Ignore this post, just trying to get access while logged in

[morfittron]

Not sure how I have to prove that I'm not a spam bot. It's been two days since I registered. I did reply to a post, but this is my first from scratch, hopefully this will trigger something.

[Watermom]

Sorry it has been a couple of days. There is a bit of a back log waiting to get verified. Hopefully it won't be much longer. It will be worth it, trust me. This forum is great! Glad to have you join us!

In the meantime, is there a question that I can help you with?

[morfittron]

It looks like I still haven't completed my registration. It's been a week now. I'm not going to complain as this is a great resource.

I do have a few questions. I've had my 16' round intex pool (about 5000 gal) set up for just over 2 weeks and I think everything is going well. I read up on the BBB method after I already bought some dichlor granules. I started off adding 8.25% bleach and tested it with test strips and a 5-way drop test, while I waited for the Taylor k-2006 kit. I also added some CYA to get up to about 50 ppm. I ran out of bleach and started throwing in the dichor, to keep what I thought was about 3 ppm FC. When I got the kit, the FC was at 7.5 ppm, which is a bit higher than the best guess chart recommends. The CYA was also a bit higher (55 ppm) than I planned, due to the dichlor I presume. I am now just using bleach.

I also added baking soda to reach 70 ppm alkilinity, and borax to get the pH up to 7.6 or 7.8.

My latest measurements are:

FC: 4.0
CC: 0.0
ALK: 70
pH: 7.6
CYA: 55

I'm adding 2-4 cups of 8.25% bleach each day to keep the FC levels between 3 and 6 ppm. It has been pretty sunny, so maybe that's expected, but it's more than I thought I'd need.

Here are my questions:

At what levels of chlorine is it safe to swim with CYA at 55 ppm? I haven't needed to yet, but I'm concerned how long we'll have to wait to swim after shocking the pool.

With the DPD chlorine test, some of the powder never dissolves, is that ok? And, how full should the scoops of powder be, is it very sensitive to the amount of powder?

I'll have more questions, but I don't want to overload this thread, or abuse this privilege.

Thanks,
-Ron

[BigDave]

I'm adding 2-4 cups of 8.25% bleach each day to keep the FC levels between 3 and 6 ppm. It has been pretty sunny, so maybe that's expected, but it's more than I thought I'd need.

Seems OK to me.

At what levels of chlorine is it safe to swim with CYA at 55 ppm? I haven't needed to yet, but I'm concerned how long we'll have to wait to swim after shocking the pool.

FC 4 is actually a little on the low side for CYA 55 (how'd you get that, level between 50 and 60?). High FC (on the chart) is OK for people (high CC less so) but may fade swimsuits - more expensive fashion suits are more damaged by chlorine.

With the DPD chlorine test, some of the powder never dissolves, is that ok?

Yes, Definitely, It shouldn't.

... how full should the scoops of powder be, is it very sensitive to the amount of powder?

The amount of powder is unimportant as long as the sample turns pink.

[Watermom]

The directions call for two scoops of powder, but actually, if the sample turns pink after one scoop, you don't need to add the second scoop.

Where do you live? In some areas of the country, some pools do better operating at higher CYA levels.

Sorry it has been kinda slow to get all the new registrations processed. There have been a lot of new people registering recently!

Welcome to the Pool Forum, by the way!

[morfittron]

I live in Sioux Falls, SD. The pool has been pretty clear since day one, using the advice from this forum and the PoolSolutions website. It does seem a little cloudy to me, but my wife tells me it's clear and I'm being too picky. The slight cloudiness has also been there since day one, so I think it's probably just me being too critical. I'll continue to watch it closely though.

My next questions are about covers (both a solar cover and a winter cover) and a vacuum. I figure the best bet is to do a search, but I've been waiting for my account to get full privileges, I should probably just use the google search trick. I've been using the cover that came with the pool, but it's a pain mainly because it sinks and the string that is supposed to hold it on, doesn't. I just recently broke the string from tightening it too much, so I tied it and now just stretch it to go over the lip of the pool, but that doesn't work well either especially with the strong winds we usually get. For a vacuum, I've just been using a garden hose to siphon the gunk out, which actually works nicely, but it's rather slow with the small hose. I've been thinking of duct-taping a shopvac nozzle to see if that works.

Thanks,
-Ron

[morfittron]

I arrived at 55 as you suspected, it was a little closer to 60 than 50 so I figured 55 was a better estimate than either 50 or 60. I'm sure it's not that precise, but it was my best guess.

Thanks,
-Ron