First test completed

[grrltraveler]

Thanks to Jason, I was able to sort out the issues with the tests. I was waiting for a particular color when I should have been noticing just when it changed. Hopefully I have it right now.

FC 3.0
CC 0
pH 7.5
TA 50
CH 500
CYA 20 (this was a tough one because I swore I could still make out the dot til the very end...)

I am going to post a few photos, now that you know these numbers. Bear in mind that we are working on moving our equipment and so there has been no filtering for over a week now. The first shot is, obviously the deep end, there is a lot of dirt but would the cloudiness be algae, do you think? The other shot is the shallow end, water looks considerably better, but specifically the tiles is what I want you to notice. Is that calcium or something else? This goes all the way around the pool at the water line.

Finally our pool is in direct sun pretty much all day - til about 6pm - if that makes any difference on these numbers.

I'm heading over to pool school because it looks like I have my work cut out for me. Pool equipment should be re-installed this weekend.

 

[JasonLion]

That doesn't look too bad. The cloudiness is probably not algae, and if it is you should be able to kill it off easily enough.

Raise the FC level up to shock level tonight after sunset, shock level is around 10 with CYA at 20, and see how the water looks in the morning.

Your high CH level could be a problem. Before getting too worried about it you should do the test at least once more to be sure. If you have high CH fill water, then it might be worth learning to live with the CH level, but in CA that seems unlikely. Better would be to replace some water to get the CH level down. If you are going to do this, you should do it soon, before you spend much time adjusting the other levels.

The white on the pool walls is almost certainly calcium scaling, which supports the idea that your test results are correct. You can remove it with muriatic acid, but it will take some work.

Your CYA is probably a little below 20. The black dot should be totally gone, no sign it was every there. Regardless, you might as well assume that it is 20. You should start raising CYA up to around 50 soon.

I would bump the TA up just a little. WIth CH that high you don't want to raise TA very much, but 50 is too low. I suggest aiming for 70 for now.

 

[grrltraveler]

Jason, quick question.

If I have liquid chlorine - 10% sodium hypochlorite as the main ingredient - how does that work with the pool calculator?
Do I change the liquid bleach percentage to reflect my 10% vs 6% for bleach to get the amount I need to add?

Thx, first time using this.

Anne

 

[dmanb2b]

Yup...just click on the drop down and select 10% concentration. As a point of reference 1gal of 10% will raise the FC in a 10,000 gal of water by 10ppm.

 

[grrltraveler]

Thanks dmanb2b - that's close to what I was getting to!

 

[grrltraveler]

Me again, a few last questions

I posted yesterday that I just got my TF100 and ran my first test. Those results were:

FC 3
TC 3
pH 7.5
TA 50
CH 500
CYA 20

Jason suggested I shock last night but I decided to wait since I was unable to test the CH again. This morning I tested CH again and it was 550 this time (probably more accurate since yesterday was the first time). I also retested TA and it was less than 20 as someone else mentioned.

I tested CH of the fill water (75). Is there anything else I need to check on the fill water that would be helpful? I looked through the site but could not find anything - ph maybe?

Now that you know the CH of the fill water and the CH of the pool, it sounds like I'm going to have to dump some? In my area, I have to pump out to a field behind my house but I have to let as much of the chemicals leach out as possible (per regulations on my local city website) so as to do the least amount of harm to surrounding plant life.... How much would I have to remove? We are already down about 4 inches just with the work we've been doing - are we talking 1/2 the pool? If so, would it be worth investing in a submersible pump or do you think with proper care that I would be able to maintain the CH without having to pump out on a consistent basis?

So my other question is that since I have to dump and let the chemicals die out, I'm guessing the shock wouldn't be a good investment at this time?

Any help getting me on the right track would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Anne

 

[JasonLion]

I merged your topics. It is much easier for use to answer your questions if you keep everything about a single issue together in one topic.

Your fill water CH level is not too high, so a partial drain and refill seems like a great idea. You want to aim for getting CH down to around 250 or 300. That means replacing just about 50% of your water. If you do that now, you should be fine for at least the entire season, and most likely for several years (depending on how much evaporation you get in your area).

After than drain/refill, you want to raise TA up to around 70 and start working on raising CYA up to around 50. Then start shocking.

 

[grrltraveler]

Thanks Jason. I may have posted it again because I didn't know that you moved it the first time. Sorry about that.
I wasn't sure if posting a new one was better, now I know.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll get started.

Anne

 

[lightingguy]

Re: Me again, a few last questions

Others may disagree - but I wouldn't be dumping water at CH 550. We just have hard water out here and it's something you kinda got to learn to live with.

Keep in mind - we've had so much rain recently that your tap water is a much better blend right now. When it get's drier in the late summer you may find the CH in your tap water is much higher (because we are more dependent on colorado river water is my understanding.) I've tested mine as high as 450 - though it's 100 now.

You can use Pool Calculator to watch that CSI number with high Calcium. By keeping your TA and PH on the low side the CH is manageable.

And of course - never use Cal-Hypo to shock your pool. It adds calcium which is the last thing you need!

If you do decide to pump, then I'd shock now and pump after the FC is back to normal. Yes shocking adds chlorine to the pool - but as that chlorine gets used up it just turns into salt. By waiting on shocking you let whatever is in the pool grow - which is a much much faster process than any issues you might have with CH.

 

[JasonLion]

lightingguy, I don't think there is any significant amount of algae. The water was fairly clear and there was an FC level before and today. I get your point about not draining. There is certainly a choice to be made there. Personally, I don't think grrltraveler is in all that high a CH area, so my take is things are much simpler dealing with it now instead of learning to maintain the pool with high CH. But yes CH could be left alone and PH and TA kept low to compensate.

 

[lightingguy]

Jason, Fair enough

Honestly with the 2 posts I didn't notice I was giving exactly the opposite advice. Not intended.

Grrl - you could totally go either way. I didn't mean to confuse the issue while you are still learning, just looking for a way to avoid draining which you seemed keen to do. Your situation is not particularly bad - so there are many ways to skin a cat.

By draining now you do a lot of the leg work in maintaining the CH early - which is great. Then if you find your CH really starts to climb in late summer it wont be such a big deal.