Opening Numbers

[CarlD]

I keep forgetting to mention that the pool store guy, after hearing that I shock with bleach, said that he does not recommend that due to "the carginogens" in bleach. I didn't want to argue with him but it certainly sounds like he is saying that bleach may just give us all cancer

It's not the bleach, it's the chlorine. Chlorine can cause cancer. But the risk from unsanitary water is hundreds or thousands of times greater than the risk of chlorine-induced cancer.

They usually tell you "It adds to your dissolved solids". Yeah. But bleach is made from salt water (Sodium Chloride, NaCl--from high school chemistry) and the solution it's in is saline--so the dissolved solid is....salt. Funny thing: When you have a salt-water generator (again, chlorine from salt) you have to add LOTS of salt to your pool which drives your dissolved solids 'WAY up...yet that's OK.

See, it's all BS (Barnyard Slush) because pool stores don't make money if you:
1 ) buy bleach, Borax, Baking Soda and Washing Soda instead of tri-chlor, Soda ash and "Total Alkalinity Raiser".
2) You don't buy clarifiers, sequestrants, calcium, copper-based algaecides, or the latest...Phosphate removers.
3) Pool store water testing inevitably leads to recommendations of lots of additives--like 20 lbs of calcium in a vinyl pool.
4) No pool store sells the kind of test kits we recommend. I was amazed to actually find the FAS-DPD test kit as a stand-alone in a Leslies--and it was the only one they ever had.
5) They get their info from the pool chem companies, which are INCREDIBLY mis-leading about what their chems are, and what they do.

[BigStein]

I must say, at least this guy didn't try to push me when I said I already had the chemicals I needed at home.

Got another set of numbers from the store today while I was there to pick up some DE:

Free Chlorine: 5.3
CC: .8
pH: 7.1
Alkalinity: 100
Copper: 1.19
CYA: 25

A little dismayed to see the copper actually higher than my original, but then again the original number was taken from water before I started any of the equipment or stirred stuff up. I have seen less fallout from the copper than there was when I opened the pool and it is lessing daily so I just added some more sequestrant and that should take care of that problem. I will hold off on adding more chlorine while that stuff does it's work, even though I show CC. Good to see my alkalinity is up and pH is almost where I need it, I continue to test for that once or twice a day and have been adding Borax a cup at a time as needed.

The heat pump is doing it's job too so the kids may just be in the water by the end of the week.

[CarlD]

You can leave your T/A and pH where it is. Chlorine is more effective at lower pH levels and you do have some CC and, because of the copper, cannot raise FC much. So leave pH at 7.1 and get the most bang for the buck. Raise it when you actually start swimming.

[BigStein]

Thanks for the input Carl. I will do just as you suggest. The water is up to 62 degrees now and warmer weather expected tomorrow so the heat pump will be working even more efficiently, hopefully swimming by the weekend.

[BigStein]

Finally got warm again here in NH, well, around 75 anyway. The water was up to 80 so the kids and I enjoyed some time in the pool. The water has cleared beautifully since my last post, although I need to stay on top of my pH constantly as it loves to drop. No big deal though as Borax is plentiful enough.