Thanks to all the the helpful folks on this forum. Sure makes it easier to get things figured out.
At this point I’m mostly updating the results because when I was searching you come across lots of threads that start out but you never know how things finished up.…. It is still nice to hear advice from the folks that have things figured out so feel free to chime in.
I am not seeing my alkalinity come down below 80, and I’m adding acid every day or two to bring the PH down. Since I know I’m adding a lot of water right now to cover the crazy evaporation. (It’s well above 100° here and hasn’t rained in a long time, plus I use an aerator all the time in the summer to help lower my water temp) I decided to test my tap water. Turns out it has a PH 8.2 and alkalinity of 110. 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 (FYI I’ve done a bucket test, and I don’t have a leak)
So far bumping my FC up to 12 ppm each night isn’t causing more FC loss to UV. Still averaging 4.5 ppm loss per day, which in my case means adding ~ 98oz of liquid chlorine nightly.
Thanks for the chlorine suggestions! So far almost all my chlorine (10%) was purchased at Walmart for $4.97 a gallon. It’s quick and easy to get there, plus they keep it inside. Home Depot is slightly cheaper when purchasing a box of 4 gallons, but they store it outside and it’s older stock… looked at your chart
@RickRude and it seems that may be the best I can do for now…
For those keeping score at home that’s ~ $115 a month for chlorine.
I do think I‘ll be saving a little money on power since I’m trying out shorter pump run times now after switching to the TFP plan…
I did not make the switch to save money. So not a big deal, but I will be looking for ways to lessen my personal time spent on pool chemical maintenance.