1st test results--what a mess!

I received the ps234 kit yesterday, however I was on vacation for a week and put 7 tri-chlor pucks in before I left on vacation. Here is what I came back to... )I took the pucks out of the pool)

FC=13.5
CC=0
TC=13.5
pH=7.2
Alk=150
Cal=400
Cya=150 (as far as I could tell)
Temp=92

The pool looks pretty good, just a bit dull, but not cloudy. I am in Gilbert, AZ, where this entire week is over 110 degrees. The pool is 20 years old and I am having it remodeled this winter, so I am not sure that draining it is the short term answer to get the CYA lower. Our water here in Gilbert is very hard. I am looking for a way to optimize this situation for the rest of the swim season without draining the pool. Any suggestions? Thanks for any responses.

OK,
I think you are better off than you think you are.

FC/TC: Perfect for your CYA level--you should find it easy to keep FC over 10ppm with very little adding. Since you have the PS-234, you can run a high-CYA pool happily and safely.

pH--7.2 is low but....wait, wait, wait.

You Alk is high--150. Normally not a problem but your Cal is 400.

I think the two may be clouding your pool. So you want to use Ben's Alk Lowering.

Normally, you'd start with acid to lower pH to 7.0 to 7.2 but you are there already. So start with aeration.

Then you aerate to raise pH without raising alk.--a fountain, a gang of 11 year old boys, whatever.

When pH is up, add acid to bring it down to 7.0 to 7.2. Then aerate.

Repeat until your Alk is somewhere between 100 and 125--no higher--even 80 to 125 is fine. Make sure nothing adds more calcium.

I'm betting that by lowering TA with that high calcium, the pool will clear, especially if you keep pH in the lower end of the range.

From what you've described I think that's the most likely cause. The ONLY question mark I have is that it's usually numbers like 180-200 for alk and 500 for calcium that causes this.

Still, it's worth trying and is a close fit to your symptoms.

Carl,

Thanks for the quick reply. I started the first aeration (with the pool side aerator) last night as the pool water was so darn hot. Can the pucks be responsible for the high calcium? I would imagine that they are responsible for the high cya.

I will give this all a try and report back this weekend.

Chris

The pool looked a bit cloudy this morning so I ran some more tests and here is where I am
FC=13.5
CC=0
TC=13.5
pH=7.2
Alk=150
Cal=400
Cya=150 (as far as I could tell)
Temp=92

Same as where I started....
So I took a sample of my water to the local Shast...Store here in AZ and here are there results of my water...

FC=5 (I asked them and they said that is as high as we go on FC. hmmm....)
CC=0
TC=5
pH=7.4
Alk=150
Cal=660
Cya=284
Temp=92

Now I am not sure what to do other than maintain the CL level and try to bring down the ALK 30 pts. which I am attempting to do with Ben's method of aerating. I would like not to draing the pool until the end of the season, when it is do for a resurface and remodel. Can I limp along with this?

thanks

I think that your high alkalinity may be a red herring. Low chlorination for your CYA level is a more likely cause of dullness/cloudiness.

The Best Guess chart calls for an 8-15 ppm chlorine maintenance level for a CYA level between 100 and 200 ppm and your CYA may be well over 200. If that's the cause, the only cure is to consistently maintain a higher chlorine level.

The other strong possibility is that your high calcium is causing the problem; other than partial draining and refilling, I don't know of a solution for that.

Hi, Max,

Please copy your post, delete your post from this thread, and paste it into a new thread that you start. That way, you'll get your own advice and we can keep this thread for "azhobbs".

It's too confusing to help two folks on the same thread. You'll get lots of advice starting your own.