My Start-up. What do you think?

Started up my 30,000 gal 2yr. old Gunite Pool today. I have a solid cover, which is great for clean water, but really rough on the back.

Pool was very clear when i took off the cover, once the Polaris started i noticed a little cloudyness. I assumed it was just dust from the bottom bieng stired up until I checked the numbers:

PH: 8.2+
FC: 5
CC: 0
Alk: 135-140
Cal: 200
Cya: 100

I'm not too happy with the CYA level, but the PH really had me worried. Can't a high PH like I had cause precipitation and (therefore) cloudyness?

I figured a high PH could, so I added about 6 Cups of Muriatic. PH dropped to 7.8 after an Hour (and I think it cleared a little). At a better PH of 7.8 I was VERY tempted to finish with a 2LB Shock of DiChlor, but I decided to wait until the PH was <= 7.6.

I'll check the PH again tomorrow b/f work and add more Acid if it did't drop.

Any comments on these numbers? Is my hunch about Precipitation due to High PH correct?

Also, Is 100 CYA too high or can I manage for the Summer?

-Lou

Hi, Lou,

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Any comments on these numbers? Is my hunch about Precipitation due to High PH correct?

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I think you might be on the money suspecting precip as your issue. Normally, I would think you'd need some Cl (and you might still) but I believe your diagnosis is very good.

Your CYA is sky high but manageable if you keep your Cl levels way up.

If your pool doesn't clear nicely by lowering the pH (I think it may very well) you'll want to shock with a pretty massive dose of Cl....25ppm. Then assuming it clears from either the pH adjustment or the shock, you should be up around 8-15ppm Cl all the time with that CYA of 100.

You've done a nice startup, Lou...good work recognizing your issues immediately. Thanks for those test results....it makes everything soooo easy.

Thank you for the nice compliment Dave. I take zero credit, the forum tought me.

I checked the PH this morning, as suspected, it didn't move any more (7.8), but the pool is PERFECTLY CLEAR! I think the high PH - Precip theory was true.

I added 1 more Pint of Muriatic, and Two LBS of Shock (DiChlor)...."Come on 7.6...."

I'm a little nervious about the Shock. It was PoolTimes's 4in1 shock with alot of extra stuff in it. I don't need 'Clarifiers' or 'Buffers'. I REALLY hope the 'Buffers' arn't going to push up my Alk, or worse - push up my CYA.

Does anyone know what other things are in the PoolTime 4in1 shock? The packaging was very vague.

I don't know what is in 4 in 1 shock, but I wouldn't use it. I don't like adding products that have extra 'stuff' in them. Also, if you are experiencing cloudy water problems, I would just stick with using bleach to chlorinate with. Granular chlorines can often make cloudy water problems worse.