TF 100 Test kit arrived

[Johnny B]

3:30pm, almost 3 hours of areation.
pH remains 6.8

I must be offline from 3:45pm to maybe 10:00pm.
I will have my wife test the pH every 3 hours (using last year's Leslie kit which I'll go run & do now) & if it gets to 7.2 or too late for her she'll stop the aeration

 

[JasonLion]

The acid demand test is not useful just at this moment, though it can come in handy when lowering TA. You would use the acid demand test to tell you exactly how much acid to use to lower the PH. You can get much the same results using my Pool Calculator if you have complete test results and feel confident about them. The time acid and base demand tests are really valuable is when the PH is off one end of the range of the PH test.

Just at the moment you are trying to raise the PH. If the PH hasn't already gone up enough and you have some base demand reagent, R-0016, that could be interesting right now. The test would be, how many drops of the base demand reagent does it take to raise the PH to 7.0. It isn't a big deal if you don't have the reagent or don't do the test. Continued aeration should take care of things regardless.

Only testing for FC is just fine right now. When you get your new supply of R-0871 it would be nice to have a CC number, but that can wait till tomorrow or the next day. Likewise, as long as you are worried about running out of R-0871, there is no need to test FC and add chlorine more than once a day, preferably in the evening. But when you do get more R-0871, it would be good to be testing and adding chlorine more frequently.

 

[Guest]

But this doesn't apply for my situation today, right? I want to raise my pH.

correct!

 

[Johnny B]

10:00pm, about 9 hours since aeration began.
pH 6.8-7.2 but definitely not 7.2.
I'll continue aeration for next 8-10 hrs & while I sleep.
No R-0016 on hand, do have soda ash on hand.
FC 0.5
Target shock still 15 so I need to add 4 gallons 3 quarts or 6.2 (96 oz) jugs of bleach
I'll do that unless you tell me not to (wait for tomarrow's ideal pH).

Plenty of Reagent on hand for 1 or 2 more FC tests, so I'l do that & shock once in about an hour then again as late as possible unless you tell me not to (wait for tomarrow's ideal pH).

I'll be offline for 20-30 min. If nobody replies, I'll shock per the above.

Thanks

 

[Guest]

do have soda ash on hand.

You don't want to use soda ash, it will cause your TA to rise too much and then you will need to lower it. just keep aerating.

 

[Johnny B]

Got it, thanks, I'll be shocking tonight.
I'll get a pH for you tomarrow am
Reagent should be here tomarow.

 

[Johnny B]

1:45am. about 1.75 hours after last added bleach
FC 14
Target still 15 so added 1 quart 1 cup 1 oz.

 

[Johnny B]

8:30am, about 20 hours since aeration began.
pH far closer to & nearly is 7.2.
I'll continue aeration for 2 hours till I must leave, I can leave aeration going if you want me to, I'll be back around 5pm?
FC 7.5
Target shock still 15 so I need to add 2 gallons 1 quart 3 cups or 3.2 (96 oz) jugs of bleach
I'll do that now/daytime unless you tell me to wait for tonight/sunless hours.
Starting to rain lightly. It will be "mostly cloudy" for the next 3 days, showers today untill tomarrow night.

Probably enough reagent on hand for 1 more FC test but hoping today's mail will bring the resupply

If nobody replies in the next 30 min, I'll do the daytime shock per the above.

I'll be offline from 10:15-5:00pm

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Have a great day!

Go ahead and shock, but I wouldn't leave the aeration unattended.

Talk to you later today....

 

[Johnny B]

Reagents arrived.

5:00 pm
ph just shy of 7.2 so resumed aeration

6:00pm, 9 hours after lasted added bleach
FC 7.5
CC 1.5
TC 9
Shock target still 15 so added 2 gallons 1 quart 3 cups or 3.2 (96 oz) jugs bleach
I should be able to shock late into the night.
Rain never came really, some drizzle. Not sunny all day.

Am I correct that it's the UV that interfereres w the Cl & so a cloudy day makes no differnence vs. a sunny day?

 

[Johnny B]

Reagents did not arrive, the wrong item was shipped.
Any suggestions on what to do until it gets here?
Bummer.

 

[JasonLion]

Keep testing FC and adding bleach once a day in the evening till you run out of R-0871. Once you run out you can simply add about 5 to 8 ppm of chlorine each evening. Given the progress you have made fighting the ammonia, that should be enough, or more likely more than enough, to keep things stable for a number of days.

Yes, UV. Clouds do reduce the amount of chlorine lost during the day, but you still lose some chlorine to sunlight even with heavy cloud cover.

 

[Johnny B]

Once you run out you can simply add about 5 to 8 ppm of chlorine each evening.

I figure this bleach qty on the calculator?
I'm looking for a chart in PSchool & don't see it

 

[JasonLion]

No, I made it up just for you. :slidehalo:

If you run out of R-0871 in the middle of dealing with ammonia you are in a bad situation. Normally you could use an OTO test to get by, but you have non-zero CC, so that won't work. Still, you can't just stop adding chlorine, so you have to make up some amount of chlorine to add.

Without a test kit you are always going to be risking either adding too little and getting algae or adding too much and wasting money (and in extreme cases damaging the pool from high chlorine levels). 5 to 8 sounds like a good compromise to me, but there is no correct answer.

 

[Johnny B]

I understand.
But how much bleach is 5-8ppm (& how do you derive it if you think that is impt for me to know)

Thanks Jason

 

[Guest]

I understand.
But how much bleach is 5-8ppm (& how do you derive it if you think that is impt for me to know)

Thanks Jason

I estimate your pool at about 15000 gal, based on the incomplete info in your sig (for a kidney shaped pool we need the width at both the wide and narrow ends). If it's within about 2000 gal either way it's close enough until you get more reagent.

1 gal of bleach will raise 10000 gallons approx the strength of the bleach so 1 1/2 gal will do the same for 15000 gallons. This means that, if you are using 6% bleach then 1 1/2 gal (6 qts)will raise a 15 k pool 6 ppm and that means 1/2 gal will raise the same by 2 ppm. This means that every quart will raise a 15 k pool about 1 ppm so if you want to add 5-8 ppm chlorine to your approx 15 k pool you would need 5-8 qts. of 6% bleach.
This is a rough estimation but should be in the ballpark until you get more reagent.

 

[Johnny B]

I understand.
I estimate your pool at about 15000 gal, based on the incomplete info in your sig (for a kidney shaped pool we need the width at both the wide and narrow ends).
Builder's specs say 19,800gal so in my sig, do you still want that other width? .

If my 19,800 figure is correct, then I say put in 2 gallons since you & Jason are comfortable w 5-8ppm, right? Or want me to go w your 15,000gal?

Geeze, the VERY FIRST sentence of PSchool had my answer re dosing in ppm. I knew I read it, couldn't find it. Good lesson, I know how to search better in future.

7:00pm
pH: no change, just shy of 7.2 so resumed aeration (after no areation for 18 hours, so at least pH held, right?)
FC 4.5, target still 15 so added 3 gallons 1 quart or 4.5 (96 oz) jugs.

Very unlikely I have enough Reagent for another test, won't even try tonight, but will try this time tomarrow & if so great, if not I'll wing it using the ppm dosing.

Am I correct that you do not want me to add more bleach (in addition to the above 3 gallons 1 quart; for example I can add bleach at 1or2:00am tonight but I will not have an FC reading) until tomarrow night for fear that w/out an FC reading, I could feasibly over-chlorinate if by chance this is the time the FC finnaly holds? If you want me to add at 1:00am just let me know how much)

Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

Correct, do not add chlorine without testing unless around 24 hours have passed since the last time you added chlorine.

 

[Johnny B]

Reagents arrived, plenty on hand.

7:00pm
about 24 hours since last added bleach.
about 18 hours since aeration was stopped, aeration of about 5 hours yesterday.

pH 7.2 so I will not aerate unless you tell me to.
FC 14
CC 1.5
TC 15.5

Shock Target still 15 so I will add 41oz of bleach. I will wait about an hour before adding bleach to see if a moderator chimes in wanting more tests before adding bleach. I did TA & CYA on 4/12/09 around noon & got:
TA - 190 (8 drops turn it red for 6-7seconds, 9 drops makes it more red & keep it red)
- done twice per Jason
CH - 360, done twice per Jason
CYA - 40-50, it was halfway between so you pick if you want one #, (CYA tests on 4/6 & 4/8 were 40 & 30, today's test done in lmore ideal ighting conditions)

Plenty reagents & my schedule allows testing about any time tonight. What do you suggest? Every hour or every 2 hours or once again as late as possible?

May I just test for FC or do you want FC & CC always?

When may I reduce the pump time? Now 24/7, I'll scale back when you guys say it should be ok.

Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

The goal now is to continue at shock level, FC of 15, until the CC level goes to zero. So you do want to do the CC test each time.

You probably only need to add chlorine three times a day at this point. The more slowly the FC level drops, the less often you need to test and add bleach. Basically, you can watch the FC level and the slower it goes down, the less often you need to add chlorine.