Help getting started testing my pool

[JaredVegas]

Okay we emptied our in October 2012 and filled with fresh water. Till now I was mainly using Tricolor tabs to keep the chlorine up and to get my CYA up. I didn't learn of the BBB method till after I bought them and couldn't return them. Also due neglect and old filters I just replaced I have algae in the pool I am currently shocking to get rid of. Here is my first test results and I am a bit worried about PH, TA and CH.

40 CYA
19.5 FC
1 CC
470CH which seems really high but I do live in Boulder City, NV and we have hard water

8.2 PH concerned this might be higher since that is as high as the test goes

170-200 TA. Not sure what is the correct reading it turns red at 170 briefly and goes back clear. Not till 200 does it stay red.

 

[JohnN]

The pH will read falsely high when Cl is >10. CH of 470 is not too high. There are some people here with CH in the 700s and higher. I'm not sure what you mean when you say TA turns red and goes back to clear. It is supposed to be green and turn to red. No clear involved.

 

[Isaac-1]

Overall it does not look too bad, I would suggest avoiding things that add to your CYA and your CH, so no dichlor or trichlor for the CYA and no Cal-Hypo, or anything else with Calcium in it for the CH.

 

[JaredVegas]

Sorry it is green turns briefly red at 17 drops and then back to green. It doesn't stabilize till 20 drops. So not sure if I should read that as a TA of 170 or 200. I would assume 200 but in any case it is still high.

 

[JasonLion]

You keep adding drops until the color stops changing and remains stable for 15 seconds of swirling. So TA is around 200, which is indeed high. High TA and mildly high CH at the same time can cause problems. I suggest working on lowering TA.

 

[JohnN]

For the TA test, you want to keep adding the reagent until there is no color change, and then subtract the drop that did not change the color.

 

[Richard320]

Sorry it is green turns briefly red at 17 drops and then back to green. It doesn't stabilize till 20 drops. So not sure if I should read that as a TA of 170 or 200. I would assume 200 but in any case it is still high.

You keep counting until the drop that doesn't make any change, then deduct one.
In your case, it should be something like it goes grey then green again at 16; pink then green or grey at 17 and 18; pink at 19, barbie pink at 20, and no change at 21. The drop that made no difference was 21, so deduct one. Total drops = 20, TA = 200.

From reading here, 200 is not too bad for Vegas. Add acid to get pH to 7.2, then turn on anything you can to get the water churning. Aim the return eyeballs up, anything like that. pH will go up, and then you add acid again and repeat it until TA gets where you want it. Or, if you're the patient type, just keep adding acid to keep pH about 7.2 - 7.3 and TA will eventually come down.

 

[JohnN]

Don't adjust the pH right now, while you are shocking the pool. When FC is >10, the test reads falsely high. Wait for FC to drop below 10 before adjusting pH.

 

[JaredVegas]

Don't adjust the pH right now, while you are shocking the pool. When FC is >10, the test reads falsely high. Wait for FC to drop below 10 before adjusting pH.

That is good to know though I planned to wait till after the algae was gone and FC and CC wee normal till I really worried about the other readings.

 

[duraleigh]

I planned to wait till after the algae was gone and FC and CC wee normal till I really worried about the other readings.

That's an excellent plan but it wouldn't hurt to lower your pH down to around 7.8 (it'll actually be lower than that but not too much) while you are clearing the pool of algae.