ATTN: All BBB experts! You are needed!

[Jeannie]

Hi everyone

I an new to the BBB method and want to master it. Can you help me? My little guy has dry skin and I really want to use the least amount of harsh chemicals possible in my pool. Saving $ is an added bonus.

Several days ago my ph, chlorine and alkalinity were all very very low. Instead of running to the pool store I researched the BBB method and added the recommended amounts of baking soda, borax and bleach, several hours apart, in front of the discharge area. I then ran the filter for 12 hours.

My levels today (2 days later) are as follows:

Chlorine: HIGH
PH: 6.8 I know this is still too low. Maybe another box of borax is needed?
Alkalinity: 80 PPM

Hardness: As directed I added 5 drops of hardness indicator and swirled it in the test kit. My water stayed clear and never turned red to indicate hardness. I guess no hardness is present in my water. Is this a good thing or something I need to correct?

Cyanuric acid: Between 70 and 80 ppm (I know I need to lower this to 30 or 50. Is the cheapest way to drain the pool a bit (8 inches or so?) and top off with fresh water? I want as little chems as possible in my pool.

Thank you in advance to everyone who replies

Jeannie

[Jeannie]

P.S.

I read that I can lower CYA by adding 6% ultra bleach to bring the level down. The only thing is that my chlorine level is already testing on the high end and I don't know if bringing the chlorine level even higher would be a bad thing. Also, I did have some green algae along some side areas of my pool which I removed by vacuuming yesterday.

Jeannie

[chem geek]

You can only lower your CYA via partial drain/refill or diluting via backwashing or splash-out. Adding chlorine won't lower your CYA. To learn more about BBB and other topics, you can look at The Pool School at Trouble Free Pool.

Yes, add some more Borax to get the pH up higher, but realize that the pH test can falsely read too high when the chlorine level is high (so the pH really is probably too low).

If your pool is not a vinyl pool then you should have some Calcium Hardness (CH) in the water. Even a vinyl pool usually has 100-150 ppm just to avoid possible foaming issues. However, the problem could be your test kit. You should really have either the Taylor K-2006 you can get at a good online price here or the TF100 kit from tftestkits(dot)com here.

[BilliBob]

the pH test can falsely read too high when the chlorine level is high (so the pH really is probably too low)

Wow! I learn something new every time I visit these forum pages.

Thank you

[chem geek]

You can read more about test interferences here including the effect of >10 ppm FC on pH readings.