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Got my Taylor K-2006 test kit yesterday! This morning's results are
FC 3
CC 0
pH 7.0
TA 40
CYA >30
How much baking soda should I add to bring TA up?
I had 16 oz of CYA in a sock for 5 days before it all disovled, is there a faster way to bring that up?
You show 4,400 gallons volume on the Pool Chart. Using the dimensions 20'x12'x3.5' I get 5,500 gallons in an oval pool. I'm using 3.5' as functional water depth.
Start out with 4 cups of baking soda, let it circulate and mix for an hour, test TA and pH again. There'll be a small increase in pH. Yours is too low and you could use 20 Mule team borax to raise it but with the low TA you don't have much of a buffer and the pH won't hold. Let's get the TA up and then work on fine tuning the pH.
You should test your fill water from the same tap that your hose is attached to (not from a tap that may have a water filter on it). Test for chlorine, pH, and TA.
Instead of baking soda you could use washing soda. It will raise both your pH and the TA, and both are low in your report. 8 oz (1 cup) of washing soda in 5,500 gallons might raise the pH to approximately 7.3 and will raise the TA by approximately 10 ppm. If your volume is 4,400 the numbers are 7.4 and 13, respectively.
As to the slow dissolving CYA, the faster way is to use liquid stabilizer but it is very expensive. You can put the CYA granules in the skimmer with the pump running and it'll disappear faster but that doesn't mean it's dissolved. It just means it's now sitting inside your filter dissolving slowly.
Let us know how you did with the baking soda and we'll take it from there.
You'll probably want to add about 3 lbs. of baking soda but not all at once. Maybe a pound at a time. Test again a few hours later and add more til you get it to around 80-100. Your pH is a little low. Bump it up with some Borax. I'd start with a cup. Test a few hours later and add more until you get 7.4-7.6 although anywhere 7.2-7.8 is ok. Both of these products should be added slowly to the skimmer while the pump is running, breaking up any clumps. You can add them one right after the other with no problems.
CYA is slow dissolving stuff. Go ahead and add another half a pound. A week from now, retest your level.
Keep your chlorine between 3-6ppm.
Thanks for your help!
I got the water capacity from the intex website, I am assuming since the walls of the pool slope inward the equation for volume can't be used.
I added 3 lbs of baking soda and 1 cup of borax yesterday. This mornings readings are
FC 2 added 1 1/2 cups
CC 0
pH 7.2 added 1/2 cup borax
TA 90
Okay, that makes sense about the water capacity.
The TA looks good now. I'm glad you added some borax as the pH could come up a little. The amount of bleach to add will be trial and error for a little while. You want to keep it between 3 and 6 ppm and you'll soon learn how much bleach that takes each day.