What am I dealing with? (Pics)

[Jrobertp]

Is it time for you to explore adding a SWG?

I’ll definitely be looking in to it.

 

[Lilypad]

I’m not sure I’ll be able to get the alkalinity to settle in at 70 till I’m adding less water. But it does seem to hold at 80 with the acid I’m adding to bring the PH down to 7.5 every time it hits 7.8

You may have seen this already, but you can be a bit more aggressive lowering the Ph between 7.0-7.2, then aerating.
This will gradually reduce your TA. Process is outlined in the article.

Lower Total Alkalinity

A lower Total Alkalinity level can help a pool owner stabalize their pH increase. We'll explain how to lower TA with a little help from muriatic acid.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Jrobertp]

You may have seen this already, but you can be a bit more aggressive lowering the Ph between 7.0-7.2, then aerating.
This will gradually reduce your TA. Process is outlined in the article.

Lower Total Alkalinity

A lower Total Alkalinity level can help a pool owner stabalize their pH increase. We'll explain how to lower TA with a little help from muriatic acid.

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks. I have been doing some more reading. It seemed to be saying that lowering my TA wasn’t a big thing to worry about so I haven’t been aggressive in working on it.

I used up my liquid muriatic acid and I had some dry acid so I had been using that to keep the PH in line and ordered more muriatic acid, but Walmart decided to ship it from far away… when it gets here I’ll try a bigger adjustment.

I just read today that the dry acid isn’t the best choice for my pool, so I’ll stick with the liquid moving forward.

 

[Jrobertp]

I’m 4 weeks in since I officially took over my pool on July 1. That’s the day I started the water drain and replacement and 5 days after the pool companies last visit.

Current levels (noon)…
FC - 10.0
CC - 0.0
PH - 7.5
TA - 70
CH - 400
CYA - 70
Temp. - 89°
CSI - -0.11

I’ve dropped my pool pump runtimes considerably with no change to water clarity. Still clear and walls are algae free. Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed the walls returning to a lighter blue color (I believe they had become darker with staining)

Last weekend I fully cleaned the DE filter. After that I added borates via the borax and muriatic acid method.

Everything looks good for now and I’ve settled in to a routine.

Total cost in chemicals used for the 4 weeks (not including water) $272. I’ll be interested to see what the next 4 weeks hold now that it’s seems to have settled in.

23 gallons of chlorine. ($115)
3 trichlor tabs ($15) for a travel week
3.5 gallons muriatic acid. ($30)
8 lbs dry acid. ($16)
40 lbs borax. ($68)
Calcium chloride 14 lbs ($28)

 

[YippeeSkippy]

And how many people spend that amount at every visit to the pool store?? And their pool is still cloudy.

 

[Jrobertp]

And how many people spend that amount at every visit to the pool store?? And their pool is still cloudy.

I’m sure that’s true. I guess I’m weird. I never went to the pool store for advice. I’m definitely glad I didn’t. I went straight to the pool chemical service because it was easy for me to see that their price of $600 a year for all chemicals was cheaper than me buying it myself. Several friends with pools said they had a great experience. Too bad the process didn’t work out for my pool. I really wish it would have. Cheaper and far less work for me. First couple of years went great. Last couple not so great. So my pool definitely looks better now after a month of following the TFP plan than it has in a couple of years with the pool service.

 

[Jrobertp]

I have a trip coming up now where we will be gone from the pool for 9 days. 2 questions for everyone…

1. I’m thinking my plan will be 1 trichlor puck in a skimmer, 2 pucks in a float. I’m hoping that will slow my chlorine loss from ~4ppm per day to maybe 2ppm per day. So I can go up to slam level of 28 and lose down to around 10ppm upon return. This is purely an educated guess on my part. Any advice on that plan is welcome.

2. I have a fairly new pool robot vacuum. (~2 months old.) I’ve never left it in the pool more than about 12 hours. Is the best plan to clean before I leave and keep it out of the pool, or leave it in and set it to clean every 3rd day? 9 straight days is a long time in the water and I don’t really want to risk the water intrusion….

 

[Bperry]

I have a trip coming up now where we will be gone from the pool for 9 days. 2 questions for everyone…

1. I’m thinking my plan will be 1 trichlor puck in a skimmer, 2 pucks in a float. I’m hoping that will slow my chlorine loss from ~4ppm per day to maybe 2ppm per day. So I can go up to slam level of 28 and lose down to around 10ppm upon return. This is purely an educated guess on my part. Any advice on that plan is welcome.

2. I have a fairly new pool robot vacuum. (~2 months old.) I’ve never left it in the pool more than about 12 hours. Is the best plan to clean before I leave and keep it out of the pool, or leave it in and set it to clean every 3rd day? 9 straight days is a long time in the water and I don’t really want to risk the water intrusion….

I don’t think your chlorine loss changes based on what you put in there. It is what it is. That said, all the pucks should be in a floater.

I’ve left my robot in for several weeks at a time, didn’t seem to bother it. I don’t think 9 days will hurt anything. Maybe not even worth putting it in?

 

[Jrobertp]

I don’t think your chlorine loss changes based on what you put in there. It is what it is. That said, all the pucks should be in a floater.

I’ve left my robot in for several weeks at a time, didn’t seem to bother it. I don’t think 9 days will hurt anything. Maybe not even worth putting it in?

Well yes, you’re right. My chlorine loss will be the same. But the pucks will be adding chlorine. So I was saying maybe my net loss per day would drop to 2ppm. I’ve only used the trichlor pucks once before for a much shorter time so I haven’t been able to track how much chlorine they add to the pool. Or how long they will last…

 

[Bperry]

Well yes, you’re right. My chlorine loss will be the same. But the pucks will be adding chlorine. So I was saying maybe my net loss per day would drop to 2ppm. I’ve only used the trichlor pucks once before for a much shorter time so I haven’t been able to track how much chlorine they add to the pool. Or how long they will last…

The pucks will dissolve very slowly. You can calculate how much chlorine (and CYA) they will add once dissolved with the poolmath app. I’d expect them to still be plenty left after only 9 days so that would have to be an estimate. Your plan is ok.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I have a trip coming up now where we will be gone from the pool for 9 days. 2 questions for everyone…

1. I’m thinking my plan will be 1 trichlor puck in a skimmer, 2 pucks in a float. I’m hoping that will slow my chlorine loss from ~4ppm per day to maybe 2ppm per day. So I can go up to slam level of 28 and lose down to around 10ppm upon return. This is purely an educated guess on my part. Any advice on that plan is welcome.

2. I have a fairly new pool robot vacuum. (~2 months old.) I’ve never left it in the pool more than about 12 hours. Is the best plan to clean before I leave and keep it out of the pool, or leave it in and set it to clean every 3rd day? 9 straight days is a long time in the water and I don’t really want to risk the water intrusion….

Do not put pucks in the skimmer unless you have the pump running 24/7. They are highly acidic and if the pump shuts off the water in the skimmer will turn into a corrosive stew of chlorine, chloramines, and acid.

Always put pucks in a floater.

As for the robot, your call. Water intrusion is an issue so you might want to just deal with a dirty pool when you get back rather than potentially damage an expensive pool cleaner.

 

[Jrobertp]

Do not put pucks in the skimmer unless you have the pump running 24/7. They are highly acidic and if the pump shuts off the water in the skimmer will turn into a corrosive stew of chlorine, chloramines, and acid.

Always put pucks in a floater.

As for the robot, your call. Water intrusion is an issue so you might want to just deal with a dirty pool when you get back rather than potentially damage an expensive pool cleaner.

Got it. Floater it is.
The pool is not getting super dirty right now, so I think I’m going to play it safe with the vacuum.

 

[IceShadow]

Got it. Floater it is.
The pool is not getting super dirty right now, so I think I’m going to play it safe with the vacuum.

The crud picked up by the robot would still be sitting in it anyway, so it really won't be any better or worse for the chemistry in the pool to leave it out or leave it in, I think.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I’m on vacation right now … yeah, checkin’ TFP, I’m a weirdo … and I took my SUCTION cleaner out of the pool just to be safe from a potential air-leak/suction loss … that has never happened in 10 years. But I figure the peace of mind is worth it and the cleaner can do it’s job when I back on Sunday. I also dumped 2 gallon of LC and dropped the pH to 7.0. The SWG is at 50% and it is running for 8hrs per day while I’m gone. No worries here …

 

[JamesR]

@JoyfulNoise … what’s the theory of dropping the pH to 7.0 if you go on vacation and are not around for pool maintenance?
If I’m going away for just 4-7 days, I also add liquid chlorine to make up for the expected 2ppm loss I get this time of year. But why drop the pH?

 

[PoolStored]

@JoyfulNoise … what’s the theory of dropping the pH to 7.0 if you go on vacation and are not around for pool maintenance?
If I’m going away for just 4-7 days, I also add liquid chlorine to make up for the expected 2ppm loss I get this time of year. But why drop the pH?

I wouldn't normally jump in, but he IS on vacation.

pH naturally rises in pools. Reducing the pH to 7 allows more room for pH to rise while you are away. Also avoids super high pH with the rise that can damage equipment, if say we left with 7.8.

So, net net. In a pool left standing, without any chemicals FC will come down and pH will rise. When we go away we find a way to increase FC (Slam Level/pucks if now SWCG) and decrease pH (lower it to 7).

When I go away, I don't touch it. I KNOW my pH won't change. Every pool is different. If you don't know your pool very well, reducing it to 7 will do no harm, and will protect a broad set of pool owners from returning to a damaging pH level.

Hope that helps!

 

[reggiehammond]

Total cost in chemicals used for the 4 weeks (not including water) $272. I’ll be interested to see what the next 4 weeks hold now that it’s seems to have settled in.

23 gallons of chlorine. ($115)
3 trichlor tabs ($15) for a travel week
3.5 gallons muriatic acid. ($30)
8 lbs dry acid. ($16)
40 lbs borax. ($68)
Calcium chloride 14 lbs ($28)

Just FYI as I’m in your area - I don’t spend nearly as much time or money on my pool BECAUSE OF the SWCG. I doubt I’ve spent $272 in the past 12-18 months.

It’s pricey up front ($1700-1900) but then basically you’ll need to only buy MA every few months. I have high TA well water so I add acid every one to two weeks, empty skimmers and robot basket. That’s it.

You can’t buy a SWCG soon enough, in my opinion.

 

[Jrobertp]

Just FYI as I’m in your area - I don’t spend nearly as much time or money on my pool BECAUSE OF the SWCG. I doubt I’ve spent $272 in the past 12-18 months.

It’s pricey up front ($1700-1900) but then basically you’ll need to only buy MA every few months. I have high TA well water so I add acid every one to two weeks, empty skimmers and robot basket. That’s it.

You can’t buy a SWCG soon enough, in my opinion.

Yea seems like in the long run there are lots of pros to the SWCG.

I guess that’s my next research opportunity…

 

[Jrobertp]

Back from our trip after being away for a full 9 days. Pool looks good! (Except for a few leaves in the bottom) We got a big rain storm on day 6 and that had me worried with 2”+ of rain water and debris from the wind, but it seems to have ended up ok.

Chlorine was down to 4.5 and only a tiny remnant was left of the pucks, so one more day may have pushed the limit on my slam and 3 pucks plan.

Thanks all for the advice.