help me newbie ( worried )

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May 12, 2011
22
First off I know I should get a better testing kit but for the moment I only have a Aqua Chem 3 kit.
I have an intex 16' x 48" pool with SWG.
First : What should my Chlorine level be ?
Second : Is my test kit measuring free chlorine or chlorine ?
My pH shows on target with the tester and so does my chlorine.I just want to make sure there is no safety issue because my kids are swimming in it now.I have read through pool school and it seems there not much I can do until I get a better test kit. The water looks clear.I filled the pool ( new pool ) on saturday night.Added 125 lbs of salt ( recommended in manual ) ran pump 24 hours then ran SWG for 5 hours. I set it to run 4 hours last night and this afternoon by my tester I was still in spec by my little test kit.
Any help will be appreciated. I guess my main question is if the water looks clear and it shows in range on my tester is it ok to use the pool ?
Thanks in advance !
 
Visit Pool School, button at the top right corner. Get started there, it will help you a lot.

You can't really tell "on target" for FC without knowing your CYA level.

We need as much information as you can provide by the way, look at the how to post thread for more info. Pool size, filter type, salt water or not, etc. are all good for us to know.
 
haha thanks. Thats what my father n law told me.We installed his pool 25 years ago.In the beginning he struggled because he tried too hard to have everything perfect.
My water looks good. I'm just too anal I guess.
I am a redneck country boy that swam in creeks and ponds that were shared with the cattle. I guess my kids will be fine. :-D
 
Welcome to TFP :wave: ...read through pool school (button on upper right, or link in my sig). Your FC target is dependent on your CYA level. The higher your CYA the higher your FC should be. FC of 1-3 is almost always on the low side, unless your CYA level is low too. Also, your strips are just measuring TC (Total Chlorine = FC+CC) It can't tell the difference between FC (Good) and CC (Bad).
 
ok using the aqua chem kit
I add 5 drops of orthotolidine to the water. Directions read I should read FC in about 10 seconds. I think it is probably 0.6 based on the tester. It states CL can be read after 5 minutes.I think it is 1.0
pH is 7.6 added 5 drops of phenol to water in other side of tester.
Thats about the best I can do with that test kit. I am running the SWG tonight for 5 hours to get level up.I guess I haven't ran it enough to get the level up. So the kids are swimming in it.Should they not swim until FC level is higher?
 

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Your kit measures TC and then if you wait you can "allegedly" discern the CC. Most people can't.

You can use liquid chlorine a.k.a. clorox bleach to raise the FC up to 2ppm to make swimming sanitary. You need CYA in the water to protect your FC from burning off in the sun - if you only added salt then you have no CYA in the water and you need to add some. Also called "stabilizer" - Cyanuric Acid.

Use the Pool Calculator to figure out how much CYA you need and how much liquid chlorine you need to add - to get you to the right level. You want your CYA at 60 with an SWG.

post back if you don't know how to use the pool calculator.

Hope this helps :)
 
Yes I have only added salt.I don't have any direction other than the Intex manual and this site. I ran the SWG last night for 5 hours.I will check this afternoon and post results.I will also get a better test kit if I can find one.
 
Well, we know CYA is zero since none has been added. You can sometimes find HtH brand stabilizer at Walmart. Regardless of where you get your stabilizer, use The Pool Calculator to determine how much to add to reach 60 ppm.

You can order just the FAS-DPD chlorine test, and CYA test from TF Testkits to add to what you have and that will give you a more complete test kit for your pool.
 
so I assume you are suggesting the FC and CC test results usingthe current kit are not the most accurate?
As for the CYA test kit is it test kit for $17.00 ? Does it include everything I need ?
I have a 5000 gal pool so 104 liquid oz of stabilizer should put me at 60. I guess i should target a little less than that to be safe.
 
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