New Pool Please Help!

[jayboehmler]

Hi all,

Just moved to Fort Worth Texas from Ohio last week and inherited a pool in our new house.

Pool is gunite, 15000 gallons, SWG, Jandy 1400, with a heater. Pool was built in 2006.

When we moved in there was some green algae in there and looked pretty rough. I called a local company rated on Angie's list to come and do an initial cleaning, since I don't have any prior experience with pools. In the meantime, I had ordered the TF100 kit.

Our original readings from their visit (on 4/28) was:

pH 8.0 FC 0 TA 130 CH 275

The cleaner put in a gallon of Muriatic acid, algicide, and a bunch of chlorine. The pool cleared within 6 hours. The guy offered me a plan to do the chemicals and cleaning, but I'd like to try to do the routine maintenance myself. I might have them do a full diagnostic of the system to see if anything needs to be replaced, as I suspect the previous owner wasn't aggressive in their care.

Since I've received the TF100 kit, I've accumulated the following data

4/29 pH 7.2 FC 16 CC 1 TA 140 CYA 55
4/30 pH 7.1 FC 13 CC 1 TA 110
5/1 pH 7.2 FC 11 CC 1 TA 90 CYA 60
5/2 pH 7.2 FC 8 CC 1 TA 100

Just want to know if my pool is heading in the right direction.

I'll be reading through the pool school posts (again) and trying to understand more, but any help would be greatly appreciated! Particularly wondering if my pH will go up a little on its own as the FC drops, or if I need to add to get it up a little.

Thanks in advance!

Jay

 

[JamesW]

The pH should rise on its own. I would wait and retest.

 

[JasonLion]

PH at 7.2 is fine for swimming, and will go up eventually on it's own.

With CC at 1.0, you probably should SLAM the pool. Though before you do that, you might want to double check the chlorine test instructions in case the CC reading is somehow mistaken.

 

[Casey]

4 days and 1 CC. It doesn't seem like a mistake to me. It's time to SLAM the pool.

Welcome to TFP and keep reading Pool School. You don't need the added expense and headaches from a pool company!

 

[Smykowski]

Agree with the above.

Also, you can save yourself some time and reagent by testing TA and CYA less often. Unless you are actively trying to change them (adding chemicals, major water change) those values won't change much at all day to day.

 

[jayboehmler]

Hey all,

Thanks for the initial responses.

In regard to my CC level, I had been rounding up with my readings. When doing the TF100 test, I add the R-0003 (5 drops) and it turns barely pink. 1 or 2 drops makes it clear, so my level is probably more like 0.5. Do I still need to SLAM the pool, or will my remaining elevated FC take care of whatever issue is there? I thought it might take a couple days for CC to go to 0, but could be wrong.

I was doing the TA and CYA tests a few times just to get the hang of them (especially the CYA test)

Lastly, the TF100 test kit doesn't seem to have a salt test. Do I need to measure the salt in the pool? If so, what test is recommended?

Thanks again for everyone's help

J

 

[zea3]

Since you have an SWG you may need to measure salt at some point in time. If the SWG is currently generating chlorine it is not an immediate need but something that would be good to have for future use. TF Testkits sells salt tests using strips or drops. Do you currently have the SWG turned on?

 

[chem geek]

Probably the best thing to reduce the seemingly persistent and relatively low (for a 10 ml sample size) CC will be to keep the pool uncovered and exposed to sunlight. Though this results in a higher chlorine loss rate, it usually helps to break down CC both directly and indirectly from the UV in sunlight. Between that and an elevated FC level, the CC should drop, and if it doesn't drop fast enough then you can consider a SLAM.