A few questions on testing/adding bleach

[pisstol27]

I moved into a new house this spring and the pool has been open since mid-June. I found this site (thankfully) early on and have successfully got the BBB method working. I've got a couple of quick questions about the daily routine:

1) Do people usually only test before adding bleach and trust the calculator that the post-bleach level will be within in the desired range?
2) I have the k-2006 test kit. When testing for FC, is it necessary to swirl after each drop? My reading is consistently between 3.5-4.5 at night before adding bleach, so would it hamper the testing if I added four or five drops in a row at the beginning to speed it up. (I know it sounds lazy, but I get home at 10:00 most nights so every few seconds helps.)
3) When adding bleach, how do you apply it. I usually stand on the diving board and try to cover as much of the deep as possible. Should I worry about adding any to the shallow end or will the circulation take care of that for me.
4) How often do you do an OCLT test? My pool has been crystal clear and the FC hardly ever loses more than 3 FC a day so I think I am safe, but just wanted to check.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Smykowski]

1) Do people usually only test before adding bleach and trust the calculator that the post-bleach level will be within in the desired range?
I found very early on that my pool volume is correct and the bleach is as strong as advertised, so I don't test afterwards. It might not hurt to test before and after for a couple days to make sure everything is predictable. After that, sure, test before, add the bleach, and move on.
2) I have the k-2006 test kit. When testing for FC, is it necessary to swirl after each drop? My reading is consistently between 3.5-4.5 at night before adding bleach, so would it hamper the testing if I added four or five drops in a row at the beginning to speed it up. (I know it sounds lazy, but I get home at 10:00 most nights so every few seconds helps.)I've got a speedstir, so I don't do it, but there are others on this board that do exactly as you described. Just make sure you slow down for the last few.
3) When adding bleach, how do you apply it. I usually stand on the diving board and try to cover as much of the deep as possible. Should I worry about adding any to the shallow end or will the circulation take care of that for me.
Generally accepted practice is to slowly pour in front of a return jet. The waterflow from the return will distribute the bleach, very, very quickly, and you won't have to worry about the shallow end....it will mix.
4) How often do you do an OCLT test? My pool has been crystal clear and the FC hardly ever loses more than 3 FC a day so I think I am safe, but just wanted to check.You can do it anytime you want for peace of mind, but you'll get to the point where you know the pool isn't behaving like it should. Either the chemistry will be a little different, or the water will look a little different. That's when you want to do the test to see what's going on.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[phonedave]

I moved into a new house this spring and the pool has been open since mid-June. I found this site (thankfully) early on and have successfully got the BBB method working. I've got a couple of quick questions about the daily routine:

While I am new as well, I will share what I do:

1) Do people usually only test before adding bleach and trust the calculator that the post-bleach level will be within in the desired range?

When first starting I tested 2x a day. Now I know my pool. It takes between 32 and 48 oz of 6% a day. I know what that does to the ppm. Some days I don't even test at all. Others I just do a quick OCL test to make sure the FC is around 5.0 or more. Others I do a full FAS-DPT just to make sure I am not messing things up, or that something has changed. I never test after adding bleach, unless I wait at least 2 hours to ensure that it is all mixed in (so I never test after adding)

2) I have the k-2006 test kit. When testing for FC, is it necessary to swirl after each drop? My reading is consistently between 3.5-4.5 at night before adding bleach, so would it hamper the testing if I added four or five drops in a row at the beginning to speed it up. (I know it sounds lazy, but I get home at 10:00 most nights so every few seconds helps.)

I do that. I add 6 drops right at the get-go.

3) When adding bleach, how do you apply it. I usually stand on the diving board and try to cover as much of the deep as possible. Should I worry about adding any to the shallow end or will the circulation take care of that for me.

I turn on the pump and pour the dose into the return stream over the course of about a minute (or more) - I then let the pump run while I put my test kit, bleach, etc away and close the shed. Then I turn off the pump.

4) How often do you do an OCLT test? My pool has been crystal clear and the FC hardly ever loses more than 3 FC a day so I think I am safe, but just wanted to check.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I haven't done one since I passed it. My pool looses 1.0 to 1.5 ppm per day. If I were to see a large unexplained loss, or I started to see CC readings, then I would shock and retest the OCLT.

-dave

 

[Stuamurr]

^^ everything above seems like sound advice to me, so +1 for Smykowski's post.

 

[Richard320]

Answers in red

I moved into a new house this spring and the pool has been open since mid-June. I found this site (thankfully) early on and have successfully got the BBB method working. I've got a couple of quick questions about the daily routine:

1) Do people usually only test before adding bleach and trust the calculator that the post-bleach level will be within in the desired range?Yes
2) I have the k-2006 test kit. When testing for FC, is it necessary to swirl after each drop? My reading is consistently between 3.5-4.5 at night before adding bleach, so would it hamper the testing if I added four or five drops in a row at the beginning to speed it up. (I know it sounds lazy, but I get home at 10:00 most nights so every few seconds helps.)That's what I do
3) When adding bleach, how do you apply it. I usually stand on the diving board and try to cover as much of the deep as possible. Should I worry about adding any to the shallow end or will the circulation take care of that for me.I pour it in front of a return. It spreads out fast that way
4) How often do you do an OCLT test? My pool has been crystal clear and the FC hardly ever loses more than 3 FC a day so I think I am safe, but just wanted to check.Never

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[pisstol27]

Thanks again!

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

I was originally testing with FAS-DPD the way you mentioned. But I found my FC read slightly higher (1-4ppm when shocking at 16-18ppm) using that method vs. when I switched to swirling constantly with my right hand while adding drops with my left hand. One trick is that I squeeze the air out of the reagent bottle before adding drops to avoid it dripping - it sucks air back in and has a slight negative pressure.

The real run one is the TA measurement - wiping off the tip between drops and swirling constantly and dropping drops 1 at a time is a bit of a balacing act. But... I have it down now. Switching methods made my TA measurements drop also - from 170-180 to closer to 120.

I think the reason that constant swirl made a difference is that the chemicals seem to "regenerate" if you go too slowly. I assume the reaction is not 100% effective. You see the same thing with cc's if you wait after testing the pink will return most of the time.

The speedstir is helpful for those with less coordination I suspect...

 

[Pauls234]

Somewhat related testing question.... I have the k-2006 as well. When I do the chlorine test is it necessary to add "2 dippers" of the powder (maybe R-0871) before adding drops to measure FC? 2 dippers seems imprecise and my sample always turns pink on the first dipper, so wondering if I can cut my use in half??

 

[ping]

You want to make sure you have more than enough powder or you might get a false reading. You can always experiment if you are putting in way too much powder by running tests with less and less powder. The higher your chlorine the more powder it will take. I usually use one overfull scoop when I test.

 

[Richard320]

Somewhat related testing question.... I have the k-2006 as well. When I do the chlorine test is it necessary to add "2 dippers" of the powder (maybe R-0871) before adding drops to measure FC? 2 dippers seems imprecise and my sample always turns pink on the first dipper, so wondering if I can cut my use in half??

If the sample turns Barbie pink and there are a few granules undissolved, you have enough. Interestingly, the granules dissolve during the test.

 

[Pointyhead]

I started out using two level scoops (used the jar lid to scrape the top off level) but now I just put in one heaping dipper full.