Water_man
05-28-2008, 01:11 PM
Hi all
It’s been almost two weeks now that I’ve been using what I learned here, including having meaningful
data of water testing (Taylor K-2006) and not just meaningless OTO and inaccurate strip tests as it was done in the past.
Unlike the “good old days”, when the “stabilized chlorine” tabs and the weekly 5 – 10 ppm shocking were assumed to be doing the job, now I know exactly what goes in and what’s going on inside.
I just wonder if my daily consumption of FC (see below) is normal. Once I know what to expect I will check FC every other day and I’m not planning to post another question on this topic unless something unusual happens.
Here’s the “chlorine history” of my pool.
I opened a “green pool” on Friday, May 16. This will be assigned as “Day 1” in the table below.
I shocked with bleach to 20 ppm. CYA pool store reading was 56. On Day 6 my Taylor kit arrived and I measured CYA 60.
On Day 3 I did another 20 ppm shocking with Ca Hypo. I chose it because the sinking granules took care of the brown spots on the stairs (an advice from another New Englander who also opened a “swamp”.)
Day 1’s pH of 7.9 was gradually adjusted to 7.5. CH was gradually adjusted from 170 to 230.
between day 6 and 9.
Alk was tested 140 solid between Day 6 and 9.
Here’s a table of the FC levels. CC has always been < 0.5 , although it hasn’t been zero.
I’ve been using Chem Geek’s table for maintaining a minimum FC of 5 and targeted 6.8 , according to my CYA 60 level. The amounts of added 6% bleach and Ca- Hypo were calculated using the Pool Calculator.
The “Treatment” in the table refers to treatment applied following the water testing.
Day # ... FC ....Treatment ...................Notes
1......................... 20 ppm bleach............ Green pool
3......................... 20 ppm cal hypo..........No green present.
6 ............7.5....... 1 lb dry acid................ Pool almost 100% clear
7............ 7 ...........1 lb dry acid................ Pool 100% clear
8 ............5........... 8 Oz Ca Hypo
9 ............5
10 ..........? ............8 Oz Ca Hypo ............Solar cover installed. Heater on.
11.......... 5.5........ 84 Oz bleach
12........... 6
13........... 4 ..........1 Gal 2 Oz bleach
So, if my CYA is definitely not low, and the CC present is always <0.5 why am I losing FC, and is the lose rate reasonable?
As an ex- user of the traditional stabilized chlorine method, I can’t escape comparing the chlorine utilization then and now.
When I used that method during the last two seasons, two 3” "stabilized chlorine" tabs lasted for about 4-5 days and the elusive “total chlorine” OTO test showed a consistent 2-3 ppm level.
It’s been almost two weeks now that I’ve been using what I learned here, including having meaningful
data of water testing (Taylor K-2006) and not just meaningless OTO and inaccurate strip tests as it was done in the past.
Unlike the “good old days”, when the “stabilized chlorine” tabs and the weekly 5 – 10 ppm shocking were assumed to be doing the job, now I know exactly what goes in and what’s going on inside.
I just wonder if my daily consumption of FC (see below) is normal. Once I know what to expect I will check FC every other day and I’m not planning to post another question on this topic unless something unusual happens.
Here’s the “chlorine history” of my pool.
I opened a “green pool” on Friday, May 16. This will be assigned as “Day 1” in the table below.
I shocked with bleach to 20 ppm. CYA pool store reading was 56. On Day 6 my Taylor kit arrived and I measured CYA 60.
On Day 3 I did another 20 ppm shocking with Ca Hypo. I chose it because the sinking granules took care of the brown spots on the stairs (an advice from another New Englander who also opened a “swamp”.)
Day 1’s pH of 7.9 was gradually adjusted to 7.5. CH was gradually adjusted from 170 to 230.
between day 6 and 9.
Alk was tested 140 solid between Day 6 and 9.
Here’s a table of the FC levels. CC has always been < 0.5 , although it hasn’t been zero.
I’ve been using Chem Geek’s table for maintaining a minimum FC of 5 and targeted 6.8 , according to my CYA 60 level. The amounts of added 6% bleach and Ca- Hypo were calculated using the Pool Calculator.
The “Treatment” in the table refers to treatment applied following the water testing.
Day # ... FC ....Treatment ...................Notes
1......................... 20 ppm bleach............ Green pool
3......................... 20 ppm cal hypo..........No green present.
6 ............7.5....... 1 lb dry acid................ Pool almost 100% clear
7............ 7 ...........1 lb dry acid................ Pool 100% clear
8 ............5........... 8 Oz Ca Hypo
9 ............5
10 ..........? ............8 Oz Ca Hypo ............Solar cover installed. Heater on.
11.......... 5.5........ 84 Oz bleach
12........... 6
13........... 4 ..........1 Gal 2 Oz bleach
So, if my CYA is definitely not low, and the CC present is always <0.5 why am I losing FC, and is the lose rate reasonable?
As an ex- user of the traditional stabilized chlorine method, I can’t escape comparing the chlorine utilization then and now.
When I used that method during the last two seasons, two 3” "stabilized chlorine" tabs lasted for about 4-5 days and the elusive “total chlorine” OTO test showed a consistent 2-3 ppm level.