Math/New Water Help

[elsie]

Well, I finally got the pool (with the new liner/water) opened this past weekend, unusually late for me, but every weekend during the month of May it rained and I need the solid winter cover to be dry and totally clear of debris before I take it off. And I prefer weekends because I don't like looking at the mold and crud on the pool deck that's gathered under the cover during the long months covered so need a few hours to bleach-clean and pressure wash.

Although the water is as clear as I've ever seen it, there were pools of algae scattered about on the bottom. Although I never shocked it while it was covered, I did periodically add bleach which probably explains why the water remained very clear, at least that's my guess. As a new liner was installed last September, I did not want to shock and close and have such a high chlorine level for the 8 months it was covered. This is the first time I've never shocked before covering. At the end of this season what I will do is shock and then let level drift down to 4 or 5 and then cover and check it and maintain it during the winter months much like what I did this past season but for the first time I may just add some polyquat.

In any case, I shocked to 15 and held it there for 2 days and brushed the pool each day as well as vacuumed a couple of times a day and the algae has not returned. Unfortunately, I don't think as a solo person I can vacuum to waste, can I, without someone holding the vacuum hooked up to the skimmer port so it [the vacuum head] stays in the water and doesn't suck air as I can't do that and be at the multiport at the same time? So I suppose I should probably backwash the filter, but since we're scheduled to get up to an inch of rain tomorrow I thought I'd wait since I will have to waste water anyway.

And now, interestingly, I no longer have the issue of low pH. Just like my old water, my pH creeps up (as a creature of habit I prefer this). I added 1-1/2 cups of acid the other day and my pH is now spot-on, at least for a week or two. Adding a little acid is a lot more economical than a box of borax every week! My TA is running even higher than during the winter at around 220, but with such crisp, clear water it's not a problem.

On a full sunny day w/my CYA at 50 I lose about 3 ppm of CL. Yesterday was clouds & sun and as predicted, I lost 2 ppm. Since about a third of a gallon (or 5 cups plus a tad) brings the ppm up 1, dosing is quite easy. On full sunny days I'll just add a gallon and others less. I just read a thread about preserving more FC with more CYA and although I don't understand much of chemgeek's posts as it's way more scientific than my brain can master, I'm wondering if I should raise CYA (and commensurately raise FC) to lessen the amount of bleach I will use (I still have CYA left over from last year so no out-of-pocket there). As it stands now, I figure maintenance bleach alone will run me about $30-$35 every 4 weeks with WalMart bleach @ 1.54 a gallon (it's so much easier to handle than the 1.42 jugs which then I must also measure out in cups to dose when I can just eyeball it with the gallon jugs, plus the 1.42 WalMart jugs only save a few pennies) plus more for heavy rains or needing to shock. I don't get the long hours of full sun like alyad's pool -- maybe only about 4.5 hours at most. I do run my filter 24/7 because of all the trees.

This brings me to a question I think I asked some years before but to which I don't believe anyone responded. If, for example, low pH can damage a liner, for those of us who live in the south and whose water doesn't freeze (in my case when the temps drop below 30 for a sustained number of hours I just run the pump), we absolutely *should* maintain good numbers throughout these long winter months? Why would we be so committed to them during the swimming season (e.g., in order to preserve the liner) but not the off-season? I remember adding many boxes of borax over the winter to keep my pH up and although I'd rather not, it seems to me the prudent thing to do. With a brand new liner one's state of mind is just a tad different.

Janet, if you're reading this, the darker blue liner quickly grew on me. I'll try to find some time here at work in the next day or two and upload some pics to the Kodak website to share as I don't think I can upload jpg's here.

FC 6
CC 0
pH 7.5
TA 220
CYA 50

Thanks and happy swimming!!! (76 degrees and rising fast)