Hi there. We have been lurking on the forum for a few weeks trying to learn some of the basics of pool care. Thanks for all the work all of you are doing to educate those of new to pool care. We have learned quite a bit already but now know we have a long ways to go.
We have had our pool for over 5 years now but only started really dealing with it over the last two years. Last year we had the liner replaced since the pool is over 20 years old and converted it to salt water clorination. Overall, we have been very happy with the results with the SWCG but still feel like we are really in the dark as to what is going on out there. Based on the recommendations we have found here, we are now the proud owners of a TF-100 test kit with a salt water tester and the automatic mixer. We love that mixer!!
We started testing the water about two weeks ago, before we got the test kit, using the local pool store water testing service. Since the first set of readings weren't all that bad, we did nothing with the chemistry until the test kit arrived. We were eager to see how the results of the test kit compared to the store water testing service. As soon as the test kit arrived we went thru all the various tests but our results were no where near what the store test showed. Since we are new to this, we decided to try the store testing a second time because over a week had elapsed. We took water samples to 4 different pool stores in the area and are even more beleivers in testing the water ourselves now. Below are the results of the 4 different store tests.
Store 1
FC - 2.7
pH - 8.6
TA - 94
CYA - 40
CH - 46
TDS - 5000
Salt - 4500
Store 2
FC - 5
pH - 8.4
TA - 90
CYA - N/A
CH - 40
TDS - N/A
Salt - 4500
Store 3
FC - 3
pH - 8.0+
TA - 110
CYA - 15
CH - 60
TDS - N/A
Salt - 4900
Store 4
FC - 2.73
pH - 7.6
TA - 89
CYA - 99
CH - 31
TDS - 100 (this is not a mistake - 100)
Salt - N/A
(Results labeled N/A were not tested at that location - all 4 sets of results came out of the same water sample bottle.)
Store 1 uses a testing machine and chemicals, Stores 2 and 3 are Leslies and both use the same chemicals in my TF-100, and store 4 uses "laser" testing. As you can see, my numbers from all 4 stores were all over the place and none of them "felt" reliable to us. All 4 stores of course tried to sell us solutions to the problems they identified however it was the girl at store 2 who we feel really gave us the best advice which we have followed. I feel it agrees with what I now understand from my reading here. Her advice was to drain 18 inches of water and start over. Since we now know that the only way to lower the TDS and the salt is with new water, we have drained the water and begun refilling with fresh water. Once the new pool has finished refilling and the pump has run with the SWCG on max for 24 hours we will start testing again. We can already see a distinct difference in the clarity of the water and the amount of suspended material floating around the pool light. Just for the record, the water was clear and there was no algae present when we started all this.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
The Hoods
We have had our pool for over 5 years now but only started really dealing with it over the last two years. Last year we had the liner replaced since the pool is over 20 years old and converted it to salt water clorination. Overall, we have been very happy with the results with the SWCG but still feel like we are really in the dark as to what is going on out there. Based on the recommendations we have found here, we are now the proud owners of a TF-100 test kit with a salt water tester and the automatic mixer. We love that mixer!!
We started testing the water about two weeks ago, before we got the test kit, using the local pool store water testing service. Since the first set of readings weren't all that bad, we did nothing with the chemistry until the test kit arrived. We were eager to see how the results of the test kit compared to the store water testing service. As soon as the test kit arrived we went thru all the various tests but our results were no where near what the store test showed. Since we are new to this, we decided to try the store testing a second time because over a week had elapsed. We took water samples to 4 different pool stores in the area and are even more beleivers in testing the water ourselves now. Below are the results of the 4 different store tests.
Store 1
FC - 2.7
pH - 8.6
TA - 94
CYA - 40
CH - 46
TDS - 5000
Salt - 4500
Store 2
FC - 5
pH - 8.4
TA - 90
CYA - N/A
CH - 40
TDS - N/A
Salt - 4500
Store 3
FC - 3
pH - 8.0+
TA - 110
CYA - 15
CH - 60
TDS - N/A
Salt - 4900
Store 4
FC - 2.73
pH - 7.6
TA - 89
CYA - 99
CH - 31
TDS - 100 (this is not a mistake - 100)
Salt - N/A
(Results labeled N/A were not tested at that location - all 4 sets of results came out of the same water sample bottle.)
Store 1 uses a testing machine and chemicals, Stores 2 and 3 are Leslies and both use the same chemicals in my TF-100, and store 4 uses "laser" testing. As you can see, my numbers from all 4 stores were all over the place and none of them "felt" reliable to us. All 4 stores of course tried to sell us solutions to the problems they identified however it was the girl at store 2 who we feel really gave us the best advice which we have followed. I feel it agrees with what I now understand from my reading here. Her advice was to drain 18 inches of water and start over. Since we now know that the only way to lower the TDS and the salt is with new water, we have drained the water and begun refilling with fresh water. Once the new pool has finished refilling and the pump has run with the SWCG on max for 24 hours we will start testing again. We can already see a distinct difference in the clarity of the water and the amount of suspended material floating around the pool light. Just for the record, the water was clear and there was no algae present when we started all this.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
The Hoods
