TF100 arrived today - results

Doug73 · Aug 9, 2012

We just moved into a new house which has an IG pool (installed 2006). The water is nice and clear, but my wife has stated it has a funny taste.
I found this site before we closed on the house, as I wanted to be educated on the correct way to maintain a pool.

I have read the pool school a number of times and have been browsing the forums every day.
I ordered the TF100 earlier this week and it arrived today. I performed each test twice to make sure my results are accurate.

pH = (more yellow than 6.8 on the color scale)
CYA = 90
FC = 10.5
CC = .5
CH = 180
TA = 0 (water turns pink when I add R-0008)

From what I've been reading in the forums, I should deal with the low pH first. I entered a pH of 6.6 in the pool calculator and it states I should Add 33 oz by weight or 29 oz by volume of washing soda or soda ash
or add 66 oz by weight or 64 oz by volume of borax.

Which should I use: washing soda or borax?.

The previous owner has been using 3" Trichlor tablets in the chlorine feeder and HTH Shock N Swim (Cal Hypo) every week. I am going to start using the BBB method as of today.

Thanks for such a great site!

RobbieH · Aug 9, 2012

Soda vs. Borax is up to you, how much you want to add to the pool. I prefer Borax, but I like borates in my pool. BUT, before you go too much farther, your CYA of 90 is high. The tablets are why, of course. I recommend draining and refilling to get that CYA down to a manageable number before you do too much else. There is no reason to add chems then just drain them on the ground.

duraleigh · Aug 9, 2012

1. address your very high CYA first. I would suggest you drain about 50% of the pool to get your CYA down to a manageable 40-50

2. Once that's done, retest pH and TA as they will have changed considerably then post those results.

Doug73 · Aug 9, 2012

Thanks for the quick replies!

My water is from a well and is a little high in iron. Is it OK to refill with this well water?

duraleigh · Aug 9, 2012

People do it every day but, IMO, it is one of the worst things you can do to your pool. Iron above .3ppm in the well will cause you pool chemistry problems the rest of your life.....it will never come out but can only be kept in suspension through the use of sequestrants.

I would sure price hauling in water or some other alternative. At least test the well to see how concentrated it is.

Doug73 · Aug 9, 2012

A water test was performed (as it was required by the state), and the iron content is 4.68 mg/l.

The pH is 6.72

Is it very expensive to have 15,000 gallons hauled in by truck?

jblizzle · Aug 9, 2012

Doug73 said:
A water test was performed (as it was required by the state), and the iron content is 4.68 mg/l.

The pH is 6.72

Is it very expensive to have 15,000 gallons hauled in by truck?

Well, that is pretty high iron content, so will require a lot of chemicals continuously to keep it in suspension which = $. So, you have to decided if trucking it in is too expensive knowing you will need chemicals if you do not.

Best to price it out and find out what the water would cost.