Switching to BBB. What do I do with these numbers?

[thewayne]

Hello. I have a 29' round AG vinyl liner with 52" walls, which I believe keeps a depth around 48" or so. The lady that sold it to me said it was 20,000 gallons but by my calculations it is more like 24,000. Oh and I have a sand filter, if that matters.

I used an HTH 6 way test kit to get these numbers.

TH 500
TA 120
CYA >100
ph 7.2
Chl 0.5


For some reason the pool store had me add stabalizer when opening in May and had me keep triclor tabs in constantly. Which I have stopped using and am switching to BBB.

I would prefer not to drain the pool to bring the cya down, but what can I do.

I plan on ordering the kit spoken of so much here but for now this is all I have.

[duraleigh]

Wayne,

Your pool is pretty close to 20,000 gal.

Without draining, you'll need to live with that high CYA by maintaining a high level of Cl.....about 8-15ppm.

I suggest 4 gal of 6% clorox immediately. You have virtually no protection from organics in the pool and you need to get some in there.

You can no longer use pucks and your CH is too high for Cal Hypo so Clorox is your only alternative this Summer. Just keep it at those levels....you wont consume any more than anyone else...you just need to keep it at higher ppm's 'til that stabilizer is lowered. Lowered by partial draining or wait 'til next Spring....your call.

That test kit will work out fine except you won't be able to test accurately for those high Cl levels. Ben's kit will do all that and more for you.

[CarlD]

29' round with a water depth of 4' is 19,763 gallons.

The pool store saleslady is correct---about 20,000 gallons.

[thewayne]

Wayne,

Your pool is pretty close to 20,000 gal.

Without draining, you'll need to live with that high CYA by maintaining a high level of Cl.....about 8-15ppm.

I suggest 4 gal of 6% clorox immediately. You have virtually no protection from organics in the pool and you need to get some in there.

You can no longer use pucks and your CH is too high for Cal Hypo so Clorox is your only alternative this Summer. Just keep it at those levels....you wont consume any more than anyone else...you just need to keep it at higher ppm's 'til that stabilizer is lowered. Lowered by partial draining or wait 'til next Spring....your call.

That test kit will work out fine except you won't be able to test accurately for those high Cl levels. Ben's kit will do all that and more for you.


I put just over 4 gallons in last night, (3 - 1.42 gal jugs) and the water looks better today then it has since I open it at the end of April.

How much bleach should I expect to put in each night or week?

Thanks for the help.

[duraleigh]

Wayne,

You must test before you add ('til you figure out how much Cl you're consuming).

If your water is not yet as sparkling as you'd like, Test and add enough to get you back up to the 25ppm range.

Once your water is fine, test and then add enough Cl to stay within an 8-5 range. You'll probably add quite a bit for the first couple of days, then your Cl consumption will drop off as you no longer have to kill so many "bugs"

[thewayne]

My numbers this evening are as follows.

Cl 0.5
ph 7.2
TA 130
CYA >100
CH 500


This is after pouring in 4.26 gal of 6% bleach last night.

Do I need to just keep adding bleach 4 or more gallons at a time? And how long do I wait before I can get an accurate test?

[duraleigh]

Do I need to just keep adding bleach 4 or more gallons at a time?

You must test before you add ('til you figure out how much Cl you're consuming).

If your water is not yet as sparkling as you'd like, Test and add enough to get you back up to the 25ppm range.


And how long do I wait before I can get an accurate test?
I don't understand this question...please clarify.

[aylad]

I think what he means is how long must he wait after adding the bleach before he gets accurate levels? I'd say to add it, wait about an hour for it to thoroughly circulate, then re-test.

Janet

[rollinrock]

DURALEIGH

Are you referering to FC or TC?

[Watermom]

He is referring to FC.

[thewayne]

I think what he means is how long must he wait after adding the bleach before he gets accurate levels? I'd say to add it, wait about an hour for it to thoroughly circulate, then re-test.

Janet


Yes this is what I was referring to.

I added an additional 3 gallons last night, tested about 3 hours later and it was up to about 2. My test kit will not test FC and CC, just what it calls Chlorine.

[aylad]

If it will only test for Chlorine, then it's testing for total.

Janet

[gonefishin]

For some reason the pool store had me add stabalizer when opening in May and had me keep triclor tabs in constantly. Which I have stopped using and am switching to BBB.

I would prefer not to drain the pool to bring the cya down, but what can I do.

I plan on ordering the kit spoken of so much here but for now this is all I have.


Hi thewayne :)

You mentioned that your CYA is over 100 and that you would prefer not to drain it.

Why not drain it?

I know this may seem to be a drastic measure...but it may end up being far less of a headache to drain it now...than to battle problems throughout the year. Not to mention the savings in chemicals.

just a thought


dan

[thewayne]

Hi thewayne :)

You mentioned that your CYA is over 100 and that you would prefer not to drain it.

Why not drain it?

I know this may seem to be a drastic measure...but it may end up being far less of a headache to drain it now...than to battle problems throughout the year. Not to mention the savings in chemicals.

just a thought


dan


Yes, I have been mulling this over all day. It seems like It needs 4 gallons a day to keep the chlorine up at 3 or so.

[duraleigh]

Yes, I have been mulling this over all day. It seems like It needs 4 gallons a day to keep the chlorine up at 3 or so.Wayne, you're missing something basic. How does your water look? If it looks great to you, you don't have to add back to 25ppm each evening.
from an earlier post:

If your water is not yet as sparkling as you'd like, Test and add enough to get you back up to the 25ppm range.

Once your water is fine, test and then add enough Cl to stay within an 8-5 range. You'll probably add quite a bit for the first couple of days, then your Cl consumption will drop off as you no longer have to kill so many "bugs"Post back with questions....your last post indicates you do not have an understanding of the shock process you're going through.

[thewayne]

Let me be the first to admit that I am still trying to learn the pool thing. Our pool was installed last July, and I just followed the directions of the pool store last year. However this year there was a new guy working there and nothing he had me do worked with my pool. So I started to search the net to learn to do it myself and I found this site last Friday.

The water looks really good now. But everyday when I test my chlorine it is near 0. I add 3 jugs of bleach at 1.42 gallons each, check the chlorine a couple of hours later and it is up to 3 or 4.

I am not sure if I need to continue doing this everyday or not. The pool store had me adding 4 pounds of shock once a week. So I dont know when to shock or just add a little chlorine.

[duraleigh]

Wayne,

The short answer is, if you are still consuming Cl, you need to add large amounts of Cl until that stops.

Chlorine is consumed by two things, the Sun and organics in the water. You are losing little to the Sun (but some) so the majority of your Cl is used up killing the "bugs".

Try this as a regimen:
At dusk, test your water for Cl and add enough to get you to 25ppm . If your Cl is ZERO when you test, that's 8+ gallons of bleach....not three jugs.
(sounds like you are in desperate need of a good test kit....buy Ben's)
Then test your water again the next AM before the Sun hits it hard. Whatever the difference is between the two tests is how much Cl you've lost killing stuff in your pool....that's good.

You need to maintain this regimen each day until your pools uses virtually no Cl overnite. That'll indicate all the bugs are outa' there and you will begin consuming far less Cl. (it sounds like you're pretty close to that point)

Once you stop consuming Cl overnite, as I said earlier, let your Cl drift down naturally to about 8ppm and then add back enough to get it up to around 15. Maintain between those 2 levels for the rest of the Summer. Please post back with questions. It is essential you understand this process in order to maintain a sparkling pool.:)

PS - you don't need "shock". You are already shocking your pool when you raise Cl levels to 25ppm.