school holidays? Could it be that anyone is weeing, not knowing any better? The CC suggests the possibility, and I always tell my grandies that if I see pink, someone wee'd. They often come over and look to see and ask about any pink when I'm testing :)
 
Needs you are on the right path. That does sound like a lot of FC to lose but man that water looks good! If there is a lot of use and the sun is that intense with those temps this could be his normal.

I will say it again.....this is where a good log will come in handy. Right now you are really learning your pool for the first time as you just got the test kit. Before you really did not have a good base to work from.

We are right here along side you. The water looks great! Enjoy your pool and we will learn what it needs and likes in the process :hug:

Kim:kim:
 
needsajet said:
Yep, let the sun get at it and allow it to breathe.

You can just reduce to zero % and the pump will continue on your same schedule. Just want to get the FC down to normal level (say 4-8 ppm FC for CYA at 50 ppm), and see if the CYA protects it. If that doesn't settle it down, and it's still dropping 7ppm/day, there must still be some contamination.

Kim and Caco, the other way to go is to get right back into the SLAM, but perhaps with the pool open to the sun as well. Let us know what you think. The water is probably high 80s and gets a good deal of sun. Does 7ppm FC loss per day seem possible if it was clean?

Buba, is the pool getting real heavily used through school holidays? Could it be that anyone is weeing, not knowing any better? The CC suggests the possibility, and I always tell my grandies that if I see pink, someone wee'd. They often come over and look to see and ask about any pink when I'm testing :)
Click to expand...

Im starting to think I entered the number of drops as opposed to the FC level in my spreadsheet potentially, so will test again tonight and see what happens. The weather is very similar to yesterday so the result should be consistent if I test ok. Ididnt note that yesterdays test showed CC as 0.5 as well.

- - - Updated - - -

kimkats said:
Needs you are on the right path. That does sound like a lot of FC to lose but man that water looks good! If there is a lot of use and the sun is that intense with those temps this could be his normal.

I will say it again.....this is where a good log will come in handy. Right now you are really learning your pool for the first time as you just got the test kit. Before you really did not have a good base to work from.

We are right here along side you. The water looks great! Enjoy your pool and we will learn what it needs and likes in the process :hug:

Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

Yep what is clear, when for a swim last night when I was testing the main drain suction. There was a very light haze of powder along the bottom, not visible unless disturbed. It was greyish in colour if I had to guess but I had not cleaned the pool for a few days I think so nothing out of the norm. I chucked in the pool cleaner when i left for work this morning so the pool is open all day, in theory I should lose more FC than yesterday, if not, it was definitely an error on my behalf.

Pending my test tonight, the only thing I have left and not cleaned is behind the lights I have (x 3). So in my opinion this can be the only place algae is present.
 
So I did my tests today. Tested a few more things and leaving CYA till tomorrow. Below is a compare of yesterday to todays results. Basically, SWG created 6.7ppm FC and I lost 6.2ppm FC.

Differences between tests were that today was overcast, few showers and the remoco cover was off as I was doing a robot clean (which picked up very little).

Where as yesterday we were a bit warmer with the remco cover on. Could it be the cover creating so much heat that it kills more FC?

Either way still lost 6.2 FC, which could be the norm otherwise I would not need an SWG. Both times SWG set at 70% operating 4 hours in the AM and 4 hours in the PM.




Another query, my TA was 100...now, it changed on the 4th drop which to me really means it could be anywhere between 76 and 100, is that correct?

So, Was thinking now of setting the SWG over night to 0% to drop the chlorine and get it closer to 7 and turning on again for the evening run tomorrow, meaning I should drop areoun 6-7ppm to get to the 7 ppm target PPM...does that sound sensible?
 
Yep, good plan re the SWC and FC level.

For the low sensitivity TA test, yep, 100 is the result, unless the 5th drop made it more pink, in which case it would be 125. But switch over to the high sensitivity test for the TA (1 drop = 10 ppm TA) as this will become important later as you fine tune your pH approach.

What caused the pH to go down. Was MA (hydrochloric acid) added? Or was CYA added after the 7.7 test?

Just conceptually, FC goes down due to decay caused by ultraviolet light and when it is consumed by eliminating organic contamination. So we say that it's consumed rather than evaporated.

Appreciate your great records! Very easy to see what's happening.
 
Understood on the TA. Was going to do that but thought I would wait for my next test.

I added CYA 500mg on 17/1 and another 500mg on the 18/1 so it could just be starting to kick in now.

Does rain impact pH as there were showers today. pH was 7.6 on the 17/1, 7.5 on the 18/1 and 7.4 20/1. It could be CYA and quite honestly, comparing the colour aint that easy :).

I developed an excel spreadsheet, just to track everything initially. One day I may look back and start understanding better the relationship between different chemicals. I also have little chart which I just added CYA impact on pH so as I learn I understand the impact of what I add. So if I need ph lowered next time and I need CYA raised I may not need to add acid pending the adjustment required :).

The loss in FC is still concerning to me..here is a question, if it is being consumed by algae, how much algae would be required in a circa 5000 gallon pool to lower FC by 6-7...is the quantum of algae required enough that it would have to be visable? I remember doing tests at the pool store where FC was apparently well above 10, could have been 30 then 2 days later it was 0.2. Perhaps with a smaller pool the impacts are larger and more rapid.
 
buballodingo, I always find that if I'm not sure whether my FC loss is reasonable especially in summer, I run the OCLT, which at least takes some of the guess work out of it. If you fail, it means that you can quickly pick up the SLAM and get on top of it again.

FC loss of 6-7 seems pretty high too me, notwithstanding your higher levels of FC- FC loss being a percentage based thing.

The rain if anything should increase your pH due to the aeration but I find that with a steady TA that this is minimal. You would be finding your dropping pH is due to the acidic nature of the CYA, although this won't be too drastic.

Have you checked out this spreadsheet designed by another forum member. I use it and it is very comprehensive and hey you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
 
Jezza said:
buballodingo, I always find that if I'm not sure whether my FC loss is reasonable especially in summer, I run the OCLT, which at least takes some of the guess work out of it. If you fail, it means that you can quickly pick up the SLAM and get on top of it again.

FC loss of 6-7 seems pretty high too me, notwithstanding your higher levels of FC- FC loss being a percentage based thing.

The rain if anything should increase your pH due to the aeration but I find that with a steady TA that this is minimal. You would be finding your dropping pH is due to the acidic nature of the CYA, although this won't be too drastic.

Have you checked out this spreadsheet designed by another forum member. I use it and it is very comprehensive and hey you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jezza. Whilst I didnt do an OCLT the CC test I did yesterday showed 0.5. It definitely does not make sense.

I will look into the spreadsheet, appreciate the link.
EDIT -OH WOW...nice spreadsheet-thanks
 

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Remember that the OCLT will show you whether you are losing more than 1 FC overnight in the absence of sunlight- you are considered free of algae when you satisfy all 3 criterial

1.) You pass the OCLT
2.) Your CC is <0.5
3.) Your water is clear and free of all visible algae

Hope that clarifies!;)
 
So I thought I would do a nmidday test - weather is clear and sunny and around 24 degrees. Just in case FC dropped ridiculously low with the SWG on 0%. SO it dropped at the normal rate from 14.5 to 11.5. CC measured at 0.5 again.

Now I also measure CYA. Becuase my CYA was below 30ppm on 17/1 I made a gues of 25ppm so I could adjust it up to 70ppm slowly. I added 500mg on 17/1 to and another 500mg around 18/1. Today it is at 55ppm. Do you think it will still rise in the next day or 2?

I am concerned if the full amount of CYA should be showing by now then potentially could I have a leak? When I started the SLAM we got it up to around 30ppm. This would mean if I have topped out on CYA the potentially from the 8/1 to the 17/1 I lost 25ppm of CYA. I was also doing a lot of vacuuming, rcubbing and cleaning the pit, so may have replaced more water than I though I did.

I may retest on Tuesday to give it the full 7 days and see where it is at.

I will test again after sunset for an OCLT. If under FC 7 I will add liquid chlorine to adjust and measure or should I just let it go over night?

PS - is there any way of making Jesse spreadsheet metric like on the pool math calculator website?
 
CYA-my guess is you removed and added more water than you thought you did. (been there, done that)

You can let it go. There has been quite a bit of discussion on the "best FC for a OCLT". The consensus is it is more important for you to have a current test well after the sun is off the pool and before the sun is back on the pool. I WOULD run the pump or have it come on 30 mins. before you think you will do the morning test to make sure the water is mixed for the morning test.

Kim:kim:
 
OCLT started. FC at 11.5, so only a 4ppm drop overall for today. The only difference is the cooler weather and the cover being open all day.

Will test again in the pre sunrise hours and will let you know. Fingers, toes and anything else is crossed.
 
How much swimming today? If you could mention a bit about bather load and water temp, it might help make sense of it, depending what we see for overnight FC.

At least 4 ppm is into the normal range, that's good to hear :)
 
Thanks. Bather load is just a term for the amount of swimming/soaking etc.

So we're still a bit high at 4 ppm FC for a day like today and water at 27C, although the FC is still a bit high. Just trying to get a sense of the pool. Given your passed SLAM from earlier in the week, your FC consumption still has me worried a bit. I'm wondering if the unused drain might have some algae in it which is still getting killed.
 

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