Water Chemistry levels

[jaindesi]

Here are are my numbers from half hour ago
Cl 5ppm
Ph7.5
FC 16.5
CC 1.5
TC 18
CH 125 ppm
TA 60
CYA 20 or lower.

I know numbers are low for CYA, CH, TA. Not sure about TC. What do I need to get? I have tons of trichhlore 3 inch tablets, borax and the product you see in the pic. What else do I need and how do I use it.

 

[IceShadow]

How are you planning on chlorinating your pool?

 

[jaindesi]

How are you planning on chlorinating your pool?

Right now I just dumped 5 gallons of liquid chlorine to bring up the chlorine levels. Before that it was zero. After this j will use the 3 inch pucks.

 

[jaindesi]

Right now my pool is clear but very cloudy. See attached pic.

 

[splashpad]

Right now I just dumped 5 gallons of liquid chlorine to bring up the chlorine levels. Before that it was zero. After this j will use the 3 inch pucks.

I would check out "Effects of Adding Chemicals" at the bottom of the Poolmath page (if you aren't using the app yet) PoolMath
The pucks will continue to raise CYA all season and eventually make it very hard to maintain adequate FC levels

 

[splashpad]

Right now my pool is clear but very cloudy. See attached pic.

Which test kit are you using?
I would suggest a SLAM Process, but you will need to monitor FC levels accurately.

 

[jaindesi]

Which test kit are you using?
I would suggest a SLAM Process, but you will need to monitor FC levels accurately.

I have the TF100 kit. I also took the water to pool store and numbers were. Lose to what I got at home. I picked up the calcium hardness bucket and used the TA increaser packet I posted earlier. Dumped both in to the pool. Opened the bottom drain valve as well. Now going to let the pump run for coouple of hours and test one more time before sun sets in Jersey.

 

[Leebo]

@jaindesi

I’d like to ask a favor, slow down somewhat. It seems like you’re trying to rush things, and that seldom ends well.

Let’s toss out a general page to get you started, can you review the ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry as I suspect it’ll help you understand where to start a small bit.

 

[IceShadow]

OK, so - puck use is going to increase your CYA. That's not a bad thing now as you really want it to be at 30 minimum, but over time it's going to be a problem as CYA accumulates in your water while the FC the pucks produce burns off. Over time the CYA will get to a point that the FC doesn't really do anything anymore unless it's up at reaaaally high levels. Once that happens you have to exchange out water.

If it works for you, great - but our advice is based on using liquid chlorine so that your CYA and CH levels don't increase. (Cal-Hypo powdered shock increases CH.) Liquid chlorine is pH neutral in effect, so with time, CO2 offgasses and the TA will push the pH up. So if you use liquid chlorine, you can keep your TA down around 50-70 without detrimental problems. If anything you would need muriatic acid to lower the pH slowly.

 

[jaindesi]

Sorry for the late response. Yes I have been rushing to get the water cleared up. Stuff i put in there worked. Cloudiness went away and i am able to see the bottom of the pool now. I misplaced/lost the CL/PH tester block. Now i have to go to the pool store again. I really do appreciate everyone's help here.

I think once the pucks are done, i am going to stick with bleach/liquid chlorine route.

 

[jaindesi]

Numbers are from today evening. What am I doing wrong? I had dumped 5 gallon liquid chlorine and also use 3 inch pucks to chlorinate. My CH and TA are low as well.

Do I need to do the SLAM process or can I add something specific?
Cl 1
Ph7.2
FC 1 5 ppm
Cc 1 ppm
Ch 175
TA 70
CYA 30

 

[mknauss]

How are you daily adding the chlorine your pool needs? Are you relying on the pucks? They add CYA so that should be rising pretty quickly. Is the CYA test from today? I see you are sharing your Poolmath logs but you are not entering your test data. If you added all your test data into Poolmath it makes it much easier for us to provide guidance.

Is your pool water still cloudy?

 

[jaindesi]

I am relying on pucks for chlorine. CYA is from today. Water is still cloudy.
Before water looked blueish and cloudy. It started getting. Lear after I added calcium chloride to Increase the CH numbers and sodium Carbonate to Increase TA. What should I do?

 

[mknauss]

You need to follow the SLAM Process.

Remove the pucks. Raise your FC to SLAM level FC of 12 ppm. Maintain it there until your pool is crystal clear. Then do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test

 

[jaindesi]

Can I use this instead of liquid chlorine for shock? Pour in about three packs and brush the walls and floor. Keep the pump running until pool gets clear. Will that work?

 

[mknauss]

No. That is dichlor. It will raise your CYA level. Use liquid chlorine to raise the FC level of your pool water.

follow theSLAM Process

 

[jaindesi]

Got it. I picked up two 5 gallon container from my pool store. Will start measuring the water for FC.
I do have lot of landscaping around one side of my pool, as well as a sand box for my toddler to play in. Can the vegetation and sand have anything to do with lowering my CL levels? None of the plants are dipping in to the pool water. I am running a robot vac to clear the pool and scrub the walls. Everytime I notice lot of grainy type stuff that gets sucked up in the vac. I'll take a pic.

 

[jaindesi]

Here is the picture of what the robot pics up

 

[mknauss]

You need to get as much of the solid debris out of the pool as you can. The chlorine will be expended trying to oxidize that instead of clearing your pool water.

 

[jaindesi]

During SLAM process, how often should backwash my DE filter? And when do backwash do I add more DE(80%) during SLAM?
I am also running the robot around 3 to 4 times a day. I believe each robot cycle runs for about 2 hours. Is brushing still ncessary?