Hi Phosphates

[mkamp1515]

Watermon,

Please bear with me as I am still a pool chemical idiot. Is that chart you referenced saying the less stabilizer, the lower the chlorine should be? I thought it would be the other way around. Please explain so I understand better. Thank you for your time and advice.

Mike

[Watermom]

Yes. The less stabilizer, the less chlorine you need to sanitize your pool. The more stabilizer, the more chlorine you need to do the same job.

Chlorine breaks down in sunlight. Stablizer is kind of like "sunscreen" for your chlorine. It keeps your chlorine from quickly disappearing on hot sunny days. All outdoor pools need stabilizer. However, stabilizer blocks the ability of chlorine to sanitize your pool. Therefore, the more stabilizer you have in your pool, the higher your chlorine levels need to be to sanitize your pool. You have to have the proper balance of both in your water. Does that make any sense?

[mkamp1515]

OK. I understand. I knew the stabilizer was needed to preserve the chlorine in the pool. But, I did not know the higher the stabilizer level, the higher the chlorine needed to be. I took your advice and increased the chlorinating % on the SWG. I have the little testing kit that came with the pool. It only goes up to 3.0 and the yellow was at least that dark. So, I know it is at least 3.0 at this time. The PhosFree worked some overnight as the phosphate level went down, but it is still between 1000 and 2000. I will probably have to do at least one more treatment. Thanks again for your help.

Mike

[bassadict69]

I assume the pool store is testing your water & checking your phosphates???

What size is your pool? From experience, I can tell you that with a larger pool, 1 treatment of the Phosfree will not lower your phosphates that much.

I also can tell you NOT to do the Phosfloc unless it is a last resort to cure algae p[roblems.

Keep you chlorine where it should be according to the cya chart & don't worry about the phosphates unless you absolutely have to.

[mkamp1515]

My pool is free form, 36ft long and 24 ft at its widest and 16 ft at its thinnest. It holds 20,000 gallons as it is 3.5ftx5ftx4ft on the depth. It has a SWG and Tahoe Blue Pebble Tec. I would really like to get the phosphates down. Will multiple treatments of PhosFree work? I know it is expensive but I do not want to floc if I do not have to.

[mkamp1515]

OK. Phosphates still high (2000-2500) . But my pressure on my filter is up only a little. I thought it would go up much higher...but it jumped from 17psi to 22psi and back down to about 19psi over a 6 hour period. I guess since I just cleaned the filter out, washed off all the DE off the grids, and replaced the DE is why my pressure is not just climbing and climbing. My new numbers are this:

FC and TC 3.0
pH 8.0 (a little high)
TA 70 (a little low)
Cal Hard 160
CYA 40

The guy at Leslie's told me it would take a week or two for the Phosphates to clear. He also indicated I should add Alk increaser and then acid to bring up my TA and lower my pH. Does this seem like good advice? I do use the Jack's Purple Stuff weekly to keep scale from forming. Seems to have worked so far as I have consistent high pH and I am always adding acid (SWG and Pebble Tec-1 yr old). Any thoughts??

[bassadict69]

I forget just how much the Phos free will drop your phosphates but it isn't much at all compared to a high 2500ppb reading. It would take MANY treatments to get it down like that.

[aylad]

I would use acid to lower your pH first, then add baking soda to raise your alk without raising the pH back up. If you do it the other way around, you'll raise the alk but then lower it again when you add the acid.

And yes, it's Arm & Hammer baking soda--the exact same ingredient as alkalinity up, at 1/5 the price.

I'd stop worrying about the phosphates--once you properly chlorinate your pool, it doesn't sound like algae is going to be a problem for you.

Janet