First time tester

[chris.horney]

Well I received my handy dandy testing kit, and I also found out that my pool builders (that have been awful...) haven't been doing anything to my water and they filled it one month ago. I'm reading the site and trying to take it all in but don't even know where to start. I did all the tests (hopefully correctly) and here are the results.

Cl 0
Ph +8.2
Fc .5
Cc .5
Tc 1
Ta 190
Cya 30
Ppm 325

I'm going to try and make a store run soon so hopefully I can pick up something that can get me started in the right direction.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

What kind of pool do you have?? Plaster? Vinyl? Fiberglass? We need to know...as well as how are you set up to chlorinate? Which test kit are you using to get those results?

For now: Go get a few jugs of liquid chlorine (aka "bleach") from the grocery store. 8.25% bleach, with no scents, additives or thickeners. You'll use this to get some chlorine in there.

Buy a jug of Muriatic Acid from the hardware store. Usually in the paint section. You'll use this to bring your pH down.

Use the PoolMath app (found at the top of this page) to help you figure out how much to add of each. When you're ready we can help you.

Tell us more about your location, pool, size and equipment please.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm reading the site and trying to take it all in

You can't absorb everything at once. Focus your attention on "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School. The basics of everything you will learn starts right there.

 

[robdac]

I'm going to try and make a store run soon so hopefully I can pick up something that can get me started in the right direction.

Don't just go pick "something" up at the pool store. In fact, don't go to the pool store. You'll just have the same experience you just had with the pool builder. You need a couple gallons of plain bleach and a gallon of muratic acid. Pour in a gallon of bleach and get reading. That will keep things from getting worse. Pool math (at the top of this page) will tell you how much muratic acid to add to get the pH in balance. It's nasty stuff so be careful with it. Tomorrow (while you're still reading) pour the other gallon of bleach in.

 

[chris.horney]

I meant to home depot, that's exactly what I did. I picked up some bleach and muriatic acid and within a day it seems my levels are leveling out. A few things are a little high/low according to pool math but nothing looks completely out of place for now. I'm going to keep testing throughout the week just to make sure I'm doing everything right, but it looks like I'm ok (until time...)