Totally Confused

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steve919

0
Jun 22, 2017
25
Omaha, Nebraska
Hey all,

So I just got my first decent sized pool (16'), every pool I've ever had were the small blow up ring intex pools and every one of them turned dark green on me. For the fun of summer for my 7 year old I bought this new pool and am dedicated to maintaining it properly, but I'm totally confused.

So it's been filled for about 3 weeks. Here's my readings I've taken so far with my Taylor K-2006 test kit:

6/30/17
---------
CYA - 70ppm
FC - 1.4ppm
CC - 1ppm
pH - 8.0


7/7/17 (taken at about 3pm)
--------
FC - 0
CYA - 52ppm
pH - 7.6
TA - 160ppm
CH - 130ppm

7/7/17 (taken with hth 6-way test strips because I wasn't sure if the readings on the Taylor were correct)
---------
FC - 0
pH - 8.4
TA - 120ppm
TH - 200ppm
CYA - 70ppm


Yeah, I'm kinda lost and hoping someone can help!
 
I agree on those test strips.. JUNK! I think I figured out with the CYA being so low, it probably doesn't take much during the day to burn off the FC that is in the pool. I've been running a boost overnight on the SWG. My play today it to go get more stabilizer and focus on getting that CYA up to the proper value, then worry about everything else.

The water is pretty clear, though slightly cloudy (if that's not an oxymoron!)

Is it then more important to put bleach in there asap? Also, part of the reason I went with saltwater was so I didn't have to deal with the effects of chlorine (or bleach) jacking up clothes, hair, etc.
 
steve919 said:
I agree on those test strips.. JUNK! I think I figured out with the CYA being so low, it probably doesn't take much during the day to burn off the FC that is in the pool. I've been running a boost overnight on the SWG. My play today it to go get more stabilizer and focus on getting that CYA up to the proper value, then worry about everything else.

The water is pretty clear, though slightly cloudy (if that's not an oxymoron!)

Is it then more important to put bleach in there asap? Also, part of the reason I went with saltwater was so I didn't have to deal with the effects of chlorine (or bleach) jacking up clothes, hair, etc.
Click to expand...
Yes, bleach. Now. Even up to shock level. Hopefully you can head things off before you develop an algae bloom.

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And in case you were unsure... you have a bleach pool. You're just generating the stuff onsite rather than in a huge plant somewhere. Same process, smaller scale, and no jugs. Maintain the right FC/CYA ratio and you won't be bleaching swimsuits. My first season, when I was stuck with 200+ CYA and no possibility of a drain, I routinely swam in 20+ FC. I still have the same suit 7 years later.
 
So just regular Clorox bleach I buy in the store then? Anything special I should look for? and according to the pool math calculator, it says I should add 53oz of 6 weight % bleach. Am I changing the oil or what? :).. I'm guessing that just means 53oz of regular Clorox bleach?

So do I not worry about the CYA yet then? Focus on getting the FC level first, then CYA, then TA, PH, CA?

Sorry for the redundancy, still new at this.
 
steve919 said:
So just regular Clorox bleach I buy in the store then? Anything special I should look for? and according to the pool math calculator, it says I should add 53oz of 6 weight % bleach. Am I changing the oil or what? :).. I'm guessing that just means 53oz of regular Clorox bleach?

So do I not worry about the CYA yet then? Focus on getting the FC level first, then CYA, then TA, PH, CA?

Sorry for the redundancy, still new at this.
Click to expand...
Actually, the last test kit results aren't too bad. Bleach first. If you do have to SLAM, you'll be grateful the CYA isn't higher. Once the algae threat is gone, then you can raise CYA some.

The bleach is plain unscented household bleach. Frequently sold as 8.25% strength. But if you stumble across a good deal on pool chlorine 10-12% at a good price, use that. Same stuff, less diluted.
 
Ok, so I just ran some fresh numbers after having the SWG running all night on boost mode. Here's the latest readings with my Taylor K-2006

FC 1.2
CC 0.4
PH 8.0
TA 170
CH - cant do because R0011L is missing the drip tip when I got the kit

So I've plugged those numbers into the PoolMath calculator and I'm on my way to get some bleach.. starting to feel better about testing the water now after having done it so many times "learning"
 
You can use a 10 ml sample size & one heaping scoop of powder for the chlorine tests. Divide the number of drops by 2 for the resulting ppm.
Here's the formula for determining the best price on bleach.
Price/ounces/% of chlorine
Ex. $2.56 for a 128 oz of 10%
2.56/128/.10= .2 Dollars or 20 cents per effective ounce.
 
So I just got back from Walmart, they had Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid (10% Sodium Hypochlorite) for 3 bucks.. the poolmath calculator says to use only 31oz to reach my target of FC 6.. is that a correct amount? Seems like such a small amount for 5060 gallons of water?
 

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"Close enough" is probably what turned those pools dark green in the past.

Algae is some tough stuff. You can't fool around with it. No love taps. Get vicious and hit it hard with bleach. Brush brush brush to scrub off the biofilm and expose the heart of it and kill it.
 
AimeeH said:
HI Steve and welcome to TFP :)

As Richard said with CYA of 60 you'll want to target about 8 FC. See Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

You really might want to do some reading in pool school to help find your way. here are some links:

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Pool School - Recommended Levels
Click to expand...


Why wouldn't I want to target FC 6 and then raise my CYA to 70-80 for SWG. Wouldn't that make more sense?

And when I look at the Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart it tells me for SWG pool that CYA of 60 is NOT recommended and even if I was going to stick to CYA 60, then the target FC is 4, not 8. Am I misssing something?

SWCG Pools

CYA (Stabilizer)Minimum FCTarget FCShock FC
60*​
3​
4​
24​
70​
3​
5​
28​
80​
4​
6​
31​


* Not recommended
 
I have been suggesting you raise FC towards shock level so that hopefully you head off an algae bloom. If it doesn't work and the pool goes green, then you'll need to SLAM, and that is a whole lot easier at a lower CYA level. I don't know why we're still discussing what to do next 24 hours later. I told you in post #6 "Once the algae threat is gone, then you can raise CYA some."
 
I just got home and check the pool again. I'm at 5ppm FC, so I just put in an additional 19oz of 10% chlorine to boost it to that 8ppm goal. I've also left the solar cover on it, dont know if that helps or not with the sun eating up the chlorine. I guess I'm hoping at this point that I dont have any kind of algae problem, though I cant see anything and the water is totally clear.
 
Richard320 said:
I have been suggesting you raise FC towards shock level so that hopefully you head off an algae bloom. If it doesn't work and the pool goes green, then you'll need to SLAM, and that is a whole lot easier at a lower CYA level. I don't know why we're still discussing what to do next 24 hours later. I told you in post #6 "Once the algae threat is gone, then you can raise CYA some."
Click to expand...

My FC is up to 8.5 now and CC is <0.5.. So I'm going to do an overnight FC loss test tonight and that should tell me if I'm in the clear or if I have an algae or other organic problem, correct? Thank you Richard for your, let's say, firmness and motivating me as to learning more about the why.
 
I dont know if anyone is following this anymore, but I just checked the FC again and it's at 4.5. We did have a 100 degree day with sun on the pool all day. So I just added 23oz of 10% chlorine to get it back up to 8ppm. After about another 45 minutes I'll take one last reading for the night. SWG is OFF, and then test again in the morning too, for the overnight FC loss test. Hopefully, it goes good!
 

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