My ph is low and it laughs at Borax

[waterbear]

SACRILEGE!!!!! YOU ARE HEREBY BANNED UNTIL THE UNIVERSE COLLAPSES!!!! ABANDON ALL HOPE!

(Just kidding......not a problem )

Well, it's not the first time a hot headed Mod has threatened to ban me is it?
Must be a New Jersey thing!

[CarlD]

Well, it's not the first time a hot headed Mod has threatened to ban me is it?
Must be a New Jersey thing!

Are yoo talkin' to me? I SAID are yoo talkin' to ME????

[Unabomber007]

Tested just now after 3 hours of pump running. Not sure how much it rained, but the water level is now perfectly in the middle of the skimmer.

FC 1.5
PH 7.2
ALK 120
CYA 80

So I just dropped one jug of Walmart bleach in and one more box of Borax. It's distressing that the CYA didn't go lower, but I am so not going to drain the pool again unless I start having problems.

Overall the water is MUCH improved today. Very little cloudiness as I can finally see all the way to the bottom. It needs a good vacuuming to waste but otherwise I think it's open and awaiting the better weather.

[aylad]

You need to keep a minimum of 5 ppm chlorine in a pool with CYA of 80, otherwise you're going to be fighting algae all summer. Also, if you use the trichlor pucks again this year, it's going to continue to increase your CYA and lower your pH, so I strongly suggest you use cal-hypo or bleach this year. I purposely run my pool at a CYA of 80 because I have all-day Louisiana sun with no shade and constant high humidity, but even I wouldn't allow my pool to go higher than 90 because I'd rather spend the summer swimming in my pool than shocking it.

Janet

[waterbear]

Aylad is right on the money. Listen to her! (particularly about NOT using any trichlor!)

[CarlD]

Ditto!

Further, your CYA DID come down: trying to read it at night by flashlight gave you a false score much lower than it was. The light must have made the sample look less opaque than it was.

The CYA test is PARTICULARLY sensitive to you always doing it the same way.