Trying to understand what I have

[itsalive]

Hi,
I'm sure you've heard this before. We bought a nice house with a pool. 1st time home owner and pool owner with no prior pool experience but mechanically inclined.
Did my first testing with the kit the previous owner had. This is what I got:
0.7ppm residual chlorine
8.3 pH
1Q muriatic acid required (based on 20k gallon pool)
100ppm total alcalinity.
My pool control panel shows 2600ppm salt levels. It was 2900 but drop within one and a half months due to rain and me filling the pool about 3 inches before the rain.

Here are some of my questions:
1. Can I trust a 5 or more years old test kit?
2. Should I add the 1Q of muriatic acid?
2a. If so, where should I pure it in? Just damp it in the main water body of the pool?
3. Where is this 2600ppm measurement coming from?
4. Should I be adding some sort of salt?
5. Do I have a SWG installed? Is it the skinny tube? Should I be adding the 3 inch white tablets in there? (see photo below)

Finally a friend dropped by before I did any testing and suggested me to add one of those big white 3inch tablets (chlorine?) in the skimmer basket as he saw some green algae in one of the skimmers of the pump for the waterfall (that is almost never used and the water there is static). How ofter should I be adding those?

Thanks for your help as I'm getting a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out what is going on.

 

[jblizzle]

Here are some attempts at answers:
1. probably not
2. If the pH is above 8 you want to get it in the 7s by adding acid (but can we trust your reading?)
2a. Acid is adding by pouring in front of a return (See Recommended Pool Chemicals)
3. What is the panel? If you have a salt reading then there must be a SWG somewhere ... not sure if it is in the pic or not)
4. Most SWG work around 3200ppm of salt. Don't worry about this now though
5. I can not tell from the picture.

Adding 1 tablet in the skimmer is pointless without know your pool chemical levels. (EDIT just re-read ... do NOT just set a puck in a static skimmer!!! ... no good things can come from that)

I recommend you order a good test kit (see signature) and while waiting for it, read a lot here to learn how to care for the pool.

Start with ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and then since you are seeing green you should read Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis and Shocking Your Pool and then continue reading Pool School.

Add a few more pictures of your equipment to help us figure out your set up.

 

[JasonLion]

That test kits is sort of 50/50, it might well be good, it might well be bad. I suggest replacing it with one of the top quality test kits.

The salt reading strongly suggests there is a SWG somewhere, though I don't see it in the picture.

Lets assume the PH reading is correct, so adding a quart of muriatic acid is a good idea. The best way to add it is to pour slowly in front of a return jet while the pump is running. That will mix it into the water quickly.

 

[Isaac-1]

What they said, but while you wait for your good mail order test kit (either the TF-100 or the Taylor K-2006) to get there, you may want to buy a cheap OTO Chlorine / pH drop based test kit, these cost about $10-15 can be found at Wal-Mart or most hardware centers (don't buy a test strip kit though, they are nearly useless, maybe worse than useless, I would not give one to someone I hate kind of things)

 

[itsalive]

thanks for the quick responses! In the meantime should we be using the pool? The water is sparkling clean as I took apart washed down the grids of my DE filter and replaced the DE based on the recommendations on the body of the filter for DE and a variation of youtube videos. I'm just not sure about the water chemistry

 

[jblizzle]

Hard to recommend it will NO idea what your levels are. Although with clear water it would be tempting and likely OK to swim ... after all haven't you swam in a dirty pond/lake/river?

If the pH is really that high it may be uncomfortable to your eyes.

 

[Isaac-1]

You could always take a water sample to a local pool store, get the free water test, but don't buy anything, if you have to buy something, make sure it is something you can use like a pool toy, or liquid chlorine. Then post the numbers here, make sure to get the numbers not just their suggestions. We can work from there on what you should do if anything while you wait for your good test kit to arrive.