I'm back but forgot most of what I knew! HELP!!! My numbers are wack!

[my2kidsmom]

After many years, I finally am back in a home with a pool!!!! We haven't even moved in yet due to a delay with our movers, but we closed last Friday and took possession yesterday! Pool LOOKED great! My Taylor test kit got delivered and the kids jumped in the pool today and started running tests!

I did have a pool inspection and everything is okay with the equipment from what I was told. The previous owner used the frogger system and explained a little to me, but left no written instructions. I could hardly keep from rolling my eyes when he said he just throws some shock in it every week and lets the system do the rest.

Well, I totally regret not getting the pool inspector to run the numbers!!!! Never again!

I find it hard to get a solid reading when the numbers are wack, so bear with me and I left my list at the house so I'm working from memory.

The first thing I checked is the CYA. I dealt with lowering CYA with my previous pool (uggg) but finally got it to an acceptable level. CYA is 125 (or higher) - I'm ballparking it based on the high reading.
Next, I checked FC - maybe 1
pH pale yellow - maybe 6.5 ????
TA - When I did this test, and added the reagent that was supposed to turn the water green, it turned red or fuschia immediately without adding the additional reagent - so what does this mean???
CH - I don't remember if this is correct, but I'm thinking it was 260.

My 12 year old son had to get out of the pool after about 90 minutes due to the water irritating the tip of his man parts. This has happened to him a couple of times in the past at other pools. I originally thought it was the lining of his swimsuit but then came to understand that it was the water chemistry being off.

I would appreciate any advise on how to best proceed to get the pool levels under control.

I did dump what bleach I happened to have (less that 1 gallon) before I left the house and went back to my apt. Move in day is Friday.

Thanks! I know you guys will help me get this converted to a TFP in no time!

 

[woodyp]

Welcome.........BACK?.. Aerate or add borax to get that PH up into mid 7 range. Are you saying current cya in the current pool is 125 or better? If so, you know you're looking at a couple of partial drains and refills. Bring FC into range for your level of cya. I'd retest the TA. CH is golden. Pool School refresher course is still there!

 

[my2kidsmom]

Back, yes! I had been here years ago when I rented a house with a pool. Loved it! Loved learning about the chemistry! Hated doing the ongoing drain and refill to get the CYA down. It looks like I'm getting into a similar situation only I'm buying this house! Years of using shock and tabs runs that CYA up! My best guess is that it is 125+/-.

On the TA, I'll run it again tomorrow, but I did run it twice because I was confused when I put the 2 drops of R-0007 and swirled then I added the 5 drops of R-0008 and it did not turn green at all. It turned red so I didn't add the R-0009 since it was already red. So, I wasn't sure at all what the deal is with the TA.

My daughter said that the water had a sour taste.

 

[PridgNYC]

Yes, get the Ph up then retest TA, going to red immediately means that TA is below the threshold for that test, probably due to the extremely low Ph. Your CYA is above the range, so you will need to do some partial drain/refills to get it in range. Try a 50/50 dilution test of the cya to get a better idea how high it really is.

 

[my2kidsmom]

Good idea! I'll test tomorrow and also start working on figuring out how to deal with partial drain and refill without turning my neighbors yard into a mess! I hope I can keep the water in my yard! Last time, I had a huge yard and it didn't matter.

 

[PridgNYC]

Can you drain to the street? Storm drain should take care of that...