TC High FC None, what to do?

[DallasStars]

New to the group (also a new pool owner) and looking for some insight. We have an in ground 26000 liner pool with a sand filter and 1.5 hp pump.

My wife (God bless her) tried to surprise me and open the pool as I am out of town until tomorrow. She "shocked" the pool and took a sample to the pool store for lab levels. The woman helping her stated that we had no FC and a high TC of 3 or more and that we need to drain half of the pool and add new fresh water or buy approx. $200 dollars worth of chemicals. Again I am not home yet but this just didn't sound right and I told my wife to hold off until I get home in 2 days. If the FC is 0 and the TC is above 3 what are my options? and what would cause this? Thanks Aaron

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! It is possible you have ammonia in the water. Did the pool store give a complete set of test results? If so please post them here, that will give us a better idea what is going on in your water.

Regardless of whether or not you have ammonia in your pool you can get rid of the high CC it with chlorine. We recommend liquid chlorine since it does not add any ingredients your pool may not need.

The best way to take control of your pool is to get a high quality FAS/DPD test kit, such as the Taylor K2006 or TF 100 . When you are able to run your own testing your results will be more consistent.

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome Aaron

I would second Zea and urge you to get a proper kit to properly take control of your pool. It's not what you would expect, but unfortunately Pool store testing can be very poor, you just never know. With your own kit, it removes all doubt.

 

[Azgirl71]

Welcome to TFP! You have been given some great advice to get things started. I love my TF 100 and speed stir for testing.

 

[Speedo]

As stated above.. Your best bet would be to ignore the pool store results and get a proper test kit.

I once took a sample to the pool store as a joke and it was just that! My levels were all balanced, yet they still gave me recommendations based on their inaccurate results.