What to do?

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Get that pH up to about 7.3 then SLAM that pool.

From the Pool School
Raising PH

PH can be raised in three ways: borax, soda ash, and aeration. Borax is usually the best choice. Borax raises the PH and also raises the TA level just a little. If your TA level is low soda ash will raise both the PH and TA levels. If your TA level is high, aeration is best as it will not raise the TA level at all. However, aeration is rather slow compared to the other two.

Borax is available as 20 Mule Team® Borax Natural Laundry Booster. It is sold in the laundry detergent section of most larger grocery stores and some big box stores. Borax is best added by pre-dissolving it in a bucket of water and then pouring that slowly in front of a return.

Soda ash is available as ARM & HAMMER® Super Washing Soda Detergent Booster. Do not confuse this with ARM & HAMMER® laundry detergent! It is sold in the laundry detergent section of most larger grocery stores and some big box stores. It is also sold by pool stores under various names, including PH Increaser, PH Up, Balance Pak 200, etc. Soda ash is best added by pre-dissolving it in a bucket of water and then pouring that slowly in front of a return.

Aeration can be provided by a SWG, spa jets, waterfall, fountain, return pointed up so it breaks the surface, air compressor, kids splashing, rain, etc. It can take some time for aeration to raise the PH. The higher your TA level, the faster aeration will work.
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jblizzle said:
Although the TF-100 will not measure a pH of 6.3 or a TA of 32 :scratch: :suspect:
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Hate when I miss something.....
 
I was not the one that did the test. The hubby had a friend from work test it with the TF-100 kit and this is what he told us. :confused: We have a 25lb bucket of Alkalinity up left from last year but I'm thinking it may not be enough from what the instructions on the back say but any little but would help I guess? I have been looking at the pool math on this site and also reading some on the pool school
 
We have never had any problems with the pool untill this year. I was trying to help the hubby out by looking up advice on the internet and that's when his friend told us to look on this site and offered to test with his kit.

Thank you Tim5055 for your advice! Other than that all anyone will tell me is buy this test kit and retest??
 
Thank you Tim5055 for your advice! Other than that all anyone will tell me is buy this test kit and retest??
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Sorry, but that is not correct. What you should be getting from this sight is absolute encouragement to begin to learn the basics of Pool Water Chenistry so you can take those test results and learn to interpret them so youi will have crystal clear water.
 
If I offended anyone it was not on purpose. I have been reading the pool school for 3 days now and trust me I have learned ALOT compared to what I knew before reading. I'm not an expert by all means but I am understanding it more. I was just simply asking for some advice after posting test results from this "TF-100" kit along with a picture of the pool. I did not see the guy do the test so I can't tell you for sure it was that certain test. I just know what I was told.

Yes we could order this test and re test it for our selves but I was trying to save a few days by posting my info instead of wasting a few days waiting for it to come in the mail. I understand you guys are telling me those results are not possible from this TF-100. I'm just completely confused all together because this guy is the one that told us about this site and offered to do the test so we could get more info on what to do thro this site.

So since we just added the 2nd dose of alkalinity up out of 3 we will see how it tests/looks when we finish with it.

My understanding from this pool school is you have to get the alkalinity at the right level first then your PH stable so you can balance your chlorine through out the day. Correct?
 

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Dear PoolRookie, we were all rookies in the beginning so don't feel alone. Smykowski mirrors a lot of the people on this site in saying he needs accurate results and doesn't want to give advise without them. Most will push you to get your own kit recommending a TF-100 or a K-2006.
I came from being pool stored and with a pool store kept my GFs pool clear and blue for years as I didn't know any better. I didn't say clean as now I know that 1-3ppm chlorine one size fits all doesn't really work !! I've moved on and at first couldn't bring myself to spend her money for a test kit and once I saw the need had to get it past the GF who just wanted me to run to Walmart and get the twenty dollar one.
So if you have pool store results or test strip results or whatever I don't have a problem with helping with the math if I can on what you need to do. It's a matter of the joke about computers, junk in = junk out. Pool stores aren't known for consistency or accuracy and you'll also notice there isn't an "expert" doing the testing. My p store whoever is closest does the test and that too can be a problem.

Don't know what happened with the friends test, maybe he was new, maybe he was interrupted during a drop test and lost count, wrote something down wrong .... moving on. Lets try to get your pool blue with whatever test results you want to share. As you read and as you come to understand I'm sure you'll see the value in the kit (TF-100 is better) and get one in your own time.
:testresults:
 
Hi PoolRookie,
Hopefully my post wont be too long. I will also try to be of help if I can. If you have questions, please feel free to ask. We know its a lot to learn and sometimes, perhaps we have forgotten that we also were once Rookies too. :) I plead the 5th!

From the test results, the PH and the TA do not look believeable. The TF 100 is an excellent test kit if your husbands friend tested it, then perhaps he tested it wrong. I would recommend he repeat the test and this time, observe that he follows the directions correctly. The TF 100 has a laminated set of instructions that you can follow along with. The tests really are simple.

Before dealing with the cloudy and murky water, you need to get your PH up to about 7.2. It can be raised by aearting the water, or by adding Borax. I recommend highly though, to test it again before doing anything as the 6.3 previously posted is in doubt.

Next - Dont worry about your TA right now. We can deal wtih that later and it wont effect clearing the water.
That isnt why the water is the color it is.

The murky water is due to algae. To kill the algae, you need to bring your FC level up to 16ppm. (this is SLAM level based upon your 40 CYA). Now the hard part is keeping the FC at 16 or a little above. To know what your FC is you need the FAS-DPD Chlorine Test. This is the main reason everyone recommends getting your own kit, at least for now. In order to keep the FC up or slightly above SLAM level, you will have to test MANY times every day until the SLAM is complete.


The SLAM isnt a failure if FC gets below 16, but it will slow down the process a LOT. But you have GOT to add enough Chlorine to get it back to 16 multiple times a day. You are going to also need a LOT of patience. At times it will seem like nothing is happening, but it is. So dont give up! Ok?

During the FC testing, you will also need to test for Combined CHloramines. A.k.a. CC's. If the CC test is higher than .5, there is still algae in the water.

During the SLAM process, you will need to monitor your Filter Pressure and backwash when the pressure gets above about 25 percent of clean pressure.

When the water is clear, and your CC test is .5 or less, then you will need to do an overnight chlorine loss test. *OCLT* as we call it.
Measure FC when the sun is down. Then measure again before the sun comes up. IF the difference is 1 FC or less. Then the OCLT is passed. If more than 1 FC is lost overnight. You will need to keep the FC at 16 or slightly above until you do pass the test. This is very critical.


So to Summarize the main points.
1. Retest with your friends test kit. And watch whats going on so you can verify. Repost the results here.
2. HIGHLY recommend to get your own kit, you will definitely need it in order to monitor your water balance and for measuring FC many times a day.
3. Get the PH to around 7.2
4. Raise FC to 16 and MAINTAIN that level as diligently as you possibly can until the water clears. It may take a few days for this to happen. USE ONLY LIQUID CHLORINE DURING THE SLAM. Typically the most economical source is bleach. Preferably 8.25 %.
5. Monitor your Filter Pressure and backwash when needed.

Hopefully I didnt complicate this too much. I tried to keep it as simple as I can and yet provide you with directions that will rid your pool of algae. so please have faith in us too as well as the SLAM process, and like I said, we are here to help and also to help you help yourself in maintianing a troubelfree pool.

Dave
 
Belated thought on the friends testing. The kit reads down to 6.8 on pH and you posted a 6.3 - - - 6.8/6.3 maybe just handwriting, the eight looks like a three ??
 
My original point was, those numbers can not be from the TF-100. The pH test only goes down to 6.8 and the TA is in multiples of 10ppm. So either they did the test wrong, told you the wrong numbers, or you misunderstood the numbers.

I would hate for you to make adjustments on bogus data and thus suggested buying a kit which you are going to need for maintenance anyway.

Maybe ask Tim if those were the actual numbers or ask him to re test.

Btw, the pH and TA have nothing to do with balancing the FC or CYA. Usually the TA is the lowest priority, but yours might be too low.
 

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