Newbie - just getting the hang of things

pool details:
20x40 grecian style inground, vinyl liner, heywood pump, sand filter, two skimmers, pool gets full sun 8 + hours a day

My husband runs a polaris vac almost daily and keeps the skimmers clean - pool looks fantastic even if it is 26 years old!
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Hi all!

My husband and I bought a house with an inground pool at the end of the summer last year. We only had a couple of weeks of swimming time left and the previous owner had it in great condition, so we really didn't have to do much to it. (Previous owner is the head swimming coach at a local university - known around here as "the pool whisperer" - this pool was VERY well taken care of when we bought the house.) He used trichlor pucks so that is what we used (at first.) Then a friend told me about the BBB method and I became intrigued.

We got a test kit (Deluxe DPD one from Leslie's) before we knew that the FAS-DPD was the one we should have bought. Eventually that is what we will get (when we use up these reagents). We just got a seperate Taylor CYA kit since the DPD one doesn't measure CYA. The DPD only tests up to 5 ppm of FC, so I used the "shotglass method" I learned on here to "guesstimate" FC over 5 ppm. Can I buy the extra reagents needed to turn my DPD test into a FAS DPD test? (Or is it just better to bite the bullet and buy the FAS DPD test kit?)

Here are my readings (as of last night):

FC 8 ppm
TC 8 ppm
CC 0
ph 7.5
TA 80
CYA 75

Current temp is right at 80.

Everything is okay, right? Pool looks wonderful - sparkling clear, no chlorine smell. We still have the trichlor pucks but I'm hesitent to use them since I don't want that CYA to increase. So we've been using 6% bleach the past couple of times we've added chlorine (using the pool calculator online to determine amount to use). How often should I expect to need to add chlorine? I know that is variable on a lot of things, but typically every couple of days?

Can one buy unstablized chlorine pucks or sticks? If so, where? I'm just wondering if that might be good to use when we are out of town for a few days and aren't available to add liquid bleach. What do other people do?

Should I raise the TA? How could I do that without affecting the ph?

I guess I just want some confirmation that I am doing things right! Any advice or suggestions will be welcome!

THANKS for taking the time to read my rambling!

Hi MrsO,
Welcome to the forum!!

It sure sounds like you've done your homework and have a good handle on what's going on in your pool. Regarding the test kit--the K-1515 kit at the Amazon link in my sig is what you'l need to do DPD-FAS testing, which you'll need with a high CYA pool. It's the standalone FAS part of the kit, so it would be a good addition to the kit you already have.

The numbers that you posted look just about perfect to me. If you're planning to stop using stabilized chlorine (which I would suggest you do because of the CYA, which you already know), your TA is exactly where it needs to be. If you were going to continue to use pucks I would suggest you raise it a little, but at this point if it were my pool, I would leave it alone.

Your CYA is a little high, but that's not necessarily a bad thing--I don't know where in Ark you are, but if you have the same climate as I do in Louisiana (and full sun on your pool), you'll likely find that the higher CYA helps you actually reduce the amount of chlorine you have to use, and it also makes dosing less frequent. I run mine around 80-90 ppm CYA, and only have to dose every 3 days or so with a high swimmer load. All you have to do is up your chlorine levels to compensate, which it looks like you've already done. Check out the link to the "best guess chlorine chart" in my sig for more information there. Frankly, what you've got in your pool right now looks right on target for a great swim season. ! :cool:

There are some unstabilized tabs available, but they are made of cal-hypo. They cannot be used in a feeder, and they react very badly with trichlor, so you don't want to put them in a floater that has contained trichlor in the past unless you know ALL the trichlor is out. I will tell you that they aren't very good, though--they used to have some good ones that were shaped like capsules and lasted a long time, perfect for the skimmer--but they don't make them anymore. These newer ones go to mush almost immediately and I won't use them.

My suggestion would be that you switch to straight bleach (plain, unscented, generic) or if you can find it, liquid chlorine (which is bleach but in double strength and often sold in larger quantities so there are less jugs to haul around. When you go on vacation, you could still use the trichlor just for that short of a time, or if you have a neighbor that would come dump a gallon of bleach in the pool for you every couple of days, you shouldn't have a problem.

Hope some of this is helpful--it's really refreshing to see posters come here who have already done the reading and understand what's going on. We look forward to seeing you around the forum this summer.

Happy swimming!

Oh thank you for the tip on the test kit! I will order that tonight!

My husband grew up with an inground pool but wasn't very involved with the chemical side of it. He knew how to handle the equiptment but his parents did the chemicals. We make a good team - I kind of like all of this testing/chemical stuff (it's kind of become my obsession of late! Ha!) and he takes care of the pump/filter/vac stuff.

I think it is going to be a great summer!

Sounds like you have a good team. Good decision to order the test kit. You'll love it --- especially since that is your new obsession!

We're glad to have you with us on the forum!