Hi from Montreal, Canada

[Go_Habs_Go]

Hi all!

Just joined the site today and wanted to say hello. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I bought a house in 2013 that came with a Dauphin pool. It's quite old, from what I can tell it was built at the same time as the house (1966). I was told these pools were built to last - supposedly it's made from stainless steel and aluminum as opposed to today's fiberglass? In any case, the pool seems to be in great shape so here's hoping it keeps on going.

However I've been having some trouble with water chemistry this summer as I'm getting grey powder on the bottom of my pool. But I'll post a separate thread in regards to this in the right section of the forum.

Looking forward to learning from all of you!

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello Dave and welcome to TFP! Best thing for you to do right now ... The proper test kit (i.e. Taylor K-2006) is the foundation of your pool care. Why this kit? First, it's the only one available to Canadian residents, and we've learned through personal experience that you cannot reply on pool store testing, test strips, or simple over-the-counter kits. They simply do not read Free Chlorine (FC) or Cyanuric Acid (CYA) levels accurately or to the high levels we need. If you do not have a Taylor K2006 test kit, it should be your #1 priority. You can order it from my link below titled "TF-100".

You can also read the Pool School page or other vital links you see below to get started. Lots of great info there. By all means, ask questions as need, and welcome to the forum.

 

[epro05]

I don't think tftestkits can ship to Canada.

 

[Go_Habs_Go]

Thanks for the info Pat. But when I click on the TF-100 link in your signature it takes me to the TFTestkits.net site which says they only ship to US Addresses?

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

The above are correct. You need a good test kit and tftestkits.net can not ship to Canada .... which means you will have to grossly overpay for a K-2006

 

[Texas Splash]

Here's a thread from last year with a couple links and discussions you might find useful: Taylor K2006- FAS-DPD Pool Water Test Kit?

 

[jblizzle]

Apollo pools does not exist anymore ... Texas Splash is 0 for 2 in this one

You can order from Lowry's who has the Taylor distribution monopoly.

 

[Texas Splash]

Okay, I'm out of the test kit business for today.

 

[BoDarville]

Bienvenue au TFP!

The previous responders are right about the TF-100 not being available outside the US. So, the K-2006 it is. At least it does contain the all-important FAS-DPD chlorine test.

Here are some resources to give you an overview of managing your pool using our methods:
1. ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry
2. Chlorine CYA Chart
3. Recommended Pool Chemicals
4. Recommended Levels
5. Pool Math

Feel free to ask about anything pool or outdoor-related as there is plenty of knowledge here on the forum. However, judging from your user name, I don't think we can talk about hockey - at least not in the same room! :hockey:

 

[Go_Habs_Go]

Thanks to all for the info and for the warm welcome to the site!

Bienvenue au TFP!
Feel free to ask about anything pool or outdoor-related as there is plenty of knowledge here on the forum. However, judging from your user name, I don't think we can talk about hockey - at least not in the same room! :hockey:

I guess you are not a Habs fan...are the Dallas Stars your team??

 

[Eauclaire]

The k-2006 is under 'Commercial Products' on the Lowry Associates website. Shipped to Montreal, you are looking at ~200$! You need an Amerifriend that lives in Plattsburgh...

 

[Go_Habs_Go]

Ouch! That is really expensive. I have some family in NYC so I guess I can have the package shipped to them and pick it up on my next visit!

 

[canpool]

Yes the test kits are big $$ (like everything) when paying duties to come into Canada. Salt is the way to go for our short season here.

Go habs! Hopefully we can get our offense going for 2016.

 

[Eauclaire]

We could ask the question: for a 3-4 month swimming season AND a two to three month permanent ice cover on the pool, do we still need the K-2006?

The biodegradation under the ice cover assures a CYA of 0 at Spring ice out. So addition of 30 ppm, settles the issue for the whole short swimming season. The cal hypo vs liquid bleach issue is also mute, because 50% of the water is replaced by ice/snowmelt every year, so water hardness will remain low. Most Canadian surface water is soft anyway, with the exception of the Great Lakes. I have been operating my pool since 1993 and have never observed any DPD3 labile chlorine (ie cc). OTO and DPD 1 are always identical;even during severe algal blooms. Maybe my pool traffic is too light! So in the end we can 'get away' with OTO Chlorine, pH, TA for this subset of pool owners.
Our biggest challenge is measuring OTO chlorine in the 10 + ppm range when SLAMing, with color comparators limited to 3-4 ppm. I use a 3 mL disposable syringe to dilute the pool water with distilled water.

 

[chem geek]

If you could package up the bacteria doing the biodegradation and ensure they'd do the same in any other pool on demand, you'd make a mint with a great product! The loss of CYA seems very haphazard in most pools, even those let go over the winter (i.e. with pools that are "closed" usually due to freezing).

 

[Eauclaire]

My pool freezes up by mid November. I have run a vertical redox profiler under ice cover in March, by drilling a small hole through the ice over the 8 foot depth. The redox environment is highly stratified and decreases rapidly with depth approaching 0 within a few centimetres of the pool bottom. I would suggest that it is the anoxic bacteria within this micro-layer that remove the cyanuric acid, but the kinetics are really very slow, requiring many weeks to complete, as temperatures are between 1 and 3 Celcius. Also, my pool is surrounded by vegetation, and even with the best of covers, some organics fall in after pool closure. I agree with you, in that CYA is probably only weakly degradable by oxic bacteria. As an aquatic bio geochemist, I spent years studying the bottom waters of small lakes in summer and under ice cover. Redox reactions are universal.

 

[chem geek]

As I note in this thread, the conversion of CYA into ammonia can happen to anyone and rather quickly in just a few days as happened in my pool. What was strange is that the pool was never closed since it doesn't freeze where I live. I was just sloppy and let the chlorine get to zero when the extra demand from probably algae in the solar panels and the higher temperatures used up chlorine. The environment couldn't have been very anaerobic, but nevertheless some of the CYA got converted into ammonia and partially degraded CYA (see also Degradation of Cyanuric Acid (CYA)). Fortunately in your case other bacteria continued the degradation of ammonia to nitrogen gas so that you didn't have a huge chlorine demand upon opening.

While we understand the mechanisms, we don't understand how to control it. My pool at the time was rather rich in nutrients with 3000+ ppb phosphates. That might have helped speed things along.

 

[BoDarville]

I guess you are not a Habs fan...are the Dallas Stars your team??

Yes, but back in the day, my favorite team growing up was one of your arch-rivals - the Philadelphia Flyers - even though I'm not from Philly. I still have an affinity for the Flyers and have one of their jerseys from the 1970's along with a Stars jersey, of course. I've always had this saying...How do you get a group of Flyers fans and Bruins fans to buy each other rounds of beer all night? Get them talking about the Canadiens! :hockey: