seeking advise

[poolpilot]

We moved into our new home with a 30k gal pool on July 1st only to find a Ph of 6.6 and zero TA also had 3PPM copper. After several trips to pool store have added approx 70lbs of Alk up 30 lb PH up and 12 qts of GLBs Sequa SOL.

Have since found this site and have abandanded my pool store in favour of the BBB method.

Liner was replaced in 2001 and has been run on GLB 3"pucks since then. Pool is located in NE Ohio and is open approx 4.5 mths /yr. Gets full sun all day when weather permits. Has been kept at 86 deg howerever I feel that 82 is fine.

Here are my current numbers using a Taylor 2005 kit, will be ordering Ben's kit in the Spring:

FC 10
CC 0
TC 10
PH 7.4
TA 200
CH 325
CYA 225
COPPER 1 PPM

Have started using bleach instead of pucks, have added 4 gals over the past four days, I have also started to run the pump durring the day only. My water is clear. As I mentioned earlier I have 30,000 gals which is filtered by a Hayward S240 sand filter and am currently adding a cup or two of DE to help it out. Heater is a Raypak RP2100.

I plan to close the pool in the 3rd week of Sept. Between now and then what should I do to correct some of my numbers. I know draining and refilling is one answer but at 2.5 cents/gal it could prove costly. we have well water but dont want to use it, previous owner did however use it to top off.

Im hoping that the CYA will lower itself over the winter. According to Taylors charts I need just under 6 gals of Acid to lower my TA 100ppm. Not sure if I have enough time to use Bens method.

The other day I noticed some rust and pitting around the bolts on the top step of my ladder, I also noticed that the outer edge of the chrome light ring was looking a little discolored.

Sorry for the long post and thank you to everyone who takes the time to make this such an informative site.

[PatL34]

Hi poolpilot, and welcome to the forum.

The best thing you did was to change to bleach from 3" GLB pucks. They are the reason your CYA is so high. Unfortunately at 225 ppm, it is not going to come down in a hurry.

Replacing half your water seems the only option at this stage, and should take care of the CYA and CH. You are correct in not using well water to refill, unless you have filters to remove iron and copper, and calcium hardness.

The pitting you mention will have come from the low pH initially. What type of bolts do you have for the ladder? They should be stainless steel.

Carry on using the BBB method. It will help you more than you think. Have fun and keep us posted.

Pat

[Simmons99]

According to Taylors charts I need just under 6 gals of Acid to lower my TA 100ppm. Not sure if I have enough time to use Bens method.

ACID lowers PH - lower PH also affects the TA and lowers it until the PH comes back up and then the TA comes back up. Just lower the PH to 7.0-7.2 and then aerate by having a pool party (splashing) or by turning a return up to disturb the water surface. When you aerate at a low PH, then the PH rises but the TA stays lower - you do this a few times (over a week or two) and you will be set.

DO NOT add 6 gallons of acid to your pool.

[poolpilot]

Thanks for the response. I thought 6 gals of acid seemed a little excessive. Should complete the conversion to Bleach by the weekend,still have some pucks in the system, should be gone over the next 48 hrs. BTW, as far as I can tell my ladder bolts are S.Steel, will check with a magnet tomorrow.

From what I recall true Stainless is non magnetic but there again there are made sub alloys of stainless,thats why cheap stainless sinks will eventually rust and why some stainless fridges now attract magnets.

Im home for the next 3 weeks so should be able to devote some time to get this puppy house broken.