CYA levels

[dubbedout]

Happy to say I picked up 2 cases of bleach last night from Sam's. I used the pool calc to tell me how much to add to raise my chlorine to where I wanted it and it was spot on. Very happy so far. $9 for a case of 3 121oz bottles of bleach ain't bad!

I do have a question thought pertaining to my pH and TA. I used muriatic acid on 6/11 to lower my pH (it was 8.0) and I got it down to 7.4 and the TA also went down from 170 to 140. I've been keeping a close eye on the pH and it's climbing everyday. 6/12 I tested and it was up to 7.6 and today its up to 7.8. I tested the pH of my fill water and its high...at least 8. Am I just going to be stuck with adding acid to my pool every other day?

Thanks!

[BigDave]

The TA will move down as you add acid. The pH rising trend will slow as the TA comes down.

[dubbedout]

What should my goal TA be?

[Watermom]

80-120 or so.

[dubbedout]

Well I got my pH down to 7.2 but TA is still at 140. But now the water is no longer crystal clear..back to cloudy. Is the pH too low? Seems like my sweet spot was 7.4-7.6 when it was crystal clear. I've been running the pump all afternoon with it aerating. We're having a party today and wanted the pool looking perfect but oh well.

[Watermom]

7.2 is fine. But, you don't want it lower.

What is your chlorine level? Cloudiness may indicate an impending algae bloom. Since your CYA is really high, you'll have to run high chlorine levels or you are gonna continuously have algae problems. (If you haven't already done so, read the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below.)

[dubbedout]

I think you hit the nail right on the head. Water now has a green tint to it and getting worse. My CL level was a 8, so now im dosing with 8% bleach to raise it to 25 (per the best guess chart for the shock value).

[dubbedout]

Water is still greenish, tested and got a 22ppm for CL and pH is back to around 7.5 and TA 130. I need to make another bleach run, but I'm curious how long it will take to clear up with keeping the CL at 25 and running pump 24/7?

[Watermom]

There is no way to predict that. See if you are losing chlorine overnight. Test it this evening after the sun is off the pool and then again in the morning within one hour of sunrise. Report back and tell us how much chlorine you lose overnight.

Two questions for you:
1. What was the source of your fill water?
2. Check the ingredients on the trichlor tabs you used. Does it list copper as ingredient?

[Themadczar]

$9 for a case of 3 121oz bottles of bleach ain't bad!

For future reference, comparing bleach prices is tricky since there are several variables (price, quantity, and concentration) so sale prices can be deceiving. But there is a simple calculation that enables a quick, accurate assessment. Price/ounces/concentration. So for your bleach, $9.00/363 ounces/8.25%= 30 cents per ounce of chlorine. As a point of reference, I by bleach at Aldi at about $0.21/oz, and if I remember correctly, Walmart's regular price is around $0.28/oz. I recently found pool chlorine on sale at Menards for $0.14/oz! If you can remember to start with the price then divide by quantity and concentration, you can always compare prices and know on the spot if a sale is really a good deal (I rarely find even sale prices that beat Aldi here in NW Indiana).