PS234 1st Test Results

[let_her_flicker]

Flicker,



Well, not really. Most folks on this forum have to add chlorine more frequently than once per week. The consumption of chlorine is dictated by organics introduced into the pool.

Secondly, the Sun will destroy chlorine if it is not protected with CYA so, in some repects, that would mean the Cl does get consumed at a slower rate but it seems a little misleading to think you may only have to replenish weekly or bi-weekly.

Dave,

Most people on this forum run their pools (including myself) in the 30 -50 range for CYA.

Running a pool at a higher CYA level (>100) was discussed at length on the old forum. A couple of people shared their results. Ben also discussed this at length.

To do it you had to have Ben's kit and test almost daily to see how fast the chlorine was being used up. This would only work after all the organics or anything else that would consume chlorine at a higher than normal rate were killed off. Normal organics (fecal material, bugs, leaves) consuming your chlorine are taken into account.

People shared their results that if you took it up to the high range of the best guess chart, 15 ppm it takes longer to lose 8 ppm of chlorine than it does if you run your in the 30 to 40 CYA range and chlorinate to 6 and have to add chlorine at 3 ppm (a loss of 3 ppm vs a loss of 7ppm.

I chlorinate every other day usually (96 oz of bleach) for use and direct sunlight with 35 ppm of CYA.

Now if you have triple the CYA that would theoretically you'd lose chlorine 3 times more slowly to direct sunlight. Yes, you would have to adjust for normal organics and you'd have to know your pool water. That is why Ben's kit with the FAS-DPD test would be essential to do this. I am not an expert of this subject, but a pool can be run successfully doing this.

Harry

[let_her_flicker]

Denise,

Your numbers look good except Total Chlorine is Free Chlorine + Combine Chlorine. In your case it would be 7 + .5 = 7.5 With your FC at that level, you are at the low end of the best guess chart for your pool's CYA level. You need to get the FC back up. Since you have Combined Chlorine (CC), I would raise my chlorine to the shock level of 25 ppm.

Secondly, since you have a high CA result, read up on Calcium in the Alkalinity and Calcium Thread.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=195

i would post there about the high calcium and if you need to do anything at all.

Good Luck and if you don't drain, maybe you could keep us posted on the loss of chlorine with CYA around 100 and how many times a week you have to chloriate to keep it within the operating range.

Harry

[CarlD]

Denise:

With a high CYA (Stabilizer) you have ONLY 2 options:

1) Run a high CYA/High Chlorine pool. That means your Free Chlorine (FC) has to be between 8 and 15 for daily use, and you shock it to 25 ppm when necessary. You need a proper test kit for that.

2) Dilution. If you drain half of your water off and refill, you'll STILL have a CYA of 50--the high end of the recommended level, but easy to manage.

Those are your choices. If someone tells you there's an additive to remove CYA, don't buy it. It will cause you more trouble than it cures and you'll WISH you had drained and refilled.

But then there's the problem of your excessively high calcium (CA) as well. It's in the 500's--400ppm is the max for a concrete/gunite/tile pool, or a pool with an SWG or heater. 500 is the absolute max for a vinyl pool without those things. If your Total Alkalinity creeps up just a tad above the 80-125 range, your water may go suddenly cloudy on you.

To make this worse, your Total Alk is low and needs to be raised to the 80-125 range or your pH will bounce around on you (see how everything is connected?) My suggestion is to raise Total Alk to 100ppm, no higher and never use Soda Ash to raise pH (if you need to do so), but only use Borax for that.

Draining off half your water and refilling would again be the solution, but ONLY if your fill water isn't high in calcium--you should test it.

If you elect to run a high CYA/High Chlorine pool, you need to get a FAS-DPD Chlorine test kit. You can get Ben's kit, a Taylor 2006 kit, or Leslie's Chlorine FAS-DPD Service Test Kit (only on-line--it's the Leslie's branded version of the 2006, but it's the same kit I believe).

Or, both Taylor and Leslie's offer on-line a test kit that is JUST FAS-DPD for chlorine.

But if you do so, with your water, you need to:
a) Keep FC in the 8 to 15 range and CC <.5 to keep your water sanitary
b) Keep your Tot Alk around 100, so you can keep pH from bouncing around, but not so high that the calcium comes out of the water in clouds...
c) Don't let your pH go too high--I'd guesstimate 7.6 MAX. As pH rises and falls, Tot Alk moves with it--so if it goes too high....see b)!
d) Do NOT use tri-chlor pucks (adds CYA, low pH), di-chlor powder (adds CYA, low pH) or cal-hypo (powder or tablets--adds calcium) to chlorinate. At this time all 3 are super-trouble for you--only use bleach or liquid chlorine to chlorinate. I repeat ONLY bleach or liquid chlorine!
e) Stay away from ALL pool store additives. You CAN keep your water clear, sanitary and sweet with your numbers, but not if you start throwing in the (expensive) garbage they will undoubtedly recommend.

Test, test, test!