Thanks.
So a related question;
If I remember correctly, with my CYA at 80, the recommended shock level is 20. How much should I allow it to drop before swimming again?
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Thanks.
So a related question;
If I remember correctly, with my CYA at 80, the recommended shock level is 20. How much should I allow it to drop before swimming again?
Women's fashion suits might want to wait till it's 15 or so. You just need to wait long enough for it to mix, so it's 20 all over, instead of 10 in most places and 40 near the returns. If you add it via bleach poured around the pool . . . 15 minutes should be plenty.
With a CYA of 80, 20 ppm is not going to have ill effects on swimmers.
Sure! It's also OK to swim that EVENING.
Using cal hypo? High calcium and SWCGs don't play well together.Do you have a K-2006?If the answer to all those questions is yes, you might want to use an alternative method of dosing with cal hypo that will limit the calcium build-up in the pool. Meanwhile, you need to know where your calcium levels are at present.
Do you know how to MANUALLY clean your DE filter?
Is your SWCG DOWNSTREAM of your filter?
I don't have that exact kit, but I have a few kits. One is a Taylor kit that I use to measure PH and TA (using R0014 reagent for PH, and R0007/R0008/R0009 for checking TA), another is a Taylor K1515-C (FAS-DPD Chlorine test), and a Tayor kit to test CYA level (using R0013 reagent), also a Jack's Magic Sequest kit, LaMotte test strips for borates, and most recently Aquacheck test strips for checking salt level (glad to report that the salt reading from the test strip reads almost the same as the SWCG display; gives me confidence my salt level is good). I did have a Taylor kit for checking calcium levels, but I had difficulty seeing the color change, so I returned it.
I do have calcium checked 2-3 times a season (May through Sept/Oct here). I checked my records since 2004 and calcium level has always been in the 200-250 range. I've never had any scaling on the salt cell or other parts since having the pool installed in 2004. It seems we get enough rain here to keep calcium levels from building too much. It's not uncommon that we will get enough rain in one storm that requires pumping excess water out of the pool. I haven't checked calcium yet this season (will do so soon), but I have no reason to think it will be any higher than usual. BTW, I've always used cal hypo to shock. Given this, is using cal hypo a problem?
I take the DE filter apart and manually clean it thoroughly at the end of each season. The salt cell is downstream (ie - after) the filter.
In my situation, do I need to be using an alternative method of dosing cal hypo (what is the alternative method??)?
Thanks again for your help. Your advice is greatly appreciated.
If you've been using cal hypo, and have had stable chlorine over a full pool season, then no, it's not necessary to switch.
Over the past 3 summers I have a tended my pool with over 300ppm CYA and under 30ppm of CYA. I loved reading this thread. I think the pool was much easier and more affordable to operate when the CYA was in the 70-80 range. Obviously I was keeping the Cl at a level appropriate to the CYA according to your table. I had zero problems and I suspect that high doses of Cl (40ppm) combined with 70-80 CYA was a fabulous pool closing combo. My lame (I am a social worker not a chemist) theory was that the CYA would maintain a higher Cl level longer making the early Fall, where it is more likely warmer, more protected from Algae. The colder months should have under the cover temps below 50. So, open the pool early and have it be blue? I think it worked... Granted, I have a 12 year old liner I'm not much concerned about. But the same theory (40ppm) to close worked with my CYA at 38 last year? Is the cover the reason, does a covered pool lose Cl THAT much slower because you shield it from the sun? I have a solid cover by the way. And there is still algae to kill on opening but it is pretty darn good compared to the old days of the closing company broadcasting 2lbs. Of Cal Hypo and covering.
I think, regarding the daily operation of my pool, that the 70-80 CYA level made my life the easiest. I see no difference in Cl smell or damage to suits or hair. So, if my observations are reasonable, it leaves behind the question of whether higher level CYA exposure is damaging us in any way?
An opaque cover will block the UV in sunlight and have the chlorine last a lot longer. The colder water temperatures also slow down all chemical reactions including those that use up chlorine. In my own pool that has a mostly opaque electric safety cover, my chlorine loss rate with no bather load is around 0.7 ppm FC per day at 88ºF (with bather load and opening the pool every day for 1-2 hours the loss is closer to 1 ppm FC), but at 50ºF over the winter this drops to somewhat less than 0.1 ppm FC per day (about 1 ppm FC every couple of weeks). This is with the FC at around 10% of the CYA level and the CYA at 30 or 40 ppm (depending on season) though it gets diluted from winter rain overflow that I intentionally do (pool pump on cover pumps water into the pool and overflows from under the cover to an overflow drain.
If you truly have an opaque cover, then you should not need to have your chlorine start out that high if the water temp is cold when you close in winter and when you open again in spring. Usually, people only need to do that if their cover is not opaque because sunlight will continue to break down chlorine. Note that sunlight breakdown of chlorine is independent of temperature so having an opaque cover is important if one isn't going to be adding chlorine over the winter and wants to open up the pool algae-free.
Yeah, I would buy individual kits as I learned what to test and gained confidence doing it myself.
It would be more convenient having everything in one box, but it would be cheaper just to buy a small tacklebox for that purpose rather than buying a new K-2006 kit. ;)