I had to add acid to the pool this morning for the first time this season. I think this is the latest it has ever gone before needing acid. The season started off cool, and we have yet to have a big heat wave with multiple days in the 90s (though it has been plenty humid) and as a result, the water has stayed cool as well. It finally edged over 82 yesterday, and the pH has been stable at 7.8 up until today.
I forgot to turn the SWG back on after draining a bunch of water out of the pool yesterday morning (crazy amount of rain over the past several days) and as a result, the pool dropped from 5-6ppm Chlorine to 3ppm yesterday, which is a little bit lower than I like to keep it. I have a bucket of 73% Calcium Hypochlorite that I keep around for “emergency” chlorination, because it has a much longer shelf life than liquid Chlorine. I had not used the Cal-Hypo in over a year, and it has been sitting out in my shed the entire time. I added around 2 pounds yesterday evening, and this morning, the pool was at 8ppm free Chlorine. So, I’d say the stuff is still good. I left it indoors overnight, and by morning, the room smelled like a pool store, so I think the shed is still the right place for it. It definitely needs ventilation, as the container seems to out-gas a lot, and I know from experience that the fumes are corrosive. I’m happy to have the Cal-Hypo on hand when I need it, but for the future, I probably don’t need 50 pounds of it. A 25-pound bucket should be plenty, and is easier to handle.