I have to say that I've never been happier with my pool after converting it to SWG. It's a peak of Phoenix summer, heatwaves and thunderstorms. My pool is crystal clear at all times, not a single algae bloom, never been shocked, and it's used 24/7. I don't even brush the walls ever, I don't feel like I need to. It's almost maintenance free, besides adding acid once a week. I keep my alkalinity at 50ppm, which helps to maintain pH at 7.6-7.8 easily. Sounds too good to be true right? The secret is that I keep my pool pump running 20 hours per day at low speed :D. The extra electricity cost is worth it.
This has been brought up once in another comment and it was said that it was not a simple sytem, but it is super simple; BBB. Learning and applying BBB will definitely make pools less susceptible to algae formation and is proven as chemically-correct higher FC levels; sometimes called the TFPC method of pool care but they are the same. Notice how David mentions keeping fc 3-5. That flies in the face of the traditional method of pool care, because chemical labeling and most pool store personnel will tell you not to get in a pool where fc is above 4. So who is right? David is right; but only partly right if we're referring to appropriate fc levels in pools. David is trending towards the BBB methodology but only at cya at 30-40 is he correct. The BBB (TFPC) takes this fc level prescription a little further and more precisely defined and managed. TFPC publishes a chlorine/cya chart. You set, test and re test to confirm your cya level, and then using your cya level rounded up to the next ten, you maintain above a minimum fc level at all times. You manage this via testing and adding liquid chlorine or bleach daily or by setting your saltwater generator up to maintain daily targets and more closely monitor to ensure you stay above minimums. Using liquid, you avoid raising your cya level further, which reduces the effectiveness of chlorine and you avoid raising calcium hardness brought on by cal hypo chlorine dosing. You drtermine dosing by finding your pool per ppm dose via Troublefreepool.com's pool math calculator; entering your pool volume and type and concentration of chlorine. Optionally, TFPC recommends adding borates to help steady PH and also act as an extra algaecide as mentioned here. If you combine the TFPC method of chlorine and cya management and keep borates 30-50, you can have one tough pool against algae formation and growth with chlorine as your only sanitizer.
I prefer higher free chlorine levels as a rule. My personal pool is at 5-6 ppm. Was just in it today in fact. I keep my CYA at 50 ppm. So I am on the high end of the BBB Method.
Hey bud so my phosphates are 1250 the pool store says my Taylor test strips they sold me read a low PH .only reads as low as 6 ph but it’s lower than that by the cooor on strip is lighter than the ph 6 color . So I used phenyl red and it was clearly about 7.5 nice dark green color. And the FC was off by .4 ppm but it’s a test strip so that’s ok it’s close. But PH under a 6 and it’s 7.5 in reality that’s not acceptable. Oh my alkalinity said 120 and it was 80 when tested at pool store again unacceptable even for a strip. Hardness was off but test strip didn’t read it. They wanted me to put 3 quarts of phosphate remover in like 140 dollars worth. 25lbs of alk up ! And ya know baking soda they sell for hardness like 40 lbs of that. 30k gallon pool. Now the hardness in other brand strip was 200 which is ok it’s plaster pool. Up to 220 is ok right? And then that phosphate stuff I read online mixed reviews. Like a sell up at the store. But yes 1250 is high. But recently with 80 ca 3ppm fc 80 alk 7.5 ph I have to vacuum the pool every day if I miss a day theirs algae in the walls and floor blooming. This is with algae 60 starting dose and maintenance dose never missed. Also they wanted me to use 5 bags super shock 73. Which ok it will kik the algae but probably chlorine lock my damn pool lol? I just shocked it a week ago it rained heavily 3 days in a row so used 6 bags to straighten it out. Everything was reading fine til other day and then the test strips aren’t reading alk and PH correctly. But alk at 80 ph is fine 7.5 so I out the 5 bags of ss 73 in. But didn’t add the alk up or the baking soda that will cloud my pool even worse . Any tips ? Do I need to put in 3 quarts of this phosphate remover 1250 ppb not million and it’s like 50 or so each quart and is almost September! North East here so pool closes soon. I heard borates don’t know what it is can help with it. Any help appreciated. Last time I did what they said I chlorine locked my pool and had to add like 12 bags of oxidizer to break it .... btw pool was crystal clear this morning but algae on walks so I tried to vacuum walls but it kicked it up so I brushed them and vacuum the floor too
I would treat the phosphates since they are 1250 ppb. That should help with the pool holding chlorine. Not sure why the test strips are so off - could be a bad batch. Along with the phosphate remover you will need to add some shock or liquid chlorine to get that level up.
Cheaper and quicker to first drain half the pool and add fresh water. Use a hose filter. That will jump start the process and allow you to use less chemicals. Start by getting phosphates below 100 and then you are on the right course. Then need to keep adding a small dose of PhosFree weekly to keep the phosphates away. Best to figure out where they are coming from
Swimming Pool Tips, Reviews & How To - SPL probably a silly question but would they cancel each other out by using both? Is there any negative reason I wouldn’t want to use both?
I hear speak on cya levels and warn about high levels, then you say normal chlorine levels of 3-5ppm. TFP will say your chlorine levels should always be 7.5% of your cya levels. E.g., cya = 100ppm therefore chlorine level should be atleast 7.5ppm. Do you subscribe to that theory?
Sounds about right. I use the simple method of - if you want 5 ppm of chlorine in the pool you need to have the CYA at 50 ppm to protect and maintain that chlorine level. As the CYA number passes 100 ppm you will need a higher ppm level to maintain chlorine in the pool. It does go hand in hand.
@@SPL Awesome, I'm always grateful for reaffirmation from experienced professionals who have walked the walk. We need more people like yourself in our industry!
You don’t need 100ppm of CYA to achieve a ratio of 7.5% 7.5% of 50ppm is a chlorine level of 3.75 So you can achieve the same ratio at the ideal CYA ratio of 50 and use a lot less chemicals. Plus the chlorine effectiveness starts to drop off at a CYA of 60 anyway TFP really makes things overly complicated and confuses a lot of people. Wasted time and wasted chemicals. Just look at the length of the YT comments from the TFP folks: 500 words long thinking they have “cracked the code”. There’s more than one “right way” - what works for you may be trash for somebody else. If you can learn your pool and keep it simple you can ditch the TFP trivia
Thank you sir great information your knowledge has helped me very much with my own route.
Thank You so Much! I'm in SW Florida and these last few weeks been getting a little green in certain spots in the pool.
Your very welcome! 👍
I have to say that I've never been happier with my pool after converting it to SWG. It's a peak of Phoenix summer, heatwaves and thunderstorms. My pool is crystal clear at all times, not a single algae bloom, never been shocked, and it's used 24/7. I don't even brush the walls ever, I don't feel like I need to. It's almost maintenance free, besides adding acid once a week. I keep my alkalinity at 50ppm, which helps to maintain pH at 7.6-7.8 easily. Sounds too good to be true right? The secret is that I keep my pool pump running 20 hours per day at low speed :D. The extra electricity cost is worth it.
There you go! 👍
This has been brought up once in another comment and it was said that it was not a simple sytem, but it is super simple; BBB. Learning and applying BBB will definitely make pools less susceptible to algae formation and is proven as chemically-correct higher FC levels; sometimes called the TFPC method of pool care but they are the same. Notice how David mentions keeping fc 3-5. That flies in the face of the traditional method of pool care, because chemical labeling and most pool store personnel will tell you not to get in a pool where fc is above 4. So who is right? David is right; but only partly right if we're referring to appropriate fc levels in pools. David is trending towards the BBB methodology but only at cya at 30-40 is he correct. The BBB (TFPC) takes this fc level prescription a little further and more precisely defined and managed. TFPC publishes a chlorine/cya chart. You set, test and re test to confirm your cya level, and then using your cya level rounded up to the next ten, you maintain above a minimum fc level at all times. You manage this via testing and adding liquid chlorine or bleach daily or by setting your saltwater generator up to maintain daily targets and more closely monitor to ensure you stay above minimums. Using liquid, you avoid raising your cya level further, which reduces the effectiveness of chlorine and you avoid raising calcium hardness brought on by cal hypo chlorine dosing. You drtermine dosing by finding your pool per ppm dose via Troublefreepool.com's pool math calculator; entering your pool volume and type and concentration of chlorine. Optionally, TFPC recommends adding borates to help steady PH and also act as an extra algaecide as mentioned here. If you combine the TFPC method of chlorine and cya management and keep borates 30-50, you can have one tough pool against algae formation and growth with chlorine as your only sanitizer.
I prefer higher free chlorine levels as a rule. My personal pool is at 5-6 ppm. Was just in it today in fact. I keep my CYA at 50 ppm. So I am on the high end of the BBB Method.
what is SWIG? Do any of these products fade a pool liner?
I'm in Texas and will be doing the Borates in my 24' saltwater pool. Oh lawdy I hope it doesn't harm my cats!!
With the pool RX. Do you pass the cost on to the customer or figure it's just saving you $ on aleacide and such?
I sell it to them at cost. Can't absorb the cost.
Hey bud so my phosphates are 1250 the pool store says my Taylor test strips they sold me read a low PH .only reads as low as 6 ph but it’s lower than that by the cooor on strip is lighter than the ph 6 color . So I used phenyl red and it was clearly about 7.5 nice dark green color. And the FC was off by .4 ppm but it’s a test strip so that’s ok it’s close. But PH under a 6 and it’s 7.5 in reality that’s not acceptable. Oh my alkalinity said 120 and it was 80 when tested at pool store again unacceptable even for a strip. Hardness was off but test strip didn’t read it. They wanted me to put 3 quarts of phosphate remover in like 140 dollars worth. 25lbs of alk up ! And ya know baking soda they sell for hardness like 40 lbs of that. 30k gallon pool. Now the hardness in other brand strip was 200 which is ok it’s plaster pool. Up to 220 is ok right? And then that phosphate stuff I read online mixed reviews. Like a sell up at the store. But yes 1250 is high. But recently with 80 ca 3ppm fc 80 alk 7.5 ph I have to vacuum the pool every day if I miss a day theirs algae in the walls and floor blooming. This is with algae 60 starting dose and maintenance dose never missed. Also they wanted me to use 5 bags super shock 73. Which ok it will kik the algae but probably chlorine lock my damn pool lol? I just shocked it a week ago it rained heavily 3 days in a row so used 6 bags to straighten it out. Everything was reading fine til other day and then the test strips aren’t reading alk and PH correctly. But alk at 80 ph is fine 7.5 so I out the 5 bags of ss 73 in. But didn’t add the alk up or the baking soda that will cloud my pool even worse . Any tips ? Do I need to put in 3 quarts of this phosphate remover 1250 ppb not million and it’s like 50 or so each quart and is almost September! North East here so pool closes soon. I heard borates don’t know what it is can help with it. Any help appreciated. Last time I did what they said I chlorine locked my pool and had to add like 12 bags of oxidizer to break it .... btw pool was crystal clear this morning but algae on walks so I tried to vacuum walls but it kicked it up so I brushed them and vacuum the floor too
I would treat the phosphates since they are 1250 ppb. That should help with the pool holding chlorine. Not sure why the test strips are so off - could be a bad batch. Along with the phosphate remover you will need to add some shock or liquid chlorine to get that level up.
Cheaper and quicker to first drain half the pool and add fresh water. Use a hose filter. That will jump start the process and allow you to use less chemicals. Start by getting phosphates below 100 and then you are on the right course. Then need to keep adding a small dose of PhosFree weekly to keep the phosphates away. Best to figure out where they are coming from
Would you say adding Borates and Pool Rx together would reduce needed pool chemicals and algea more than just using one or the other?
Using both would for sure lower the amount of chlorine you will need each week.
Swimming Pool Tips, Reviews & How To - SPL probably a silly question but would they cancel each other out by using both? Is there any negative reason I wouldn’t want to use both?
@@andrewgaffka3525 No. those two products are complementary. Another good combo is borates plus phosphate remover (Borax + PhosFree)
I hear speak on cya levels and warn about high levels, then you say normal chlorine levels of 3-5ppm. TFP will say your chlorine levels should always be 7.5% of your cya levels. E.g., cya = 100ppm therefore chlorine level should be atleast 7.5ppm. Do you subscribe to that theory?
Sounds about right. I use the simple method of - if you want 5 ppm of chlorine in the pool you need to have the CYA at 50 ppm to protect and maintain that chlorine level. As the CYA number passes 100 ppm you will need a higher ppm level to maintain chlorine in the pool. It does go hand in hand.
@@SPL Awesome, I'm always grateful for reaffirmation from experienced professionals who have walked the walk. We need more people like yourself in our industry!
You don’t need 100ppm of CYA to achieve a ratio of 7.5%
7.5% of 50ppm is a chlorine level of 3.75
So you can achieve the same ratio at the ideal CYA ratio of 50 and use a lot less chemicals. Plus the chlorine effectiveness starts to drop off at a CYA of 60 anyway
TFP really makes things overly complicated and confuses a lot of people. Wasted time and wasted chemicals. Just look at the length of the YT comments from the TFP folks: 500 words long thinking they have “cracked the code”. There’s more than one “right way” - what works for you may be trash for somebody else. If you can learn your pool and keep it simple you can ditch the TFP trivia
That is the worst intro music ever. 😂