Pool water test kit question

[Piper Mike]

Hi everyone.
I'm new to most of this still. I have a new above ground pool and when I go to test the chlorine of the water and put the drops in the water gets darker after say a minute vs right after I put the drops in. Should I go by the color of the water right after I put the drops in, or go by the color of the water after a minute or two of putting the drops in. I hope this makes sense.
Thanks
Mike

 

[jblizzle]

What chlorine test are you talking about? Describe it.

Usually you want to look at the colors immediately.

 

[Piper Mike]

It's where you take a sample of water and along the side of it are different color shades of yellow with numbers. You put five drops in the water part you filled and the put the cap on. You shake it up and the try and tell what shade it is like.

 

[jblizzle]

That is the OTO test. Here is more info about it: http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...Kit-Directions?p=203518&viewfull=1#post203518

What it sounds like is that right away is the FC level, but sense the color darkens, that could indicate the presence of CC (bad).

Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you. I am not sure what pool you have and thus not sure if you are trying to follow the seasonal pool guide or if you need to invest in one of the Recommended Test Kits.

High CC may indicate a need to follow the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process.

 

[Piper Mike]

Ok, I updated my signature. Sorry about the delay on this. About the text kit, it's the $7 test kit from Walmart. Yes I know it's not the kit recommended on here. I started to fill the pool at 5 pm Saturday and by 1 pm yesterday it was filled. I have one of the chlorine floating things in it currently. It shows a shade of 1 to 2 and then a 20 to 30 seconds later it goes up to 3 to 4 shade. The ph is at 7 to 8
Thanks

 

[jblizzle]

Some places are now adding CC to the tap water ... so that could be what you are seeing on the fresh fill. Hopefully that will stop shortly.

Careful tracking how much trichlor tablets you use so your CYA does not get too high. Also realize that they may lower your pH and TA.

 

[Piper Mike]

Thank you Jason. I'm sure you get fed up with silly questions from people like me. Thank you for your time. Do you think to be on the safe side I should shock the pool? Get ride of the floating thingy?

 

[jblizzle]

What does "shock the pool" mean? We do not use that terminology as it is too confusing. We recommend the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process, but only when you actually have a problem.

This is new water so you should not have a problem. I would urge you to add around 30ppm of CYA separately in a sock and use bleach to maintain adequate FC. I would say add 2ppm of FC with bleach immediately to prevent anything from starting to grow in the pool.

 

[Piper Mike]

I have a Walmart bottle of bleach with 8.25% chlorine in it. Would I pour the whole bottle in it?

 

[jblizzle]

You would use PoolMath to calculate how much bleach is required to reach your target FC level from your current FC level.

You would determine your target FC level from the FC/CYA Chart which depends on your CYA level.