Where to begin?

[Piperca]

I’m a new pool owner, who has decided to handle the maintenance of the pool/spa myself. I recently fired my pool guy, because of a not too stellar performance. I have purchased a Taylor K2006 test kit, which should be here on Wednesday, and am currently relying on Leslie’s for testing (I do have a basic chlorine/ph/alkalinity test kit that I also use).

My most recent test is as follow:
FC=0.83
TC=0.98
pH=7.4
TA=67
CH=157
CYA=35
Iron=0.1
Copper=0
Phosphates=312
Salt=2706

The pool guy had my SWCG turned up to 80% and was supplementing the lack of chlorine with tabs in the skimmer, obviously to avoid adding salt. I have corrected the salt level, with two bags of salt, and set the SWCG to 40%; it appears to be doing its job again. I tested the chlorine level this morning and it appears to have increased to around 3 ppm.

My question is, “Where should I begin?”

I‘ve read my TA is fine for my setup and the phosphates are fine; correct? How about the other levels? How should I proceed?

I’m trying not to mess this up by throwing a bunch of chemicals at it all at once. I’d like to take an educated and methodical approach and get it right. Thanks in advance.

 

[Texas Splash]

Other than ensuing the FC is reading healthy (3-5 ppm for now) don't do much of anything else right now. Supplement with regular bleach if needed. Wait until your K-2006 arrives. You did the right thing ordering it. You'll be surprised how different your tests can be compared to careless pool store testing.

You can ignore phosphates, and oh, take the tabs out of the skimmer. Never leave in a skimmer. Best to use a floater.

 

[Richard320]

What he said! ^^^

A couple weeks of self-testing and dosing per poolmath and a light bub will go off and suddenly it will all make sense. After that it's super easy to maintain the chemistry. If you're starting now, probably by 4th of July you'll have things dialed in so well that you can predict your readings with amazing accuracy before drop one comes out of a bottle.

I knew a guy who liked to take care of his pool because he found it relaxing. But he hired a pool service to do the chemicals, because that was the hard part. I laughed. Pool chemistry takes maybe ten minutes a week, total. Ten minutes won't see half my pool brushed. Ten minutes is hardly enough time to drag out the vacuum and get it hooked up and working. I've never had to reach for the Motrin after testing chemistry, either.

You're gonna love it.

 

[Piperca]

Thank you! I’m looking forward to it, to be honest.

Since this COVID thing started, it has allowed me to be home when the pool guy arrived. In the 5 weeks I’ve been able to monitor his work, he’s never spent more than 5 minutes in my yard and has never picked up a pool brush. Fortunately, I’ve been brushing every weekend since the build and hand skimming/emptying the basket. His idea of maintenance was to check chlorine/pH, turn the pump onto quick clean and leave.

I‘ll follow your advice and leave things as-is until the test kit arrives ... thanks again!

 

[IceShadow]

If the pool store test is accurate (and who knows if it is), the FC is really low. You might want to use some liquid chlorine to bump that up until the kit arrives.

 

[Piperca]

Update:

I received the Taylor kit and here are the results:

FC: 2.0
CC: 0
pH: 7.6
TA: 80
CH: 220
CYA: 30

I turned the SWCG up from 20% to 40% and will retest in a couple of days.

What, if any, action should I take for now?

 

[Mdragger88]

FC/CYA Levels
Add lc now to get to target 4-6. Next I would run oclt Overnight Chlorine Loss TestYou’re fc is low & stabilizer is way low for swg pool. Is your water clear? If so you’ve been lucky - the swg needs higher cya to protect your fc from the sun as it produces slowly. They’re not designed to make up for large chlorine demand. You’re on the cusp of issues with the recipe you were on - glad u came to tfp when u did! If you’re oclt is good & you’re water is clear then u should proceed with adding 1/2 the required amount of stabilizer via the sock method & test cya again in several days - if you fail oclt or water is cloudy/slimy or has visible algae u must slam SLAM Process

 

[Piperca]

The pool is crystal clear. The FC level was around 4-5 ppm a couple of days ago, so I turned the SWCG down from 40% to 20%. I checked it this morning for the first time and got the 2.0 ppm. I think the drop was completely my fault, trying to tune in the SWCG. How do I determine liquid chlorine amount to add? Ignore that comment, I noticed the app calculates for you. Thanks. (Typical noob!)

 

[Mdragger88]

I’d definitely turn it back up. In the poolmath app (effects of adding) u can put in your swg & it will tell u how much/often to run etc based on your needs - likely 3ppm / day to start

 

[YippeeSkippy]

How many hours per day are you running your pump? If you find you're getting too much FC, just decrease the pump hours a few and not only will you save electricity but you'll make a bit less FC.

Maddie

 

[Richard320]

Those are pretty respectable numbers.

Good job on raising SWG%. You ought to think about raising the CYA as well, because as things warm up and the days get longer you'll lose more FC to sunlight.

Just so you know when you're dialing things in, you can swim up to shock level with no problem. So if you target 70 CYA and discover your FC is 20, it's no reason to keep people out. Just dial it back.

 

[Mdragger88]

I like to run mine a little high so i know i have a buffer. You’ll get it figured out before u know it.

 

[Piperca]

I adjusted CYA today. I started with half the dose and will add the remainder at the weekend.

I currently have the pump set to 6 hours at 2250 rpm (47 gallons per minute). The calculator advised 4.75 hours at 40% would be sufficient, so I think I’m on track.

Thank you all for your input, its really appreciated.

 

[Piperca]

Update:

Here are today’s numbers:

FC=3
CC=0
pH=7.7
Alk=80
CYA=75
CH=220

I haven’t adjusted the SWCG. It’s still running at 40%.

Water is crystal clear ... I‘m very happy with the outcome. Much easier than I thought. Thanks to all who contributed their knowledge, it’s very appreciated!

 

[Mdragger88]

Update:

Here are today’s numbers:

FC=3
CC=0
pH=7.7
Alk=80
CYA=75
CH=220

I haven’t adjusted the SWCG. It’s still running at 40%.

Water is crystal clear ... I‘m very happy with the outcome. Much easier than I thought. Thanks to all who contributed their knowledge, it’s very appreciated!

I would turn it up a little. Target for your cya is 6 . 4 is the minimum. Refer toFC/CYA Levels
Your cya is 80 - you always round up - no in betweens

 

[Piperca]

Should I adjust with liquid or just crank up the SWCG?

 

[Mdragger88]

Add liquid chlorine to reach target & then see if it maintains the target- if not turn it up a little & add lc to compensate in the meantime. I’d rather be a little over than be under & risk things growing. Swg’s are meant to maintain your chlorine level not make up for any significant demand. Example- if u have a high bather load/party supplement with a little lc before & then after

 

[Piperca]

Okay, added liquid chlorine early this morning. A recent test has the chlorine at 6.2. pH rose to 8.0, so I dosed the pool with Muriatic acid. I’ll test again tomorrow morning to see where the pH/alkalinity are.

 

[Mdragger88]

??Test your fc daily for a while to get a feel for what the swg does & how to adjust. If it cannot maintain a fc of 6 it needs to go up - you can either adjust the percentage or the run time . The same with daily testing of ph & alk while u r adjusting. When you get to the correct ta for your pool you’ll know because your ph will stabilize & not rise so quickly . To adjust alk you let ph rise to about 8 & then lower to 7.2 with Muriatic acid then aerate back to up to normal levels. The big drop seems to help move alk. Your alk will likely find its happy place soon with just your normal ph adjustments My pool is happy & ph is stable with alk @ 60 but i also have a vinyl liner & the csi is not a huge thing for me. On PoolMath app u can track CSI
after you get these things figured out you can get by with every few days or so with the ph & chlorine tests . The cya shouldn’t change much unless you displace water Same with ch , so monthly for those tests unless of course u make additions.
all this info is inABCs of Pool Water Chemistry &Pool School - Trouble Free Pool Happy reading , Enjoy your pool ? & the holiday weekend!

 

[Piperca]

Tested this morning.

FC=5
pH=7.7
Alk=80

Thanks for all the info, Mdragger88, I’ll take your advice and monitor closely.

Have a wonderful weekend!