Need advice about TA in new pool

[jstonemo]

I am a new pool owner with a 24' AG 52" deep Delair pool. It has been up for a little over a month. This site has been my guide to keeping the water clean and clear using the the bleach method. However, I have a question about TA and pH.

I tested my water with the Taylor K2006 kit. My results were:

FC: 3.5
CC: 0
CYA: 20-30 (the black dot just started to disappear when the tube was filled to the top)
pH: 7.2 (been at this level since opened)
TA: 60
Calcium: Didn't test for that yet.
Temps have been bouncing from 74 to 95 degrees depending on weather.

Should I bother to adjust the TA and the pH? It has been rock steady for the month that we have had it up and I don't want to upset it if I don't really need to.

[chem geek]

Do you have a vinyl pool or a plaster one with grout? Since you implied that you will be testing for calcium at some point, it sounds like you may have a plaster pool, is that right? Oh wait, you said "AG" as in above ground, right? That must be vinyl, correct?

Richard

[jstonemo]

It is vinyl. I didn't test for hardness because it is a vinyl pool. I will do it if someone here thinks it would be important to know the numbers.

[chem geek]

It is vinyl. I didn't test for hardness because it is a vinyl pool. I will do it if someone here thinks it would be important to know the numbers.
Nope, it's not important. So long as the water isn't touching any plaster or grout, you not only don't need calcium, but you can stay with the alkalinity and pH that you are at now. If you find that your pH swings more than you want from the addition of chlorine, you can always bump up your TA a little (perhaps to 80). If you wanted to go higher than that in TA, you may need to set your pH target higher as well. As it is for now, if you're happy and the pool's happy, enjoy!

Just be sure to keep your chlorine at the minimum levels recommended by Ben's Best Guess CYA chart (http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=365) which it looks like you are doing.

Richard

[traceyb]

I am dealing with guidance from an INground pool dealer for my 30' AG. As I read these posts I assume to think hardness is not an issue with ag vinyl lined pools????? She is taking baby steps w/ me to get my water to"level". I started out w/ 6 lb of stabilizer and added some smart sticks. From there I was told to add baking soda till she tested my TA to be about 110. We shocked w/ one lb of burn out extreme, then she sold me a 23$ bucket of baquacil brand calcium hardner stuff to increase water hardness.( she said we have too soft of water around here) From here I will take another sample in on thursday (6 days from now) and go from there. She'll probably tell me to put in the algaecide (cause that's the one thing so far I have NOT been told to add) and to keep my sticks going. The pump stays on 24/7 to make me feel better about the clarity of the water. What do you guys think about this hardness increaser. I have a 16lb bucket and am adding 4lb @ a.m and p.m. per day.
:confused:
So far I have felt confident in her suggestions, especially cause she saved me hundreds of dollars from my pool purchase place who wanted to sell me tons of bioguard chem's based on my initial "fill" testing that they did. I felt as if they were trying to make their $$ off me by having me dump over 100 lbs of chemicals in at one time?????????????????????????????

[Watermom]

You are right, you don't need the calcium hardness increaser in a vinyl pool. It sounds like you are doing a bunch of stuff that isn't necessary. I would not put in the algaecide until we know what it is. There are a lot of algaecides out there that make your water foamy, add copper, etc. that we don't like to use. What are smart sticks?

Post current water testing results taken with a drops based kit and let somebody here take a look at them for better advice. Most of us use the kit Ben sells at his www.poolsolutions.com website, but at the very least buy the 5-way drops based kit at Walmart for about $15 and test yourself.

Post back with results before you add anything else.

[aylad]

I believe that smart stix are a different shape of trichlor pucks...

Wouldn't be a bad idea to get a current CYA and pH level.

Janet

[traceyb]

On July 28th my readings were as follows/

The FC----1.2
The ph---7.4
The TA---110

Smart Sticks are a form of trichlor...made by bioguard. The calcium hardner is done/ I won't buy it again though considering she is an nground pool operator and the one in my backyard is an AG vinyl lined.
I don't know where to go from here ........my water looks marvelous, I just want to keep it that way. I was wondering about the algaecide. It's bioguard step 3. It's active ingredients are

Alkyls and dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride. It says its a once a week application. I have had water in my pool now for 9 days and so far it is nice nice nice. So any suggestions ??? Thanks

[Watermom]

You don't need an algaecide and sometimes adding them makes your pool a foamy mess. Also, can you give us your cya reading? Is this a newly filled pool?

[traceyb]

yes, it is brand newly filled. What is the cya????? I have 6 way and 4 way strips but the lady who has been helping me uses drops. She'll test again this thursday and we'll see what she has me add...???? I'll consult here before I buy/add anything. if you look on the thread on backfilling an AG pool....my pool photo is on there.
So when do I need to add algaecide??? Only if we see algae????

[traceyb]

Ok, I figured it out I think. The cya level determines the amount of stabilzer right? If so, I used my 6 way test strips and the stabilizer was around 50 ppm. It is a 22,900 gallon AG pool.
The total hardness was ok as well as the TC,FC,ph<and TA.
I guess the hardness reads well due to the fact that I added 16lb of harness increaser over a period of 3 days. I guess it's something I didn't necessarily need to do, but it's already done. OOOPS>
So, maybe I can get some guidance from here.

[aylad]

The test strips have been known to be less than accurate--I would highly encourage you to get a drop-based kit. Most of us use the one Ben sells on this site--it will accurately test for most everything you'll ever need. As a starter, you can always go to WalMart and start with the $15 5-way kit.

If your stabilizer is around 50 ppm, then stop using the smart stix...you don't need CYA any higher than that. I would switch to exclusively bleach at this point, to keep the CYA from going any higher. What is your hardness level?

You can get plenty of guidance you need from here, but you need to post specific levels for TC, FC, pH, TA, and CYA-- "ok" doesn't give us enough to go on.

As far as algaecide goes, if you have a properly chlorinated pool, you don't need algaecide. It can actually create a lot more problems for you than it'll fix. I've never put algaecide in my pool, and if I were smart enough to figure out how to post a pic :p , I would show you that it's crystal clear all the time. Some of the other veterans (and I believe my 3 co-mods) put algaecide in theirs only at closing--and even then, the only thing recommended around this forum is Polyquat 60. For now, save the money on the algaecide, properly chlorinate your pool, and you won't have algae problems.



Janet

[traceyb]

The hardness is 250
the TC is 1
the ph is 7.2
the TA is 40
the sabilizer is 50.
This is using a test strip. I WILL indeed grab a drops kit soon, but I would rather buy a good one. How much are they online and where do I go to buy one? Sorry, for an ASAP reading, this is what I can give you. Water looks very very beautiful and clear. I have been keeping the smart sticks going though.
Do you still think I need to add bleach? If so how much? I will hold off on the algaecide.......thanks for your help .......it really is appreciated.

[duraleigh]

Tracy,

reread Janet's advice to you...she answers your questions. download bleachcalc to tell you how much bleach to add.

[traceyb]

janet

Just Wondering? When You Say Stop Using The Trichlor Smart Sticks And Use Bleach Instead, What Is The Difference In Performance If They Are The Same Thing???? You Mentioned That I Didn't Want To Get My Cya Any Higher. Can You Please Explain So I'll Understand The Chemical Logic ( For Future Use). I Really Want To Go Bbb Cause In Reading On Pool Solutions, It's Seems Relatively Simple Especially If You Totally Understand It Like You Guys Do. I Can Take My Smart Sticks And Algaecide W/ Copper In It Along With My Smart Sticks Back And Just Exchange Them For A Bunch Of Stabilizer If Need Be. I Just Have Alot Of Smart Sticks Now, Thats Why I Was Wondering How Those Would Raise The Cya But Bleach Wont? Is It Because The Sticks Are Constantly In The Skimmer Basket???? Help