Ordered My Pool

[dcombs44]

Been tinkering all day. Got a few drips in the filter plumbing. I've been adjusting here and there trying to seal them up, but some are stubborn.

Latest Test Results:

FC: .6
CC: 0
pH: 7.4
Alk: 130
CYA: No reading yet.

I added 1.75 lbs (28 oz) of CYA this afternoon. I dissolved most of it in a sock, and the rest, I mixed in a bucket and added to the skimmer. That should get me to about 15 on CYA.

My nephew is in the pool right now. When he gets out, I plan to add 96 oz. of 6% bleach. Should get me to 4 ppm. I'll test before I go to bed and when I get up to see if any chlorine is used up over night. If it is, I'll shock tomorrow evening.

I did find that the local hardware store carries 10% Liquid Chlorinator for $3.99 a gallon.
The way I calculated, that comes out a fair amount cheaper than bleach.

A couple of questions:

1) Should I add more stablizer now? Say another 15 oz. That should get me to somewhere around 23 ppm. Then I could bump it up to 30 or so from there a little at a time. Or......should I leave it as is, test in a week and add more then?

2) I guess I only had one question for now.

[Watermom]

You'll be ok to go ahead and add some more cya now.

[dcombs44]

Added another pound of CYA this morning. Like I said, that should get me up to around 23 or so.

Since the Taylor kit's lowest reading is 30, is there a way to alter the test to know where I am right now? More drops/fewer drops, less test water/more test water?

How do I know that I'm getting close to 30?

Tested FC this morning, and it was still a solid 3 ppm. No FC loss overnight. Water is sparkling, and things are going well so far. (Knock on Wood)

[Poconos]

I don't know about altering the 1:1 ratio but you should be able to judge by how cloudy the sample is getting. The dot doesn't just disappear....it fades away into a blur then to nothing so that should give some idea if you are approaching being on-scale.
Al

[Watermom]

It should take about 3-1/2 lbs. of cya to get to about 30ppm in a 15K pool. There is no kit that I am aware of that can differentiate a reading of less than 30ppm.

[dcombs44]

Just wanted to give a quick update.

Pool water is still sparkling. I'm down to adding about 2.5 quarts of bleach a day. It usually ends the day at about 1.2 to 1.6, and we've been bumping it up to 4.0 ppm. CYA should be nearing 30. I've used 2 trichlor pucks this week to pump it up a bit more. I'll probably test it at the end of this week, backwash, and then add the remaining amount.

However, I'm fairly sure that the pool has a small leak. As I mentioned before, the liner slipped when we were filling, so the sand underneath became quite wet.

Each morning, there is a wet spot around a section of the pool. At first, we had hoped it was just the weight of the pool pushing the water out of the sand underneath, but it's continued for a couple weeks now. I'm not losing much water, because after considering evaporation, there can't be much water. I guess I need to do the bucket test to compare evaporation for a couple days to know for sure. Not sure how we would've gotten a hole in the liner, but I guess it's possible.

Beyond that, we've been enjoying the pool, and it's staying nice and clean and clear. I did manage to swim enough to get swimmer's ear, so that's fun. I'm out of swimming commission for a few days, but I'll be back at it soon enough.

Thanks for all your help folks.