new to the forum

[Enterline]

Anxious to learn more about proper pool care.

[Watermom]

Then you have come to the right place! Do a lot of reading on the forum, especially the stickied threads at the top of many of the subforums. Also read over at www.poolsolutions.com. (Until your membership is upgraded, you'll have to log out first to be able to see the rest of the forum.)

Do you have a good test kit? If not, do yourself a favor and get one. The one we recommend is the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C which you can get through the test kit link in my signature below.

Tell us about your pool and equipment?

Did you have any questions you needed help with?

Hope you find the forum helpful!

[PoolDoc]

membership upgraded.

[Enterline]

Thank you!

I have a Taylor 2006-C kit. Pool is 20,000 gallons, ~7 years old, gunite, sat for 2 years filled, not maintained (house was foreclosed) before we purchased 4 years ago. Our second pool. Needs a resurface soon, lot of pitting in the plaster. Stay rite system 3 filter, two 2HP pumps, one for pool, one for jacuzzi.

Was using 3" tablets, but the CYA went through the roof. Reading some info on the forum, now switched to liquid bleach.

My current #s:
PH 7.2
FC 2.0
CC 1.4
CYA 75!
Alkalinity 130
Calcium 250

Questions?
1. How overall are the #s? I've read in the kit, the preferred, but curious as to what you all may have to say.
2. How many x/week to check the chemicals? Is it preferred to always check ALL the above?

Thanks much in advance for any advice!

[Watermom]

The first thing that I notice is that your chlorine level is too low for a CYA reading of 75. Please read the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below for the connection between CYA and needed chlorine levels.

Your pH is ok at 7.2 but if it goes any lower, you'll want to add some 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at Walmart).

You should check chlorine and pH daily, alk and calcium every couple of weeks. CYA doesn't need to be checked very often at all unless you use a product that is stabilized (which means that is has CYA in it). And, with a CYA of 75, you don't want to add more.

Hope this helps.

[Themadczar]

To add to what Watermom said, your pool is probably not sanitized right now... This is further evidenced by the high cc results. It appears you need to get your pool to shock level for your cya measurement right away.

[Watermom]

Good catch. For some reason, that cc reading did not pop out at me. The madczar is right. You do need to shock your pool per the Best Guess Chlorine Chart.

[Enterline]

Thank you all, working on it now. Will get back with my data. I'm sure I'll have more questions along the way. Thanks again!!!

[Enterline]

OK, back at it, update: FC is now at 10, which, according to the chart is much better considering the CYA of 75. CC is down to .5.

PH is somewhere between 7.0 and 7.2, can't decide which, but on the low side. How much borax is good to start with, 20K gal pool? Suggestions?

Thank you!

[Themadczar]

My thought is to aerate the pool and raise the ph though co2 outgassing... Ta is already 130 and adding borax will increase it further. JMHO.

[Watermom]

Borax won't increase the TA. If you use soda ash, it will increase pH and alk but Borax won't. That is why we recommend using it to raise pH instead of soda ash.

You can try and aerate to bring the pH up or you could add a little Borax. I'd probably do a couple of cups to start with. Then, wait a few hours and retest and redose as needed til you get the pH where you want it.

[Themadczar]

Oops. I stand corrected.