Thanks To All!! Clear Pool At Last

[karenkr]

First I want to thank all of you-----I finally have a beautiful clear pool. Had my doubts but kept plugging away with the bleach and just like you promised I finally have a Swimming Pool again.
Do have a couple of questions though. Even after draining my pool about 1/2 way I still have a high CYA of 120. I know I should drain again but Im going to try to just maintain a higher chlorine level for right now.
Pool readings: Chlorine: 10
Ph: 7.8 (is this too high)
TA: 160
CYA: 120
Are my readings ok???
Also have a really dumb question. Will calcium hypochlorite raise my cya?? The reason Im asking is our ACE store has a good sale on it and right now it is cheaper than bleach----but I do not want to raise my cya. The package reads calcium hypochlorite 62.4%, other ingredients 37.6% , Available chlorine 60%. Would it be ok to use or should I just stick to bleach?
Again THANK YOU!!
Karen

[aylad]

Cal Hypo will not raise your CYA, so if your Calcium readings are low, it would be a good alternative for you for now. You don't give a calcium (hardness) reading, though--you don't want to go above about 400 because you'll start hving cloudy water problems, especially with the pH and alk that high. (Hardness issues aside, pH of 7.8 is on the high end, but it's okay--same with alk of 160...........it's not okay if you have high calcium levels, though, because the calcium will tend to precipitate out of the water and cause milky looking pool.)

Janet

[karenkr]

Thanks for answering me.
I tried to test my hardness. Put 5 drops in and nothing happened. Did not turn red. Went ahead and added 30 drops of titrant and still no color. Does that mean I have too much hardness or none? If too much what do I do?
Thank you
Karen

[aylad]

Sounds like you don't have any....cal-hypo shouldn't be a problem for you.

Janet

[karenkr]

Thanks
Sure appreciate your quick answer. Should I try to lower my ph some? re-tested ph 7.8, TA 160, Cl 8
Karen

[chem geek]

You can try, but you may find that your pH will want to drift upward because of your high TA. My guess is that you'll have a hard time getting much below 7.5 and staying there without fighting a rising pH (and adding acid to compensate). There isn't a real problem operating at the higher pH you are at though your chlorine effectiveness is slightly reduced (not that much though, due to your CYA).

Speaking of CYA, your CYA is too high at 120. Yes, you can try and maintain a minimum chlorine level of 8, but if you pool is exposed to sunlight, then you'll be fighting loss of chlorine every day. I know you said you already drained by half and wanted to try and keep the chlorine level up, but if you find that you have a hard time doing that (because your chlorine loss is high and you are adding lots of chlorine every day), then read on.

My suggestion would be to partially drain and refill your pool water (again). This will lower the values of all of your pool chemicals including CYA and TA unless your fill water is high in TA (i.e. is very hard water). You can use your test kit to test your fill water, mostly for TA and CH (there shouldn't be any CYA in it). Since there wasn't any CH in your pool, I would guess there is no CH in your fill water and usually that would mean your TA in this fill water would also be low (which is all good).

Anyway, that's my two cents...for what it's worth.

Richard