TEST RESULTS

[Blink]

I’m a newbie to pools. Had a small Intex round 10ft. pool for a few years which seemed to be always out of whack according to the local pool store. Thus making a lot of money off of me.

A few years later finally had the funds to put in a decent inground pool (see specs below). This pool is new and has had water and chemicals for 1-month. It has been crystal clear until a week ago with a bad storm which made it very cloudy. I vacuumed twice and let the cartridge filter do the work and a 1-1/2 days later crystal clear again. I have been using the good old Walmart test strips (they are 3-years old since I had some leftover from first pool) and hard to tell what really is going on.

I took the advice of this forum and purchased the TF-100 kit.

Here are the results (taken today):
FC = 31.5
CC = .5
TC = 32
PH = 7.2
T/A = 190
CH = did not do
CYA = 60
Water Temp = 88

If anyone can shed some light on what I need to do since I have a feeling something is out of whack I would greatly appreciate it!! Pool looks great (clear) but this may be deceiving, not sure. All that has been done is the guy who installed the pool threw some stabilizer in and some liquid chlorine to get it started. From that point I have tried to make some judgments off of the strips and have used (Bleach & 3" Chlorinating tabs-trichloro 99%) to the pool. The tabs are in a floater and some I place in the skimmer. Floater is always pretty full and stays in the pool. The bleach (1gal.) I pour by the jets to disperse throughout the pool—usually one every two days.

Thanks in advance for you help, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!

 

[JasonLion]

Your CYA level is already up to 60, so I suggest you stop using trichlor tablets/pucks as they constantly add more CYA.

Your FC level is very very high. With CYA at 60, normal FC levels are between 5 and 9, and even shock level is only 24. You don't need to be adding nearly as much chlorine as you have been adding.

As soon as the FC level gets below 15, test your PH again. High FC levels can throw off the PH test results.

Your TA is a little high, but nothing to worry about. I would simply lower PH to 7.2 any time it gets up to 7.8, until TA comes down to something more reasonable.

 

[Richard320]

WOW.

Are you absolutely certain of that FC reading?

And you should do the CH test as well. While a vinyl pool doesn't care about low CH, it will still get scale from high CH. And you won't be able to take a wire brush to it if it does.

 

[Blink]

Thanks Guys! What a GREAT site! I will retest in the morning the FC reading to verify. And repost. I will stop using pucks as well.

 

[frogabog]

I would also suggest testing CYA in a week or so to verify the 60ppm. Just to be sure, and so you know. Once you're sure of the CYA value you can continue the summer on that result and judge effectively when to test again should water additions due to splashout (if any) change it.

 

[Blink]

Thanks for everyone’ input...slowly learning!

Tested this morning to verify FC and did CH test suggested by Richard320. Here are the results:

FC = 26.5
CC = 0
TC = 26.5
CH = 150

One question on the CH: The water did turn a light red. Added 0012 (15 drops) until the water turned clear (no more red) but it did not turn “blue” like it indicated on the instructions. Not sure if you are suppose to go until it truly turns blue in color. I added more drops to see...got to 60 and still clear (no change in color) so I quit. Any ideas on this?

My PH is 7.2. Should I add a little 20 Mule team Borax to the skimmer? How much?

I will keep the cover off today and kids will be in so hopefully my TC will drop from 26.5. Is it ok for kids to swim at that level? The pool is crystal clear.

 

[Richard320]

Thanks for everyone’ input...slowly learning!

Tested this morning to verify FC and did CH test suggested by Richard320. Here are the results:

FC = 26.5
CC = 0
TC = 26.5
CH = 150

One question on the CH: The water did turn a light red. Added 0012 (15 drops) until the water turned clear (no more red) but it did not turn “blue” like it indicated on the instructions. Not sure if you are suppose to go until it truly turns blue in color. I added more drops to see...got to 60 and still clear (no change in color) so I quit. Any ideas on this?

My PH is 7.2. Should I add a little 20 Mule team Borax to the skimmer? How much?

I will keep the cover off today and kids will be in so hopefully my TC will drop from 26.5. Is it ok for kids to swim at that level? The pool is crystal clear.

When you have real high chlorine, the test colors tend to be off. Try again when FC is down below 10.

If your TA is really 190, some aeration or just a lot of kids splashing should bring pH back up with nothing else being added. Can't get cheaper than that!