Sick Pool

[RaviePoolGirl]

I have a friend who came to me regarding her pool, which now has cloudy water. I went over to her place and sure enough it is cloudy. I took a sample of the water home to test it and her results are...

pH 7.2
FC – 0
CC 1.5
CYA <20
TA 90
CH 0

She definitely needs to shock her pool. She has been using TriChlor in the past and currently has floaters in her pool. I am getting her set up for shocking, my question is more because of her CH. She has a plaster pool and her CH is ZERO! She does not have a water softener filling her pool. Ill have her bring in a sample of fill water to work and I will test it for Calcium. Are there any other reasons why she would not have CH in her pool? She definitely needs to add some. What is the cheapest source and any special considerations we need to think about when adding it to the pool?

 

[Richard320]

I'd say there's a problem with the CH test. You forgot the R-0010, or the R-0011L has gone bad, or maybe you grabbed the wrong bottle and tried it with the R-009. I have a cousin in St Helena, and his tap water is so hard you almost need a chisel to clean the crust off glasses!

The CYA reading is also not in line with what one would expect if she's using pucks.

Once you're certain of the readings, the shock process should fix things right up. And if by some bizarre fluke the water is really that low in Calcium, it makes it easier - she can buy Cal-hypo powdered shock. Less weight to carry.

 

[Bama Rambler]

When you added the R-0011L what color did the water turn?
What color is the R-0011L?

 

[RaviePoolGirl]

Bear with me, I'm trying to respond from my phone and I'm at work.

At Richard- I tested the CH and retested the CH a second time. Last time I used my CH test was probably about 3 weeks ago. My CH in my pool always tests high in 450-500 range. So I found it rather odd that I did not get anything readable on my test with her water. I very well could have used the wrong bottle that is why I retested. I should get a sample of her fill water and try that as well. She has well water in Calistoga.

I thought her CYA would be high as well. That is what I was expecting to find. Turned out to be opposite of what I was expecting. I asked her how often she was back washing and she emphasized ALOT.

At Dave. My solution is Blue looking. Kinda Violet. Did not change when added to the test vial. It looks like my end point when I test my Pool Water.

 

[Bama Rambler]

We've had some reports of the R-0011L looking kind of Red when the solution is bad and not making the sample change color.

You're saying it turned blue immediately? If so then that means you have zero CH as you said. I have zero CH and the sample immediately turns blue when adding the R-0011L.

 

[RaviePoolGirl]

Yes, turned blue imediately. My TF 100 kit was purchased in Feb/Mar. I have a hard time believing she wouldn't have any CA in her fill water but I'll test it to see.

 

[chem geek]

Hopefully the CYA is low because of the large amounts of dilution, but it could be that the chlorine went to zero and bacteria broke down the CYA. If they broke it down to ammonia, there may be a huge chlorine demand in that pool. If you start adding chlorine to it and it doesn't hold and registers CC, then you'll know that's the case. Probably best to try shocking at night to avoid confusing losses from sunlight from other losses. Of course, once you start you'll want to try and maintain the FC level and for that you will want some more CYA in the pool for the daytime.

 

[Bama Rambler]

With a CH of zero I'd get some calcium in there pretty soon too.