Use the 10 ml mark. It's good enough for our purposes. You also can get by with only scoop of powder. As long as you've added enough to see a few undissolved particles in the sample after mixing, there's enough powder.
Volley Ball court or Horseshoe pit
- Thread starter daveinnc
- Start date
Ok! The results are in!!:
Ph: 7.0
CC: 5
FC: 45
Alk: 130
CH(Hardness?) 80
CYA: 90
The Pool Math Worksheet recommends:
For Ph:
75 oz by wt/66 oz Washing Soda/Soda Ash
OR:
150 oz by wt/144 oz of Borax
For CH:
548 oz by wt/438 oz Calcium Chloride
OR:
726 oz by wt/834 oz Calcium Chloride Dehydrate
So, based on that, any suggestions, recommendations as to where to get what I need or which way to move ahead?
Ph: 7.0
CC: 5
FC: 45
Alk: 130
CH(Hardness?) 80
CYA: 90
The Pool Math Worksheet recommends:
For Ph:
75 oz by wt/66 oz Washing Soda/Soda Ash
OR:
150 oz by wt/144 oz of Borax
For CH:
548 oz by wt/438 oz Calcium Chloride
OR:
726 oz by wt/834 oz Calcium Chloride Dehydrate
So, based on that, any suggestions, recommendations as to where to get what I need or which way to move ahead?
With a vinyl liner, you don't have to worry about low CH. Only when it's in high range.
With a CYA of 90, you may want to consider doing a partial drain to bring that down. You can manage it without, but you're going to use a lot of bleach.
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If you don't drain, you need to maintain a FC of 35 until your CC drops to 0.5 or less. Once it does that, you can perform and OCLT to see if you lose less than 1 of FC.
Also, I should note that your PH test isn't reliable above a FC of 10, so don't need to test that until then.
With a CYA of 90, you may want to consider doing a partial drain to bring that down. You can manage it without, but you're going to use a lot of bleach.
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If you don't drain, you need to maintain a FC of 35 until your CC drops to 0.5 or less. Once it does that, you can perform and OCLT to see if you lose less than 1 of FC.
Also, I should note that your PH test isn't reliable above a FC of 10, so don't need to test that until then.
Here is your CYA/Chart:
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
Again, I would recommend a drain to get CYA down to 50 but if it's not possible for you, then follow procedure below to SLAM
Here is how to SLAM:
Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart
Again, I would recommend a drain to get CYA down to 50 but if it's not possible for you, then follow procedure below to SLAM
Here is how to SLAM:
Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
Thanks for replying, spinPHD. How much of a drain would be required to lower CYA to 50? for 17,000 gal? Would it be more economical to drain or SLAM? Because my Shock FC is already above the FC levels for SLAMing. What condition should I "get a hold of" first?
It all depends on cost of water in your area. I just drained mine completely and it was an extra $80 on my water bill. It was worth it to me since managing a pool is a lot easier at lower levels.
As for draining, you can find out how much you need to drain by plugging in your target level in the pool calculator. Since you have vinyl liner a full drain is not recommended. Maybe someone else on here can chime in on how much you can safely drain with vinyl.
As for draining, you can find out how much you need to drain by plugging in your target level in the pool calculator. Since you have vinyl liner a full drain is not recommended. Maybe someone else on here can chime in on how much you can safely drain with vinyl.
In this day and age, is there NO other way to bring down CYA? It seems to me I have to get that under control before continuing or, I would be just wasting chemicals, since draining the water will bring down ALL levels, except for CH from the local water authority.
Nope, CH, salt and CYA can only be removed by drain. But once you get it set correctly and stick to bleach/liquid chlorine only your pool care will run smoothly.
actually I forgot to mention that it can be removed with reverse osmosis treatment. It's pretty expensive, and only usually used by people on water restrictions
actually I forgot to mention that it can be removed with reverse osmosis treatment. It's pretty expensive, and only usually used by people on water restrictions
Ok. Yea, I don't think I will be going the RO method. What about a recommended amount to drain to reach 50 or lower? 1/4, 1/2, 3/4? If I am going to do it, I want to get it as low as possible. Is this a process I will have to repeat every year or is it because of my imbalance? Should I ALWAYS strive for 0 CYA? What method can I employ to maintain CYA at .....0, 50,....
As long as you don't add any chlorine pucks or bags of shock, you won't have to do this again. Only use liquid chlorine or bleach to chlorinate
In fact you may need to raise it a little each year when you open. You do lose some CYA naturally overtime, and you lose some each time you backwash. So shoot for 50, and you will be in great spot.
Plug info into pool calculator and that will give you how much you need to drain.
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My math says about 45%. But double check
In fact you may need to raise it a little each year when you open. You do lose some CYA naturally overtime, and you lose some each time you backwash. So shoot for 50, and you will be in great spot.
Plug info into pool calculator and that will give you how much you need to drain.
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My math says about 45%. But double check
Figure out your pool's average depth and drain down half that much. That should put you in the 45-50 CYA range, which is ideal. You musn't drain it to lower than a foot in the shallow end or you risk the liner shifting.
When you chlorinate in the future, avoid dichlor and trichlor as they add lots of CYA to the water. See Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool Your Ch is low enough that you could probably get by for a while with Cal-hypo powder if lugging bleach jugs sounds like more trouble than it's worth. But eventually, CH will start getting too high and then it's switch to bleach or strain draining again.
Ok, thanks, spinPHD and Richard320. I am going to pump down 50%, refill, retest, and go from there. I don't have a "deep end". When I laid it out, it was within a 1/8" of level over 35 feet.(I MIGHT be a little ADHD). I will post the new levels once I am done re-filling.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Ok. Drain/Refill complete. I drained down to 23", refilled overnight. Been filtering for about 2 hours. Just finished the first sampling:
Ph 7.2
CC 0
FC 30
Alk 80
CH 60
CYA 50
So, I thought all those were good numbers, Brought the CYA down from 90. However, Pool Math tells me the following:
For Ph - add 47 oz Borax
For Alk - add 32 oz Baking Soda
For Hardness: - add 478 oz Calcium Chloride. Do I need all that for a vinyl liner? I just read on old post on here that says I don't need to worry about the CH so much....
For CYA - add 70 oz of stabilizer
Are those numbers right? It seems like ALOT of chemicals. I don't want to drive the water in the wrong direction, I am trying to get it IN balance.
Won't adding stabilizer raise the Ph?
With a CYA of 50, I am above Shock Level now, correct? I should let that come down?
And with FC at 30, is the Ph test reliable. Pool School says no.So should I correct for it?
Ph 7.2
CC 0
FC 30
Alk 80
CH 60
CYA 50
So, I thought all those were good numbers, Brought the CYA down from 90. However, Pool Math tells me the following:
For Ph - add 47 oz Borax
For Alk - add 32 oz Baking Soda
For Hardness: - add 478 oz Calcium Chloride. Do I need all that for a vinyl liner? I just read on old post on here that says I don't need to worry about the CH so much....
For CYA - add 70 oz of stabilizer
Are those numbers right? It seems like ALOT of chemicals. I don't want to drive the water in the wrong direction, I am trying to get it IN balance.
Won't adding stabilizer raise the Ph?
With a CYA of 50, I am above Shock Level now, correct? I should let that come down?
And with FC at 30, is the Ph test reliable. Pool School says no.So should I correct for it?
Those are great numbers and it looks to me like all your numbers are perfect. You don't need to add anything, just let FC drop. You don't need to be concerned with low CH with vinyl pool, only when it's too high. Your PH should naturally raise on its own. So don't adjust that. Your TA doesn't need to be adjusted. That will go down over time as you use muriatic acid anytime you lower PH.
Moving forward
* Test FC and PH everyday. Keep FC above minimum, perferably just stay in your target. Do this with bleach or liquid chlorine only.
* PH should go up over time, and anytime it goes above 7.8, you can lower it to 7.4 using muriatic acid.
* Test TA only when you need to add acid for the PH. TA determines how much acid you need to add to lower PH.
* Test CH and CYA monthly unless you replace a lot of water or add stabilizer
Moving forward
* Test FC and PH everyday. Keep FC above minimum, perferably just stay in your target. Do this with bleach or liquid chlorine only.
* PH should go up over time, and anytime it goes above 7.8, you can lower it to 7.4 using muriatic acid.
* Test TA only when you need to add acid for the PH. TA determines how much acid you need to add to lower PH.
* Test CH and CYA monthly unless you replace a lot of water or add stabilizer
Wait, I just realized you had algae before you did partial drain. Your CC are good, but is the pool clear? I think you should keep your pool at SLAM level all day and attempt a OCLT to confirm algae is killed.
Here is how you can do that: Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
Also, I forgot to mention that your PH test isn't reliable with FC level over 10 so you can just ignore that test until FC is lower.
Here is how you can do that: Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
Also, I forgot to mention that your PH test isn't reliable with FC level over 10 so you can just ignore that test until FC is lower.
It is better than it was and I swear, in the last few hours it is getting clearer. After the refill, I backwashed the filter to make sure I wasn't putting anything undesirable back in the pool. I also add about 1-1/4 cups of DE. Just till the pressure came up by 1 psi. I can see the bottom step of the ladder. Couldn't say that 2 days ago.
I don't think I have/had an algae problem before the drain because my FC was at 45 prior to the drain for at least a day. It hasn't been green for a couple of weeks. It was just cloudy and wouldn't clear. But I will maintain the FC as you suggest, spinPHD and keep an eye on the clarity. Thanks.