What I have done!

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Lou-SADL

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May 14, 2016
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Ste-Anne-des-Lacs, Quebec, Canada
Good day to all,

I have been reading a lot on this forum last year but I have just become a member. We have an above ground pool, oval in shape, and regular standard equipment apart for our wood-burning pool heat. We have just purchase a Nirvana Heat pump because the wood burning heater works well as long as you are there to feed it wood, which is not always the case.

Last year, I was using the little paper bands our pool store sold us to test our water. Last winter, I have order the TF-100 testing kit. We are almost finished using all the chemicals that our pool store managed to convince us to buy. No more, I am ready to embrace the Trouble Free Pool philosophy!

Winter is finished, trees are starting to bloom. But we might get some snow overnight! That is the very definition of the weather in Quebec. This being said we want to open the pool! This morning, as my husband is bringing all the equipment back to its summer location, I was cleaning debris from the pool. I have just use the K-100 to determine the PH level: slightly below 6.8 and the chlorine obviously is 0. Now, I know I should start by bringing the PH higher before slamming. Should I use the complete TF-100 at this point to get a complete picture? Should I wait for the PH to be within optimal range before doing a more complete water test? Do I vacuum before trying to raise the PH?

Any starter's pointers would be welcome, I am a bit lost on the sequence of things.


Louise
 
Re: Hi from Quebec

Bonjour Louise and welcome to TFP! :wave: If you are able to mix (circulate) the water and test, and adjust pH at this time, I would do so. Once you receive your TF-100, you can post a full set of test results and we'll be very happy to help. Great to have you with us. :)
 
Re: Hi from Quebec

Just to give you an idea about Quebec's weather: yesterday it was a very nice day with 19C (66F), today it is about 5C (40F) and snow flakes are coming down from time to time!

Yesterday, we reconnected everything including the new plumbing for the new heat pump. I vacuumed the whole pool with the filter on waste and then started working on raising the PH. About an hour after adding a bit more Borax this morning, the PH was at 7.5. I have thus gone through the whole TF-100 testing and here are my numbers:

PH = 7.5
FC = 0
CC = 0
TC = 0
CH = 50 ppm
TA = 50-60 ppm It never actually turned red, it turned to a light pink after 5 drops, and to a bright pink after 6 drops. Is this ok?
CYA = 70 ppm I am surprised by this value, I was expecting a lower number but I am wondering what is meant by "keep adding until you can no longer see the black dot" Does this mean to not be able to distinguish a dot at all or the black dot becomes more of a greyish shape? Should I retest?

We bought plenty of liquid chlorine today, I am ready to slam the pool. Based on the above numbers, my understanding is I should raise the FC to 28 based on the Chlorine/CYA table. So I add the liquid chlorine, wait 1 hour and retest for FC and adjust if needed to get started. How often do I check the FC level during the slamming process? And I am done slamming when the pool passes an OCLT?

Thanks for the feedback,


Louise
P.S.: As soon as the thread is started for the liquid chlorine prices for 2016 is started I will add the prices I saw in my area. Super interesting price at our local Costco warehouse!
 
Re: Hi from Quebec

Hello again! :handwave: Yes, the black dot need to no longer be visible. It's a test you have to practice a few times outside in good daylight with the sun at your back. You don't want to stare so hard at down the tube at the dot you drive yourself nuts :crazy: but the dot should basically no longer be visible. I usually squirt some reagent in there, look away briefly, and continue. As for the TA ... yes, it turns to a bright Barbie pink/red which is fine.

Now if your water is cloudy or shows ANY indication of algae, then yes a SLAM would be in order. A CYA of 70 would require a SLAM FC of 28. Now if your water does NOT show any odd signs, you can simply keep your FC a little elevated from your target (8-10) for a day or so. Even perform an overnight (OCLT) test to see if you lose too much FC overnight. Then you confirm a SLAM is needed.

If you still have some questions, please let us know. Have a nice evening. Stay warm! :)
 
Re: Hi from Quebec

What I have done!?!?!

I have added liquid chlorine yesterday late based on the PoolMath: about 300oz of 10.3% free chlorine. I did not do the FC test last night. It snowed all night, the water in the pool is at 50F this morning and the pool is green! The water is clear but the pool is green. I just did the FC test: after 42 drops the pink became much lighter but I am at 70 drops and it is still a very light pink.
2016-05-16 06.28.58.jpg2016-05-16 06.29.08.jpg

Please help! What do I do now?
 
Moderator note - both threads merged together here

(I originally posted this under "introduce yourself" as a new post to my introduction "Hi from Quebec" but I think this is more the place)

In summary, the pool was started on Saturday (it was a nice sunny day about 66F, the water was at 60F). Originally, the PH was below 6.8. By Sunday morning, PH was at 7.5. So I did the complete FT-100 test:
PH = 7.5
FC = 0
CC = 0
TC = 0
CH = 50 ppm
TA = 50-60 ppm
CYA = 70 ppm

I have added liquid chlorine yesterday late based on the PoolMath: about 300oz of 10.3% free chlorine. The idea was to raise the FC to slamm the pool. I did not do the FC test last night. It snowed all night, the water in the pool is at 50F this morning and the pool is green! The water is clear but the pool is green. I just did the FC test: after 42 drops the pink became much lighter but I am at 70 drops and it is still a very light pink.
2016-05-16 06.28.58.jpg2016-05-16 06.29.08.jpg

Please help! What do I do now?
 
What is your fill water source?

To me, it looks like you could have a metals issue either from your fill water or possibly leached from your heating element due to the low initial pH. Was the heater completely drained and blown out before the winter?
 
Welcome to TFP :)

So a couple questions..

Are you using the 10ml sample or 25ml sample to test fc? If 25 you stopped counting FC at 14 and if using the 10ml sample you stopped at 35FC

Did you use any copper based algaecide or anything with copper in it?
 
Re: Hi from Quebec

Something tells me you have metals in the water. When you have metal in the water (iron, copper) it can result in such a reaction when you add chlorine to the water. Have you ever been told you have metals in the water? Does your water come from a well perhaps? Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains

Also, I see your pool size, but can you include the depth too please so we can figure-out how many gallons that is? Thank you.
 

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So the FC test I did was with 10ml of water, so yes my FC level is above 35 because I stopped adding drops to the sample but it was still a light pink after 70 drops. I was targeting an FC of 28 with the liquid chlorine I have added yesterday!

The pool is 52" but about 48" of water.

So far this year (since saturday) I have only added some PH+ left over from last year and some Borax to bring the PH from below 6.8 to 7.5.

The water in the pool is the same as last year plus rain/snow from this winter. Having put a plug in the return last fall, the level of water was at the maximum the pool can contain this spring. I brought it down to a normal level saturday when I vaccumed to waste the entire pool.

Last year during the summer, we had issues with algae and added algicide as per the store recommandation. Last year we were using 3" chlorine pucks in an Hayward chlorinator.

Two years ago, the pool was originally filled by a water truck for most of the water and then we filled the rest with our well. Last year, the pool level was pretty low in spring, so again it was filled with our well.

The wood heater was completely emptied for the winter, and it is bypassed right now. It is made of stainless steel. The heat pump is also being bypasss.

Is the green coming from the reaction between the high chlorine level and the metals in the water? Why is my chlorine level so off the charts? What did I do wrong? How do I correct it?
 
That should put your pool right around 9,300 gallons according to the Poolmath Calculator's volume assist calculations. (You should add that to your signature). :) Initially we were thinking of a SLAM, but what I would recommend for now is simply let the FC drop on it's own. Check it once a day or so until it gets down to about 10 again. I'm hoping that the amount of metal in your water (from algaecides or well) aren't that high, and that it was simply magnified by the high chlorine level causing it to turn green.... I hope! :) Now once your FC drops to about 10, if you don't see any change in the water, then you may have to resort to a water exchange to remove some of that metal-filled water. It's just an unknown area since we don't have any specific metal tests from the pool. Does that make sense?
 
It makes sense yes and no. I understand that I can do not nothing about the too much chlorine apart from asking my husband to use the pool to pee! :smile:

Where did I go wrong with the pool math and my numbers? From the chlorine/CYA chart I get that my shock FC level should be 28. If I put all my numbers in the pool math with a target of 28 for FC, I get that I need to add 323oz of 10.3% bleach. I have added 300oz.

Am I missing something? What am I not understanding right? The only thing that comes to my mind is that I did not read the CYA level correctly. This was my first time.

Any potential danger/damage to the pool while the FC is so high?
 
My goodness Louise, I'm having one of those days. Forgive me. :hammer: I got my pool volume twisted backwards which is why my numbers were so different from your. :hammer: You are correct in that going from zero to and FC of 28 is about 333 ounces of 10% bleach. I need an aspirin. Sorry I put you through all that.

What I am confused about now is that an FC of 28 should be about 56 drops to go from Barbie pink to clear. But you went through a lot more drops right? Over 70?

- - - Updated - - -

Also, are you using the 10 ml sample when testing FC? Example: 10ml sample, multiply drop count by 0.5 (standard method).

Have you added any other chlorinating products to the water other than the bleach/liquid chlorine?
 
I have used the 10ml to do the FC test.

From memory (I am at the office and my notes are at home), around 40-45 drops, the bright pink turned to a light pink but never budge in color after that. I went all the way to 70 drops and stopped realizing it was not doing any good to continue.

Nothing else has been added to the water.

Can we retest the CYA at this point in time, even though the FC level is through the roof?
 
Absolutely! You can re-test the CYA at any time.
Proper lighting is important for the CYA test. You want to test for CYA outside on a sunny day, but keep the skinny view tube in the shade. Taylor recommends standing in the sun with your back to the sun and the view tube in the shade of your body. Use the mixing bottle to combine/gently mix the required amounts of pool water and R-0013 reagent, let sit for 30 seconds, then gently mix again. Then, while holding the skinny tube with the black dot at waist level, begin squirting the mixed solution into the skinny tube. Watch the black dot until it completely disappears. Once it disappears, record the CYA reading. After the first test, you can pour the mixed solution from the skinny view tube back to the mixing bottle, shake, and do the same test a second, third, or fourth time to instill consistency in your technique, become more comfortable with the testing, and validate the CYA reading.
Click to expand...
 
My husband as just done the CYA test. He says it is definitely between 60 and 80. But we are both new to this test. I think tomorrow, I am going to bring a sample of water to the pool shop and have them test it. To see what they get for the CYA.

Tomorrow, the weather is suppose to clear out and be sunny and warm for the rest of the week. Anyone know how much vitamin C I need to add to the pool to lower the FC?

Any potential danger/damage to the pool and equipement (filter, pump, UV lamp, plumbing) while the FC is so high?
 
Lou-SADL said:
My husband as just done the CYA test. He says it is definitely between 60 and 80. But we are both new to this test. I think tomorrow, I am going to bring a sample of water to the pool shop and have them test it. To see what they get for the CYA.

Tomorrow, the weather is suppose to clear out and be sunny and warm for the rest of the week. Anyone know how much vitamin C I need to add to the pool to lower the FC?

Any potential danger/damage to the pool and equipement (filter, pump, UV lamp, plumbing) while the FC is so high?
Click to expand...


It might be a good idea have the pool store check for metals.
 

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