RiverbendPoolSupply.com - Todd's Blog - Episode 83

Another week gone by, more maintenance to do to the pool. We are starting to see temperatures above 100 degrees. The 10-day forecast says we will be seeing 100+ for the duration of the foreseeable future.
Now is the time to really stay vigilante on your pool chemistry. Keep the PH proper and your chlorine between .5 an 1.0 PPM
Pool looks amazing today and feels that way too.
Free Chlorine - .4 PPM
Total Chlorine - .4 PPM
This is ok. Since we are seeing higher temperatures for the next several days in a row I added two chlorine tablets this week instead of just one. Keep in mind that over the past 3 weeks my pool has only used one tablet total and not once did I have cloudy water, algae, or anyone get ill from swimming.
However, since heat has a negative effect on chlorine levels, and we are going to see intense heat this week, I added two tablets just to be safe. Better safe than sorry; I had a Salmonella infection recently. It took eight-thousand dollars of tests and IV fluid to figure out I needed $12 worth of anti-bio-tics.
As long as you maintain a .5 PPM free chlorine residual with the combination of PoolRX, Borate, Enzymes and PolyQuat you will be safe.
PH - 8.0
The garden hose was still in the pool because I had to fill it up! Fill water generally has a high PH so it is not surprising that I am having to adjust the PH, in fact the more evaporation that happens, the more fill water that is added, which results in the use of more acid.
I did an acid demand test and determined I needed 4 cups of acid.
Total Alkalinity - 80 PPM
This is perfect.
Calcium Hardness - 250 PPM
This is also perfect.
Cyanuric Acid - Less than 20 PPM
This has been an interesting journey this season. I have added upwards of 5 pounds of Cyanuric Acid and I still can't seem to hold more than 20 PPM.
Despite this I have not had trouble maintaining the chlorine that I need. Interesting.
Phosphates - 400 PPB
All last year I used the enzyme and phosphate remover CV-700. Then this year after I ran out of CV-700 I decided to give PoolPerfect+POhosFree a try since a lot of you use that one. I wanted to see the differences.
From the standpoint of the enzyme I would say they are equal, but CV-700 definitely has a stronger phosphate remover in the mix. Last year my phosphate levels stayed around 100 PPB; since switching to PoolPerfectPhosFree I have had a steady 400 to 500 PPB Phosphates.
Remember though, phosphate removal is secondary to the enzyme. It is much more important for chlorine demand and for avoiding chloramines that the enzyme break down oils, sweat, lotions, etc.
I added 8 oz of PoolPerfectPhosFree and 3 oz. of PR-10,000 to remove the phosphates.
Borates - 50 PPM
This is still good, though for maximum effectiveness 80 PPM is desirable.
We will see what happens to the pool throughout this week with the intense heat. I can not wait to fry eggs on my car hood!