Want to learn about pool chemistry

[PoolDoc]

Orange = chlorine greater than 15 ppm. Brown = chlorine greater than 50 ppm.

This is a reliable and meaningful result with OTO drops, if not very precise.

[touchton]

Thanks. I've turned the chlorinator down to 20% and I'm running the pump 12 hours a day now. Like I said earlier, I want to use the BBB method. I would like to get everything at a good 'base' level and get some confidence in my testing results. The results of my testing yesterday were:

pH 7.8
CL >15 using the K-1000 test kit
FC 20 using the Chlorine Drop test
CC 0 using the Chlorine Drop test
ALK 100
CH 130
CYA 50
Salt 3200 using the K-1766 test kit

Again, I'm new to this testing so my confidence in my results isn't great. From what I've been reading, aside from the FC being high, everything else is reasonable. I just need to get in a good routine of testing and adjusting as needed.

For the high FC; am I doing the right thing with the SWG by dropping to 20% and reducing the pump run time? Is there a guide for this somewhere? I assume I'll need to increase the % as we get more sun. I'm planning to get a weather station in the near future. Would measuring UV or solar radiation help with determining the proper setting for the SWG?

Thanks for your help.
Thad

[PoolDoc]

All looks fine; assuming you are algae-free, lowering the chlorine is appropriate.

Solar irradiation is a factor in chlorine use, but the mathematical correlation is not nearly good enough to improve on the results you can get by testing 2x per week, and 'getting the feel' for your pool.

[touchton]

Thanks for your help Ben. I've set the SWCG to 20% and I'm only running the pump for 12 hours a day. It's been running this way for 10 days now. The chlorine level is coming down. It's no longer orange; it's yellow but a little darker than the 5 - 10 reading. The water looks good. I'm still trying to get a grip on exactly what numbers I'm looking for.

Thad