1st of the season test results, not bad??

[faithfulfrank]

Hello everyone. It has been a long time since I posted, but I've enjoyed and benefitted from this forum for years. I own both a "new last year" PS234 test kit, and an older PS232 test kit I bought from Ben years ago. Anyway, here are my stats;

One 30' round pool about 20,000 gallons, outside of Buffalo NY. I never cover my pool in the winter, so I'm able to get to the pool earlier then most people here in western NY.

FC-7.5 (shocked it yesterday)
CC-0
TC-7.5
ph-6.8 ( I know it's low )
Alk- 40
Cal- 80
CYA- 35-40
Temp-70

I'm a bit rusty on my pool knowledge...I need to be here a bit more often to get retrained
I know that I should fix the ph first.....if I remember correctly, 20 mule team borax is the method of choice here.....i still have a box in storage from last year.

After that is within normal limits, should I bring the Alk up more? If I remember correctly, baking soda is the Rx for that...also have a new unopened bag of that from last year.

Anything else I should do?? Believe it or not, I was INSIDE the pool both last night and today vaccuuming it.....looks real good already, but a bit cold....I guess i'm getting tougher in my "old age"........one thing I did notice about the test kit from last year.....I now need reading glasses to read the results.....never did before, but I just turned 49, so I guess I cannot blame the kit.

It feels good to be back...thank you in advance for your kind help.

Respectfully, Frank D.

[faithfulfrank]

I went ahead and added the box of borax. I'll also go buy more, since I like to keep it on hand anyway, and I may need more after I retest.

I suspect that my low ph is due to me using tri-clor tabs over the winter and spring......I stop using them once my cya is where I want it to be, and that looks fine now, so i'll be switching to good old bleach for now on....only using some tri-clor tabs if we will be gone for more then a few days.

After my ph is higher, should I then add some baking soda to raise the Total Alk? I do not seem to remember what "PERFECT NUMBERS" are. My calcium is low, but since it is a vinyl pool and I do not have a heater, I believe it's fine....one year when I experimented with only using shock all year to clorinate, and by mid-summer the pool got cloudly due to high calcium levels, so since then, I like to keep that number a bit on the low side.

My pool looks a bit cloudy still, although I can see bottom real well. It is not sparkling yet, but it still had a lot of bottom dirt/dust and leaves yesterday morning, so I do not expect sparkling yet. i'll run the pump 24/7 for a few days in hopes of getting it "perfect and sparkling" soon.....

Frank D.

[faithfulfrank]

Well, after adding two boxes of Borax, the pool's ph is now 7.5

I have a few concerns about some small differences with my pump/filter this year, but I'll give it a few days, then post if needed.

Frank D.

[Watermom]

Your ph looks good at 7.5. Now, add a little baking soda and try and bring your alk to 80-125. Glad to have you back on the forum this season!

[faithfulfrank]

Thanks Watermom,
You've always been a great help. I'll add some baking soda today.
I'm a true believer in the BBB method, but Friday I did add a LITTLE super clarifier that I had from a few years ago.....the next day, the pool is now sparkling.

It probably wuld have gotten there anyway, but I may have a few minor filter concerns....(I'll keep an eye on it and see....I'm probably just being paranoid) so I took the shortcut. (I almost feel guilty)

Most people around here do not have their winter covers off yet. In western NY, you usually don't do the pool or the garden until this weekend. We have 3 month summers if we are lucky........

That is why a few months ago we took a big step towards retirement and bought a house in Florida......cannot wait to live there full time once I retire.....in exactly 1499 days......

Frank D.