Yes... here's another newbie with a pool

Jump to latest Follow Reply
JBrooks

JBrooks

Member
Jun 12, 2021
17
Orlando, FL
Hello world! We just had our IG pool built and it was being maintained for the first 4 weeks by the pool builder. They just added the salt last Friday (June 11) and told me I was on my own unless I wanted to pay for pool service (which I must admit it crossed my mind). However a neighbor down the street had a bad experience with a different pool service company that resulted in staining, so I figure I'll try my hand at doing it myself. I've never owned a pool before, but I've been reading a lot on these forums for several months so I almost know enough to be dangerous.

I just got the pool test kit in the mail today. Here are the results:

FC - 0.4
CC - 2.4
pH - 7.8
TA - 100
CH - 325
CYA - 60

Presently the pump is running 12 hours a day (8am -8pm) at 2750 RPM, with the SWG cell running at 100%.

When I tested FC, adding the DPD powder didn't really change the color to pink.. it was a very, very light pink after adding about 6-7 scoops. So it's possible the FC is zero and the CC is off due to that anomaly. It looks like I definitely need to add chlorine to bring my FC up to 4. The TA is a bit high too, but I'm not sure it's high enough to change?

Based on the SWG chart for Chlorine/CYA, it looks like I also need to slightly raise my CYA to 70, as it doesn't recommend staying at 60 for some reason?

I haven't received the SWG test kit in the mail yet, but I'm fairly certain the salt level should be good since they just added it. I'll test it when it arrives in a few days.

I haven't added anything to pool yet because I'm paranoid and I don't want to mess something up haha.. does anyone have suggestions on where I should start?
 
Welcome to the forum!
Add chlorine now! I would target at least 6 ppm FC to allow for some wiggle room.
I am concerned that the FC tested at 0 as your SWCG is generating 5.1 ppm FC per day. Once you get your FC to 6ppm or so, I would suggest you do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
When you do your FC test, use 10 ml of water, one heaping scoop of R0870, and each drop of R0871 to clear is 0.5 ppm FC.
No need to mess with TA or CYA until you check the FC stability.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JBrooks
Make sure you are getting liquid chlorine. Here in Florida, I find the Pinch A Penny deal the best for $8 jug, then $5 refills on 2.5Gallons at 12%
JBrooks said:
Thanks for the help! I just had to drain off the pool a bit because we've been getting a ton of rain. Will do.. leaving right now.
Click to expand...
 
Dabrodas said:
Make sure you are getting liquid chlorine. Here in Florida, I find the Pinch A Penny deal the best for $8 jug, then $5 refills on 2.5Gallons at 12%
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I did! Apparently I only needed a gallon but I bought the 2.5 gallon size anyway. While I was there, I had them test my water to get a comparison. Some of their calculations were a little different than mine (they had a TA of 225). They didn't like my 7.8 PH and tried to sell me 3 gallons of acid but I told them I'd wait on that for now.

I just added the chlorine so I guess I'll retest tomorrow.

Is the general idea to add liquid chlorine to increase the FC and have the SWG just maintain the levels? I think one of the hardest parts will be trying to calculate and dial in the pump run time versus SWG percentage.
 
JBrooks said:
That's exactly what I did! Apparently I only needed a gallon but I bought the 2.5 gallon size anyway. While I was there, I had them test my water to get a comparison. Some of their calculations were a little different than mine (they had a TA of 225). They didn't like my 7.8 PH and tried to sell me 3 gallons of acid but I told them I'd wait on that for now.

I just added the chlorine so I guess I'll retest tomorrow.

Is the general idea to add liquid chlorine to increase the FC and have the SWG just maintain the levels? I think one of the hardest parts will be trying to calculate and dial in the pump run time versus SWG percentage.
Click to expand...
That’s what I’ve been learning and trying as well! I dumped 2.5 gallons in last Friday, got to 21FC and been trying to monitor pump run times and SWG % output from there. I’m holding at 15 with my 60% output and 8 hour run time it seems.

But we have gotten a lot of rain here in central Florida and not full sun the last few days.

we will learn it together! I have also been adding a cup or of muriatic acid every couple of weeks.

if I were you, I would test FC levels later tonight. Then test again in the AM. Make sure they are the same and passes the OCLT.
 
mknauss said:
Welcome to the forum!
Add chlorine now! I would target at least 6 ppm FC to allow for some wiggle room.
I am concerned that the FC tested at 0 as your SWCG is generating 5.1 ppm FC per day. Once you get your FC to 6ppm or so, I would suggest you do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
When you do your FC test, use 10 ml of water, one heaping scoop of R0870, and each drop of R0871 to clear is 0.5 ppm FC.
No need to mess with TA or CYA until you check the FC stability.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
Click to expand...
I added a gallon of liquid chlorine last night. The pool calculator suggested 67 oz but I added 128 oz because the pool store recommended 1.1 gallons.

I measured FC this morning using 10 ml of water and again the water only turned a very, very light pink and one drop made it clear, so my guess is I'm still less than 0.5 ppm. The pump was running for about 3 hours after I added chlorine (SWG was still running at 100%). Do I need to have the pump run longer before I retest? Or should I add more chlorine now?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
mknauss said:
Something is not right. Go over your testing protocol.
Click to expand...
Last night I added another 1.5 gallons of liquid chlorine. After 2 hours of running the pump, I measured FC of 9 at sunset. This morning I woke up and started the pump, then measured 30 minutes later as the sun was coming up and I measured FC of 1. Do you recommend a SLAM?

I attached some pics of the water. The finish is wet edge midnight signature matrix but I think they didn't acid wash well enough to remove all the bluish-green bonding agent that holds it all together. This may make it more challenging to see anything going on in the water, but it looks clear. We're looking to replace those white drain covers with black. The pool builder was supposed to do it, but they're back-ordered.
 

Attachments

  • 20210617_192402.jpg
    20210617_192402.jpg
    435.6 KB · Views: 36
  • 20210618_091440.jpg
    20210618_091440.jpg
    936.9 KB · Views: 36
JBrooks said:
Last night I added another 1.5 gallons of liquid chlorine. After 2 hours of running the pump, I measured FC of 9 at sunset. This morning I woke up and started the pump, then measured 30 minutes later as the sun was coming up and I measured FC of 1. Do you recommend a SLAM?

I attached some pics of the water. The finish is wet edge midnight signature matrix but I think they didn't acid wash well enough to remove all the bluish-green bonding agent that holds it all together. This may make it more challenging to see anything going on in the water, but it looks clear. We're looking to replace those white drain covers with black. The pool builder was supposed to do it, but they're back-ordered.
Click to expand...

Something is consuming your FC. Did you measure CC this morning?

I'd think a SLAM would be a good next step until you pass the OCLT.
 
I agree with LoneWolf that something is eating your chlorine. But using SLAM level FC so early in the plaster life is not the best. I would ask the pool builder for why you now have algae and the pool will not hold FC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LoneWolfArcher
LoneWolfArcher said:
Something is consuming your FC. Did you measure CC this morning?

I'd think a SLAM would be a good next step until you pass the OCLT.
Click to expand...
Yes I measured CC this morning and it's zero. Adding the 5 drops didn't turn the water pink at all.

I'll talk to the pool builder. I have no idea what they were putting into it for the first 4 weeks. One day I called them because the water was really cloudy. They came out the next day and treated it with something that made it clear again almost immediately. I think it was a powder of some sort because I didn't see any jugs of liquid chlorine.

I know they just added several bags of salt 1 week ago and I measured 3200 ppm this morning.
 
JBrooks said:
Yes I measured CC this morning and it's zero. Adding the 5 drops didn't turn the water pink at all.

I'll talk to the pool builder. I have no idea what they were putting into it for the first 4 weeks. One day I called them because the water was really cloudy. They came out the next day and treated it with something that made it clear again almost immediately. I think it was a powder of some sort because I didn't see any jugs of liquid chlorine.

I know they just added several bags of salt 1 week ago and I measured 3200 ppm this morning.
Click to expand...
It wasn't clarifier or flocculant was it?
 
Have you tested your salt level lately? First to check that the PB added enough, and secondly because you get so much rain and need to drop some water levels at time and lose some salt then.

Not enough salt = not enough or no chlorine made.

Maddie :flower:
 
Well a few days later and no reply from my PB yet. It may be a moot point now because it seemed to have worked itself out. I was measuring around 0-1 FC for several days, even after adding 2.5 gallons of liquid chlorine. I added another 1.5 gallons of liquid chlorine then let it sit overnight. The next day I measured 10 FC and it's held for 3 days now. I have no explanation as to why this happened - my guess is it's something the PB added? Here's what I measured this morning:

FC - 10
CC - 0
pH - 8.0
TA - 100
CH - 300
CYA - 35

The pool calculator says I need to reduce the PH to ~7.2 with acid, which will also lower the TA, then I can raise the PH by aerating. CYA may also have to be raised?
 
Your CYA looks fine at 35.

Adjust the pH and the TA will be fine. TA will follow pH over time. I'd use half of what pool calc says (Muriatic Acid) and then retest in a couple of hours. It is easier to add more to lower further, than to have it go to low then have to start trying the other direction.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JBrooks
Is there any chance that there was ammonia in the water? The OP mentioned that the PB added something that cleared up the pool very quickly - could it have been some proprietary schlop that resulted in the presence of ammonia? I note that the original CYA was 60 ppm but a subsequent post noted that CYA was at 35. Fairly big CYA drop, no? And ammonia consumes CYA if I understand correctly.



m.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply