Late season results

[kearpaul]

Hi folks,

It's the first truly chilly (<40 deg.) week here in NoCal and here are my results:

FC 4.0
CC 0
TC 4.0
PH 7.8
ALK 110
Cal 260
CYA is greater than 100
Temp: brrrr . . .

It's a plaster pool, about 1yr old. Chlorine is trichlor pucks in a floater.

Looks like I'm overstabilized. I was thinking of switching to bleach and re-testing in the spring. That's easier than draining. Any opinions or other reaction?

Cheers from the Sierra Foothills,
Paul

[waste]

Hi Paul, welcome to the forum!! It sounds to me like you've done some reading here (and maybe at www.poolsolutions.com) and have a decent 'grip' on what's going on with your pool. At this point in the season, waiting til spring to make major chem changes is probably the best idea.
With such a high cya level vs cl, you may expeience some algae when you open the pool next spring, however - this may help bring the cya level down. I don't know if it's more cost efficient to partially drain a pool to rid it of excess cya or to let the pool become an algae pit (which also seems to deplete the cya), perhaps someone else could perform the 'cost analysis' [too many variables for me to calculate].
Whichever way you go (drain now or wait til spring and possibly deal with cya reducing algae) - I'd say let the pool 'sleep' for the winter and DEFINATELY make the change to BBB next season and never have this conundrum again

Just my] take on things! Again, welcome to the forum, and if you need some help in the spring 'getting things right', all you have to do is ask and we'll help you! - Waste

[nater]

Hey Kearpaul!

One thing you may consider is that if you stop using the pucks and switch to bleach as needed now, any rain dilution you get during the winter will help bring down your CYA for spring. (Assuming you get enough rain to require partial drains during the off season).

I was succesful at reducing my CYA from 150+ to 70 over the past spring/summer by a series of partial drain and fills. As long as you manage your Cl level according to the best guess chart, I don't see a good reason for a drastic CYA level drop. Just my $.02.

[kearpaul]

Thanks for the help, folks!

I'm out to remove the pucks and then get some bleach.

Cheers from the foothills of the Sierras,
Paul

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But, when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.
Mark Twain

[CarlD]

What everyone forgets is that with <40 degree water, you won't get much algae growth--only Poconos seems to be able to grow algae in water in the 30's!

But if you continue to use pucks, your CYA will continue to rise--and it's already 'way too high.

So I suggest you switch to bleach or liquid chlorine (same thing as bleach) ASAP, but if you don't have algae now, you won't get it as long as the water is cold. Your pH is a tad high, but don't worry about it--rain is usually slightly acid, esp in Cal, and should lower your for you.

Winter rains and drains can make it easy to lower CYA off-season.

[kearpaul]

Thanks Carl!

The aggravating thing is that, at the beginning of the season, I wasn't using pucks, only bleach. But my Cal was quote too low unquote and I switched. Now Cal is fine but CYA is the problem. My pucks are all gone and I'm switching back to bleach. Anyone else feel like the boy with his finger in the dike?

Well, thanks for letting me vent. And it's good to know there's a possibility I can get CYA down by spring.

Cheers from NoCal,
Paul

When I can walk into a restaurant with a pipe in my mouth, and have the hostess ask, “Smoking or nonsmoking?” I know that I have the right pipe.
Lee von Erck

[CarlD]

Huh?
Tri-chlor pucks do NOTHING for low calcium levels. They are no better for that than bleach. Tri-chlor is good for new plaster pools that need CYA and are very basic as they cure. The Tri-chlor adds CYA and helps keep pH down because they are VERY acid. But they don't have calcium. Ever.

If you need to raise calcium use either the calcium powder (Calcium carbonate?) the pool store sells or chlorinate with Cal-Hypo powder or tabs (WARNING: DO NOT ADD THEM TO YOUR CHLORINATOR! VERY, VERY DANGEROUS! NEVER MIX CHLORINE TYPES IN ANY DISPENSER! ).
Don't get the junky 48% chlorine cal-hypo that Wal-Mart and the discount houses sell (usually HTH), but search for the 68% chlorine version the better pool stores stock. It costs more but actually adds more chlorine per dollar and does NOT add nearly as much "inert ingredients".

Calcium Hypochlorite adds calcium and chlorine to your water, and may push your pH up, but you can adjust that with Muriatic Acid. Cal-Hypo does NOT add stabilizer.

Your assumption that you needed to switch to tri-chlor because calcium was low isn't correct (some pool store ignoramous told you that, I guess... "Dat's wot everybuddy uses.."), so you don't have to feel like you are caught on the horns of a dilemma.

You can ALWAYS use bleach to chlorinate, and simply add anything you need, like calcium or CYA or sodium bicarbonate (to raise T/A). If you run a higher Calcium level (like the high 300's, but below 400), you may not need to add in the spring.

[kearpaul]

Thanks again, Carl:

You're completely right. I was very unclear about what pucks I was using. Initially, I used Cal-Hypo pucks to raise Cal, but they did a crummy job of putting actual chlorine into the water. (It was a Walmart brand, not a pool store ignoramus. Just my own innate ignoramus tendency.) Once Cal was back on track, I switched to trichlor pucks. Net result, I fixed my Cal problem but am now overstabilized -- reaping what I sowed.

Best and HNY,
Paul

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We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents.
Mark Twain