First test kit is on the way

[joekrachie]

Just moved in to a house with a pool and hoping to take care of the general maintenance on my own, but I'm an absolute beginner. I'm in Sacramento, CA, so it's been pretty chilly for the last couple months. No chems have been added for at least 6 weeks, and the filter was out for 3-4 weeks. The filter is running again and I have the TF Pro with SLAM option test kit on the way. The water is still looking pretty good, so hoping I won't have to SLAM.

Questions right now are, how long should I be running the filter each day (there is also a Polaris vacuum)?

Once the test kit arrives, should I perform all tests or start with one or two parameters first?

Is there a particular order I should be performing these tests and adding chems? For example, should I start with an FC test and get that level in range before moving on to ph, or should I be testing and adjusting everything at once?

Thanks for reading, and for any tips or suggestions!

Joe

 

[ajw22]

Run through all the tests when you get the test kit and post the results here. Always get your FC up first. After that it depends.

Run your pump for a few hours every day.

You have PoolMath to log your test results?

Basic Pool Care Schedule

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Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

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[joekrachie]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I have the Pool Math app ready to go. Just waiting on the test kit now.

 

[ajw22]

Determine Pump Run Time

To figure out how many hours you need to run your pump, you need to know how fast your pump works. You can find this here.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[joekrachie]

Determine Pump Run Time

To figure out how many hours you need to run your pump, you need to know how fast your pump works. You can find this here.

www.troublefreepool.com

Pump says HP = .75, SF = 1.30
Pool is approximately 15k gallons.

 

[joekrachie]

Just ran my first set of tests using the TF-Pro. As mentioned, no chems have been added for at least 4-6 weeks. Here are the results:

Cl - Br < 1
ph > 8.2
FC = 1
CC = 0
TC = 1
CH = 350
TA = 160
CYA > 100

What should my first steps be? Pool math suggests bleach/liquid chlorine to raise FC, dry acid for ph, and calcium chloride for CH. Should I start with bleach, re-test then move on to ph? Should I start adding all 3 chems right away? The amount of recommended chems seems like a lot (14 lbs of CH???). Do I need to consider SLAMing? That would call for 4+ gallons of 12% liquid chlorine. That's a lot of bleach!

Also, what is the purpose of the Cl-Br (yellow side of the test block)? The kit also included a bottle of FAS/DPD testing solutions, but no instructions for that test. I see instructions on the tftestkits site. Should I perform one of those?

I know this is a lot of questions, but any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[mknauss]

Do your CYA test again using a 1:1 sample of pool water and tap water. Double the result.

You likely need to drain and refill at least half of your pool volume. So I would not add any other chemicals yet.

The yellow OTO (Cl-Br) is used only to tell if there is chlorine in the water. It is not accurate. Use the FAS-DPD to measure FC.

 

[Sarah and Nate]

Also, what is the purpose of the Cl-Br (yellow side of the test block)? The kit also included a bottle of FAS/DPD testing solutions, but no instructions for that test. I see instructions on the tftestkits site. Should I perform one of those?

The chlorine side of the block is a qualitative test for the presence of chlorine. Once you are more comfortable with the tests and how your pool's levels behave over time, you can use R-0600 and the chlorine side of the block as a quick check to make sure you have chlorine in your water. This will save you money as the R-0600 is much cheaper than the reagents used for the FAS-DPD test (R-0870, R-0871, and R-0003). For now, mknauss is right and you should stick to the FAS-DPD test.

The instructions for the comparator block tests should be on the front of your instruction card under Daily Tests (or as needed). See below.


The instructions for the FAS-DPD test are on the back of the instruction card, under Chlorine Drop Test.

As of right now you do not need to worry about a SLAM since you are saying the water still looks good and your CC is 0.

 

[joekrachie]

Do your CYA test again using a 1:1 sample of pool water and tap water. Double the result.

You likely need to drain and refill at least half of your pool volume. So I would not add any other chemicals yet.

The yellow OTO (Cl-Br) is used only to tell if there is chlorine in the water. It is not accurate. Use the FAS-DPD to measure FC.

Ran the CYA test as you suggested with a result of 130. (that is double)
The FAS/DPD came back with FC = 1.

Any alternatives to draining? The water looks pretty good and I'd hate to have to go that route if there are alternatives.

Thanks!

 

[joekrachie]

The chlorine side of the block is a qualitative test for the presence of chlorine. Once you are more comfortable with the tests and how your pool's levels behave over time, you can use R-0600 and the chlorine side of the block as a quick check to make sure you have chlorine in your water. This will save you money as the R-0600 is much cheaper than the reagents used for the FAS-DPD test (R-0870, R-0871, and R-0003). For now, mknauss is right and you should stick to the FAS-DPD test.

The instructions for the comparator block tests should be on the front of your instruction card under Daily Tests (or as needed). See below.
View attachment 552203

The instructions for the FAS-DPD test are on the back of the instruction card, under Chlorine Drop Test.

As of right now you do not need to worry about a SLAM since you are saying the water still looks good and your CC is 0.

Got it! Thanks for the reply. Based on the levels above, should I start with liquid chlorine, then move on to dry acid and calcium chloride?

mk suggested I may have to drain, but I'd prefer any alternatives.

 

[Sarah and Nate]

You could wait for your CYA to reduce naturally over time, but that will be exceedingly slow (3-5ppm a month) and it will be expensive and difficult to maintain the water’s good condition as you will need to maintain a really high FC level. The TFP recommendation is to drain half your water.

 

[Sarah and Nate]

Got it! Thanks for the reply. Based on the levels above, should I start with liquid chlorine, then move on to dry acid and calcium chloride?

mk suggested I may have to drain, but I'd prefer any alternatives.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the TFP first step would be to drain. Then liquid chlorine to maintain FC. Then you can adjust with acid - I think muriatic acid is more cost effective over dry acid.

 

[mknauss]

Drain if at all possible. At least 50%.

You can try using the upcoming AR rainfall to refill some. Drain down by 50% and divert as much rain water as possible. Then top off with the hose.

 

[joekrachie]

Well I guess I better start looking in to the draining process. Will draining and replacing 50% definitely do the trick?

 

[mknauss]

It will make maintenance viable as we get into spring. If you are going to use liquid chlorine for your sanitation each day, a CYA of 40-50 ppm is best.

 

[proavia]

Use muriatic acid (liquid) instead of dry acid.
Use of dry acid leads to sulfate buildup in the pool water.

Acid - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

No need to add calcium - your reported a CH of 350ppm.

When you have a chance....

• Test the pH, TA and CH of your fill water - don't bother with the rest of the tests.
• Link PoolMath with your forum account (Pool Math login needs to use same email and password as forum account). Then, when you log and save test results to PoolMath we can see the results by hover over your user icon, then clicking on PoolMath Logs. Look at Marty's and mine to see what I mean.

 

[joekrachie]

Use muriatic acid (liquid) instead of dry acid.
Use of dry acid leads to sulfate buildup in the pool water.

Acid - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

No need to add calcium - your reported a CH of 350ppm.

When you have a chance....

• Test the pH, TA and CH of your fill water - don't bother with the rest of the tests.
• Link PoolMath with your forum account (Pool Math login needs to use same email and password as forum account). Then, when you log and save test results to PoolMath we can see the results by hover over your user icon, then clicking on PoolMath Logs. Look at Marty's and mine to see what I mean.

Seems like I can't add logs if I'm not adding chems (won't let me save with a zero value in chems added). mk and Sarah & Nate suggested a half drain and refill before adding anything based on test results from this morning:

Cl - Br < 1
ph > 8.2
FC = 1
CC = 0
TC = 1
CH = 350
TA = 160
CYA > 100

Guess I have to figure out how to drain this baby. Thanks for the reply.

 

[proavia]

Seems like I can't add logs if I'm not adding chems (won't let me save with a zero value in chems added). mk and Sarah & Nate suggested a half drain and refill before adding anything based on test results from this morning:

Cl - Br < 1
ph > 8.2
FC = 1
CC = 0
TC = 1
CH = 350
TA = 160
CYA > 100

Guess I have to figure out how to drain this baby. Thanks for the reply.

You don't have to log adding any chemicals. Just input your test results and click save.
The paid version of the app allows unlimited log storage. The free version allows only your last results to be stored.

Only report the following using your TF-Pro test kit (Cl - Br and TC aren't needed)
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Water temperature
Salt (if using a SWG to chlorinate)

In the diluted CYA test, your result was between 60 and 70 - that gets rounded up to 70 as you can't interpolate between the lines. Since you did the diluted test (1:1) and got a result of 70, double that. Your CYA is 140.

With a CYA of 140, you will need to either drain/refill or exchange 65-70 percent of your pool volume - roughly 10,000 gallons of water.
Check the water table in your area to see if it would be better to do a drain/refill or a no-drain water exchange.

 

[wireform]

If he doesn't have a heater to create a big enough delta T he won't be able to do a "no drain water exchange".

 

[joekrachie]

After weeks and weeks of rain, I'm planning to do the drain and refill next weekend as everyone has suggested. Most are saying drain at least 50% with one person suggesting up to 70%. Since I'm hoping to only have to do this once for now, would there be any benefit to taking it down even further than that? Say, draining 90%?

Here are the test results of the water I will use to refill:

PH - 7.2
FC - Less than 1
CH - 75
TA - 120
CYA - Less than 30

I know I will need to start with a fair amount of liquid chlorine. Assume I'm using the 10% gallons from Walmart, how much should I have on hand?

What other chems/quantities can I expect to need in the first few weeks?

Thank you!