First time PS234 results...

[duraleigh]

Your precision and accuracy are impressive.

I do not understand why you are running with no CYA which basically wipes out your sanitizer on a daily basis. I'm not sure I understand the need for an algaecide other than polyquat (which you could do without if you'd use chlorine and stabilizer).

I am equally puzzled by your purposeful low pH and Alk. Again, it's quite obvious you have managed your water carefully but I don't understand the numbers you have targeted.

[alexnco]

I'm an engineer by schooling, and enjoyed chemistry at one time. My beermaking and saltwater aquarium hobbies requires certain tools, let's call them "toys", that can also be useful for larger bodies of water. But "Purposeful low pH and Alk"? Ha! Double Ha! ...
Other than kicking up the Cl level every night, "shocking" every week and keeping some residual agaecide, I'm not sure I know what to shoot for!! I haven't figured out how much Borax to add, for instance, to raise pH a certain number of points. BleachCal262 doesn't perform pH calculations based on added Borax. (I tried asking the author, but his email address bounced.) The program suggests attaining 50 ppm of Sodium Tetraborate Decahydrate, not for pH control, but for use as an algacide. Why 50 ppm? I also haven't yet received the instructions with the test kit (whether they cover these questions or not, I don't know), so I'm not sure what to do.

I don't yet use CYA because of what I originally read in the PoolSolutions' site, and until I got Ben's kit I had no comfortable way of testing for it. Since I was adding some Cl on a nightly basis, what I'd lose to daytime UV radiation didn't bother me. How much of my Cl will adding CYA keep me from losing during daytime, at my low levels?

And abt. PolyQuat, well I have almost 2 quarts of Algaecide left, it appears to work much better than the copper-based chemical junk my pool dealer originally sold us and I haven't found a reasonably priced source of Poly, yet. Any ideas on sources?

Keep in mind that our well water has certain properties that make controlling some chemistries difficult. I found this out the very hard way with my aquarium; and it also explains some brewing problems I've encountered.

BTW, I just re-read Ben's high pH article: http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/hiphpool.html I'm really interested in finding out what Ben was referring to with his comment abt. a "...method of shocking that produces greatly improved results in many cases. In conjunction with high pH pool operation..." Who do I pay for that information?

Maybe I'll get most of my questions answered there, once I can get my pH stabilized above 7.6?
We'll see. Thx for your comments!

[duraleigh]

Alex,

Have you read the stickies at the top of each forum? They will give you guideline numbers for "normal" ranges.

Try 2 lbs of Borax if you wish to raise your pH. Judge subsequent dosage from the amount your pH moves up.

The majority (probably) of folks on the forum don't use any algaecide. That's an individual choice.

Final thought....without sanitizer in your pool, algae and bacteria formation may become a real issue. Stabilizer and maintaining a higher chlorine residual will almost surely prevent that.

[brent.roberts]

stop putting expensive stuff in the hole with water that you don't need and you'll be able to afford the auto chlorinator sooner.
You should be able to do it for a lot less than 2K as well. I just put in a new AutoPilot that was about $ 1100. Easy to self install.

Basically if you get the CYA, PH and CL levels correct you don't need algecide untill you close in the fall, and don't need to shock unless you have something unusual, like a lot of little kids peeing, a deluge, a lot of leaves etc. And the new test kit will tell you that the CC levels are up and you need to shock.

A well run pool could go through a full season without a shock, except maybe when you open in the spring.

The pool stores want to tell you you need to shock so you'll buy something... anything.

[alexnco]

Thank you for your replies.

Alex in OK

[MBeardsley]

Hey Alex! Sounds like we may have used the same pool store. Yes I am from Oklahoma as well. I have been using wipe out shock as well as crystal clear shock, did you have any problems when switching to BBB method. We are a new pool owners and not by any means chemists! We want to convert and have been using cooper based algaecide as well, and just not sure if this will create any problems. Of course the pool store does not advise this, but at this point I find we are putting a lot more money into it than we should have to. Any advise or comments you have would be great! Thanks-Michelle

[aylad]

MBeardsley

Yes, copper levels in the water do create a problem--I would strongly encourage you to go to the "metals" forum, and read everything you can there, especially posts written by mbar (Marie) on how to deal with water that contains metals without staining your pool.

Janet