Test results on new pool in Tucson

[CarlD]

No, it's a product of using TriChlor tablets that release 6ppm of CYA for every 10ppm of chlorine. That's why your CYA always tests high. Nothing to do with hard water at all.

[Wilco]

Ok, but the tabs aren't keeping the cl level up at all. So I quit and went with Bbb method. ( although haven't added the third b yet, not sur when to. TA stays about 80.

[FormerBromineUser]

Please: Read all you can here http://http://poolsolutions.com/gd/t...pool-care.html
Then, throw away the test strips, hide the Tri-Chlor pucks somewhere cool, and then follow PoolDoc's advice. Keep your FC over at least 8 until you KNOW your CYA level for sure.

[PoolDoc]

+ As far as I know, hardness has NO effect on chlorine levels . . . or loss.

+ Trichlor will maintain chlorine levels just fine . . . IF you dissolve it. But undissolved trichlor has NO effect on chlorine levels. Also, I believe some 'diluted' trichlor tabs are now being sold.

+ Fully dissolving TWO complete tabs of 89% chlorine trichlor tabs is approximately equivalent to adding 1 gallon of 8% bleach, except that the tabs ALSO add CYA and acidity.

[CarlD]

Ok, but the tabs aren't keeping the cl level up at all. So I quit and went with Bbb method. ( although haven't added the third b yet, not sur when to. TA stays about 80.

The BBB method is a method, a philosophy, if you will, of only adding what you need, knowing what you need because you test regularly, and not being taken in by pool chem companies' flashy names so they can charge 3x as much for baking soda or washing soda, or "cocktails" of combinations of chemicals which are more a problem. It's not a rigid system--just the opposite. But you don't add stuff "just in case".

I use Tri-Chlor tabs from time to time--usually in the spring in a floater or two when my CYA is low. I also use Liquid Chlorine instead of bleach because....when I do the math, for me it's cheaper. LC is merely stronger bleach anyway. Mostly though, I use my SWCG for chlorine.
Borax is one of 3 ways to raise pH. But it's generally the preferred way.
Baking Soda is when you need to raise TA. I, and others, have found that TA is only a concern when something else is happening. So if your pH is trending down all the time (and it's not from constant Tri-chlor tablet acidity) raising TA can slow it. A constantly rising pH can be slowed by a lower TA, etc.

[Wilco]

So what do you mean by saying that the trichlor may not be dissolving? I was putting 4 pucks in the floater and they would last a week or so, but I had to add 2 bags do shock in order to notice any testable cl levels. And, as you said, my ph was staying low. Better now using bleach and regular testing. Would using the pucks be am option say if I were going on vacation for a week?

[PoolDoc]

4 pucks per week equivalent to 1.5 lbs Cl2 gas
PF=6.7 for 18k gal pool

So 1.5 x 6.7 = 10 ppm chlorine per week.

Typical daily use, on a lightly used pool in a sunny area, when everything is running well is 1.5 - 2 ppm per day. 10 ppm is at the bottom end of that.

IF there is ANY algae, or ANY problems, chlorine use will be more on the order of 4 - 5 ppm per day OR HIGHER. Cleaning up algae can consume 100 ppm of chlorine in just a few days.

You need to MAINTAIN a chlorine level of 10 ppm (based on your CYA), doing what ever is required to get there. Once the pool is spic and span, you may find that 4 tabs per week (or 2 gallons of bleach) may be adequate to keep it there. But that's not the case, yet.

[Wilco]

Ok, that was what I was getting to, was the daily demand/loss do cl that could be expected. There was an algae bloom when we first moved in 6 weeks ago, but that cleared up with initial treatment. Water has gained clarity steadily, and looks great now, but maybe the residual of that bloom and the heat here increased the demand quite a bit. Are the hth shocks ( sodium hypochlorite) better for me with presumed high cya than dichlor?

[Watermom]

Check the label again. I don't think the HTH shock is sodium hypo. Maybe calcium hypo?

[Wilco]

Yep, calcium hypochlorite, you are correct.