Here's my numbers

[CarlD]

Thanks, Watermom. PB finally came by tonight for my Pool 101 course. He actually suggested I bump up my TA to around 120.

That's a good number--you raise TA by adding either soda ash (when you also want to raise pH) or just baking soda--do NOT use baking soda to raise pH--it will ramp up your TA. You don't raise TA to compensate for low pH.

He is going to supply me with a season's worth of chemicals for free, because we have had so many problems with leaks and stuff (still working on that!)

But what chemicals is VERY important. The wrong ones are worthless.

He suggested using Cal Hypo for shock, the chlorine sticks (sorry, I didn't get the name of them, but I know they have the CYA in them, and they go in an automatic chlorinator) for basic chlorine, and baking soda to raise TA. He says that around here our water is slightly acidic, so it's possible we may be adding baking soda a good bit.

We need to dissect this: If your pool is concrete/tile/plaster, the Cal Hypo is good for adding needed calcium--you need 200-400ppm--and will add chlorine as well. It's also a bit basic so it raises pH a little, which is good.

HOWEVER, a concrete pool when it's new tends to push pH up a LOT and many new owners need to add Muriatic Acid all the time until it cures.

I absolutely would NOT be combining Tri-Chlor pucks and Cal-Hypo even though you are adding them separately. If your pool is concrete, the pucks will add needed CYA and fight the tendency of pH to rise. Still, once CYA is in the 30-50ppm range you are asking for trouble if you continue to use the pucks after that.

If your water is slightly acidic, once you have a good T/A and a proper pH, it won't matter--it won't be acidic--only your fill water will be. While baking soda raises T/A, you do NOT want to raise it much above 125. He's confused the need for T/A with the need to raise pH. They are related BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING! We suggest using ordinary Borax (Right, 20 Mule Team Borax) to raise pH.

Now, if you have a vinyl pool, your expectations are different. Calcium provides no benefit (unlike for concrete) but is pretty much harmless below 500 ppm. So don't PAY for calcium, it just doesn't hurt in Cal-Hypo. You won't see pH moving up from concrete curing, either, so I only see Tri-Chlor pucks for the short term--and expect to use a lot of Borax to get pH to normal. Pucks are good until CYA is good but after that you shouldn't use them. That's why I believe automatic chlorinators that use pucks are a waste of money.

T/A can go as high as 180-200ppm in a vinyl pool with no problem.

I'll up the chlorinator a bit, and retest in a few days, to see if I can get my CL level up. He said I probably wouldn't need to test for CYA much, but from what I've read here, my CYA level will determine what my CL level needs to be, so I'll be checking that anyway.

Yup! Good thinking!

Thanks so much for you help!

Judy

Judy,
You can use pucks and Cal-hypo effectively, but you simply must be aware of the side-effects and when they are good, and when they are BAD!

Cal-hypo adds calcium. This can be good when you need it, bad when it's too high. In vinyl, it's useless but harmless below 500ppm.

Tri-Chlor adds CYA and is VERY acidic. This is good in new concrete pools, OK in vinyl with low CYA, but very bad in high CYA pools or pools that tend to be acidic generally.

SWGs don't add anything, but a lot of users report their water tends to trend to high pH and use a lot of Muriatic Acid.

Only plain bleach/Liquid Chlorine is harmless to your water. It has very little effect on pH (although it is basic), and adds nothing. That's why most of us here rely on it.

As for your pool volume: First you calculate how many cubic feet it contains (the water part, not the whole pool. If it is anything other than a rectangle with a constant depth, you have to break it up into components and calculate the volume of each--High School Solid Geometry. Once you have the cubic feet, you convert to gallons by multiplying by 7.48

If I remember correctly, a sphere has a volume of 3/4 PI* R Cubed (frequently pools have half a sphere). Cones are 1/3 PI*R squared * Height. I don't remember the formula for a pyramid, but it can be broken down into triangles and simple dimensions.

Now that you've spent all this money on your pool, toss out the test strips and spend $60-$80 on a GOOD test kit--one that uses the FAS-DPD test for chlorine levels. DPD is NOT the same thing, don't accept it in lieu of FAS-DPD. Ben (PoolDoc) has it in his kit on PoolSolutions.com, but Taylor's 2006 kit has it, and Leslie's on-line site has a similar kit. All 3 use FAS-DPD for testing and include all the other tests you've been asked for. I GUARANTEE the kit will pay for itself several times over in just the first season.

I hope all this helps....