Crystal clear water but all figures a bit off.

[Guido]

Hi everybody just starting with my first season with my, last fall finished, 22K IG plaster pool. Cartridge filter and SWG. We opened 6 weeks ago and the water went from very cloudy with in 1 week to crystal clear. With the SWG came the first set of Salt which I added after the temperature stayed at around 64. The builder added balancing packs into the pool to get my CYA and TA up and I’m constantly adding acid to keep the PH down. My TC was at around 6 with the SWG setting at 20%. Last night when I started the pump I switched without noticing it the SWG to boost and was running 18 hours. (Just got back from work).

Here are my figures from today. Measured with Taylor kit. (PS234s ordered)

Temp water=71
Temp outside=74
CYA=70
TC=15
FC=15
PH=7.3
TA=150

Beside the ph everything looks to me off scale but my water is crystal clear.
What should I do from here? I tried to find similar posts here but I was not able to.

Any hint were to look or what to do is highly appreciated.

Guido

[CarlD]

Hi everybody just starting with my first season with my, last fall finished, 22K IG plaster pool. Cartridge filter and SWG. We opened 6 weeks ago and the water went from very cloudy with in 1 week to crystal clear. With the SWG came the first set of Salt which I added after the temperature stayed at around 64. The builder added balancing packs into the pool to get my CYA and TA up and I’m constantly adding acid to keep the PH down. My TC was at around 6 with the SWG setting at 20%. Last night when I started the pump I switched without noticing it the SWG to boost and was running 18 hours. (Just got back from work).

Here are my figures from today. Measured with Taylor kit. (PS234s ordered)

Temp water=71
Temp outside=74
CYA=70
TC=15
FC=15
PH=7.3
TA=150

Beside the ph everything looks to me off scale but my water is crystal clear.
What should I do from here? I tried to find similar posts here but I was not able to.

Any hint were to look or what to do is highly appreciated.

Guido

OK, your numbers aren't as bad as you think. You CYA is VERY high, but with FC=15, your water is nearly at shock level. That's OK. CYA of 70 means your need to follow Ben's Best Guess Table for FC levels. I believe 6-10 FC is best, and 20 to shock. Still, all FC of 15 will do with a CYA of 70 is fade a few bathing suits--nothing to worry about. You can ABSOLUTELY swim in in safely. I'll bet it doesn't smell like chlorine either! From now on, do NOT use any CYA raiser, or Di-Chlor powder, or Tri-Chlor pucks. They will raise CYA and you have MORE than enough. They will lower pH and 7.3 is the bottom of normal anyway.

Your Total Alkalinity is too high for a concrete pool. Were it vinyl, I'd say you're FINE. But 150 is pushing your luck a little on concrete--it's probably OK, but it could cause some scaling. But with pH of 7.3 it won't take much to get it down. Just follow the procedure in the Alkalinity forum and get it to 130 or less.

You didn't list Calcium.. in Your pool you should aim for 200-400ppm. Less will leech calcium from your pool walls, more will cause scaling, ESPECIALLY if your T/A is too high.

But, as I said, overall you are in GOOD shape and in no danger of an algae bloom---as long as the ##s are accurate.

[Guido]

Thx a lot Carl,

My Calcium is at 250 and was always in the same area. I will start today to bring my TA down. I noticed yesterday that I have some scaling at the transition from the sidewalls to the floor. Since the Balancing packs 6 weeks ago and the salt I did not add anything else in the pool then acid. My PH is going up by .5 a day.
Should I leave my SWG out for a wile and let the CL come down to 6 again? Or should I first get the rest in line and then let the CL come down?

Again thx a lot I would not be able to live without a pool store without this forum.

Guido

[CarlD]

Check your SWG--they frequently drive pH up.

[Guido]

I was planning of starting the TA lowering process without the SWG as I was under the impression with a new plaster pool the PH fluctuate in the first year a lot so I don't want to raise the PH with the SWG as well. I would monitor the CL so I can start the SWG if my CL gets out of control.
Does that sound good to you?
That brings me to a question about the process I don’t have spa jests so I would need to add water via the hose to force bubbles into the water? I was also thinking that, as I have a IG cleaning system, to release the pressure from the filter and then start the pump again which always results in a big bubble bath from the floor upwards.
Can that damage my pump or filter if I do it to many times in a row?
I just don’t know how much aerating it take s the lower the TA.
Guido

[Guido]

Ok I admit that was a stupid idea.

I brought my PH down to arround 7 the lowest I can see on my test kit. And I started aerating with a nozzle. I also used the power washer when I cleaned my deck. That works very good. I got my TA down to around 120 on Saturday and it went back up to 130 Sunday. My PH went back up to 7.6 so I added last night more acid and will aerate today more.

Guido

[CarlD]

Ok I admit that was a stupid idea.

I brought my PH down to arround 7 the lowest I can see on my test kit. And I started aerating with a nozzle. I also used the power washer when I cleaned my deck. That works very good. I got my TA down to around 120 on Saturday and it went back up to 130 Sunday. My PH went back up to 7.6 so I added last night more acid and will aerate today more.

Guido

That's the way to do it. You rachet the T/A down, pH rises from aeration, then you rachet pH and T/A down again. You are on the right track. However, I would not be so drastic in aeration. Leaving your pool uncovered helps. Tossing in a half-dozen 10 year old boys will aerate very nicely. When I have to do it, I have a little sprayer that screws into my return, replacing the eyeball jet. It's about $20 and does the job beautifully.

I believe that you will need to add a lot of acid to your pool generally this year as the concrete/plaster cures. I don't know alot about SWGs--just some super-basic stuff. Normally, Tri-Chlor pucks are great for new concrete because they are acid, provided constant chlorine, and add needed CYA. But your CYA is almost too high.

I THINK you can use the SWG, and compensate with Muriatic Acid, but the pool guys will know better. With your PERFECT calcium levels, I'd avoid cal-hypo too. I suspect when T/A is below 125 and pH is around 7.5, your scaling will stop. But I'm speculating.

[Guido]

I will try to get TC at the level the best guess chart suggests at around 6 or 7 so I will be OK with my CYA and will see how the CYA will drop over the summer with backfilling and so on.
You mention a sprayer for the returns. Were can I get this type of things? I would like to have something similar as the 10 kinds from the street we live in, think the water is still to cold to swim.

[LostboyinVA]

Guido, Carl mentioned that your CYA level is high, but it is the level recommented for most SWG manufacurers. They also recommend being able to run a 2-4ppm CL level with that high of a CYA. I run my CYA lower then recommended, but have no issues with only a 2-3ppm CL level. The theory for this discrepency for the difference from Ben's best guess chart is the superchlorinating effects of the SWG cell. Also I'm going on the tail end of my first year with a SWG. Just keep adding acid as needed. I have to added about 1/2 a gallon twice a week to keep my PH level down in my 30000 gallon pool. Finally don't worry about the high CL level and the SWG. It will still eventually come down to the maintenance level set via the SWG. I would recommend not turning the SWG on and off, just find the correct level and leave it on.