Trying to learn to adjust chemicals

[Watermom]

Glad it is looking better. Keep at it and soon will be all clear. Then, we'll help you tweak the other levels.

[aylad]

Sounds like you're making progress--Watermom's advice, as always, is right on the mark.

Just wanted to make a comment, though--it probably wouldn't hurt anything to throw a few trichlor pucks in a floater--they won't do anything to keep your chlorine levels up to shock level, as Watermom said, but it never hurts to have a residual. You are going to have to add CYA at some point anyway, and what you'll get from the pucks alone shouldn't raise it too high that you can't keep it under control, especially in Florida with the amount of sun and hot weather y'all get. You are close enough to having it cleared up that you're going to need CYA in the water to hold the chlorine there once you are at a point of letting the chlorine drift down. Besides, they will lower your pH, which needs to happen anyway......

Also, just wanted to add that the chem additions don't HAVE to be done at night, if it doesn't fit in with your lifestyle--the idea here is to get the pool care to fit into your schedule, not the other way around! The reason we recommend night time is that the chlorine has much more time to work without consumption by the sun than it does if you add it in the morning, but if morning is when you have time for it, then you can certainly add it then. As far as the other chems go, time of day doesn't matter at all.

JMHO...

Janet

[onemsmom]

Thanks! Yes, the morning is better.

The pool has been crystal clear for a few days now & met all requirements for being agae free.

Yesterday I adjusted pH by adding muriatic acid. Was that right? I hate that stuff.

Today:

FC 6
CC 0
pH7.6
TA 230-240

How do I get the TA down? My book says muriatic acid. Won't that lower pH???? I'm confused.

BTW, I threw a few pucks in yesterday.

Jenn

[aylad]

Here's the method described for lowering your TA.....

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=191

You do use muriatic, and the pH and TA both drop, but then you raise the pH again by aerating the water. When the pH comes back up, then you can add another dose of acid to drop the TA a little further, then aerate to bring pH back up.

Janet

[CarlD]

Hi Jenn,

As usual, aylad and Watermom are guiding you correctly.

Lowering T/A is very do-able, but throw away "the book" . We have several threads on just how to do it.

But in a nutshell, T/A rises and falls as pH rises and falls, so you have to "trick" it to bring T/A down.

We call it the "ratchet" method as you ratchet the T/A down in multiple steps.

1) Add Muriatic Acid until the pH is between 7.0 and 7.2 (if you have a hard-sided pool you can go lower, but for vinyl-lined pools 7.0 is the minimum). Measure T/A at this point. It should be down some.

2) Then aerate the pool. You can do this with a fountain, a sprayer (I have one that cost $20 and screws into the return), a gang of 12-year olds splashing, or even just leaving the pool uncovered.

3) This raises pH without raising T/A with it--we have the "why" in other threads. Raise pH by aeration to 7.5/7.6

4) Now add more acid to lower pH again...and measure T/A again.

5) Aerate

6) Repeat until T/A is in the 80-120ppm range, then let aeration raise pH back to the 7.5/7.6 range.

[onemsmom]

You guys are so cool.

Off to muriatic and aerating fun,

Jennifer

[CarlD]

Of course! That's because we have crystal clear pools to cool off in!

[onemsmom]

Things have been going well - my pool is clear & blue, the chlorine levels are good, the pH is perfect, the alkalinity is still a tad high (140) but way better. Life is good.

Now, I need to deal with the CYA. I've been functioning with almost no CYA reading. I tested tonight, and even with the tube filled to the tippy top, it was only slightly cloudy. I could still see the little black dot just fine.

How do I raise the CYA? I know I need to be careful not to get it too high. How do I determine that when I can't determine the exact amount that's in there? Pool store?

Thanks so much,

Jennifer

[madwil]

I would assume 0 now, and add enough CYA to get to 30; it's a good place to start, and leaves room to add more later if you need to (like the option of leaving a floater with pucks in while on vacation!)
You can buy CYA (sometimes called stabilizer) at the pool store- or some Walmarts (mine doesn't carry it...)
You can put it in the skimmer- but don't backflush for several days, as it will collect in your filter and dissolve over time.
You can also put in a sock and hung in front of your returns.
After a week, test your CYA again, adjust more if needed!

[Watermom]

Sometimes stabilizer is called conditioner. Check the label. You want cyanuric (or isocyanuric) acid. Also, if you put it into the skimmer to dissolve in the filter, which is the way I do it, leave your pump running 24/7 for several days afterwards.