Re: Central Valley SWCG w/ Low CL & High PH...
The waterfall feature is an excellent way to aerate the water, as is running the SWCG. I don't know how long it will take to get it back up to the mid to high 7's, but that time will be less and less as your TA comes down. Just check your pH periodically, and when it gets back up to the mid 7's or higher, add more acid to drop the TA a little more. It's a ratcheting process, but it sounds as if you're making some progress if you're already down to 180.
Most of us use bleach to shock the pool, because it is easy to acquire, easy to add, and doesn't add anything else to the pool that will throw your other chemicals off, like other forms of chlorine will. Just plain, unscented, generic bleach. I use WalMart's generic brand, which is 6%. However, keep in mind that when you shock the pool, your pH readings are going to be falsely high, so you need to focus on only the shocking OR the TA lowering, not both at the same time. In a 20,000 gallon pool, 5 gallons of 6% bleach will raise your chlorine to 15 ppm, which is shock level assuming a CYA of 40 ppm. You'll need to get it up to that level, and keep it there by adding enough bleach to get back up to the 15 ppm mark as many times a day as possible. The more consistent you are about maintaining the 15 ppm, the quicker the algae will die off. If you let the chlorine level yo-yo up and down, you're not going to make any progress. In 20,000 gallons, each 2 quarts will raise your chlorine by 1 ppm, so you can use that as a guide to figure out how much to add each time to get back up to 15. You do need to have the pump/filter running 24/7 during this process, and watch your pressure gauge on the filter, cleaning it as necessary. It will also help to brush the pool daily to make sure all the algae is getting exposed to the chlorine. Once the water clears, there is no more algae, and you're not losing more than 1 ppm of chlorine when measuring at night after the sun is off the pool and again in the morning before the sun hits the pool, then you can let the chlorine drift back down to your normal baseline.
So--I would wait awhile on the TA and focus on killing your algae, and once that's done, go back to battle with the TA, but it's your call.
Again, I would check the instructions for your SWCG and see if you don't need to bump your CYA up to the 70-80 range, but don't do it until after your shocking is completed.
What is the finish on your pool? If it's vinyl, then the hardness level is okay, but if it's plaster/gunnite, then you're going to need to raise your calcium levels, too....
Janet
BTW, we LIKE having newbies around--that's why we're here!! We have not ever intentionally "dropped" somebody, and don't find newbies annoying (in most cases, anyway). Again, sorry this thread got by us, but I'll do everything I can not to let that happen again!
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