First Time Pool Owner and Results of Test Scary...WHAT DO WE DO?

[Figmentor]

To all that can help shed some light on my pool that came with our new house near Boston (place given incase weather matters).

We have never had a pool but the pool is an above ground pool that is 4' by 18-20' circle.

We have only run the filter without shocking or adding any chemicals since we took the cover off and filled it to the remaining fullness.

What we find scary is the results but are unsure what to do, and have tested twice (once by my wife and once by me from different locations around the pool) roughly resulting what I feel as the same.

Here they are:

Pool testing with Taylor K-2006

PH: 7.0
11 drops to get to 7.5 PH

Total alkalinity
10 drops equals 100ppm as calcium carbonate

Calcium hardness
50ppm calcium carbonate

Cyanuric Acid
Too low to read just where the black line is

Chlorine
15ppm free chlorine
.4ppm combined chlorine



Test 2:
PH 7, 10 drops of r-006 to get to 7.5

Total alkalinity
9 drops equals 90ppm calcium carbonate

Calcium hardness
40ppm

Cyanuric acid
Just below black mark way below last number

Chlorine:
Free chlorine is present
13.8ppm
Combined chlorine is present
.6 ppm


Question being is how should we proceed, any insight would be splendid...

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

Here are some intro Pool School articles
TFPC for Beginners
ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

Here are the Recommended Levels for your pool.
Here are the Recommended Pool Chemicals to maintain your pool and how to add them.
Use PoolMath to figure out how much to add.

 

[jblizzle]

You FC is way high for how low your CYA level is.

But, the most pressing is the pH being too low. Raise that up into the 7s with borax, no need for 7.5, just get it over 7.2 so you can read it.

The high CC is also concerning.

I would get the CYA up to around 30ppm ... then continue the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process until you pass the 3 criteria to stop.

BTW, use a 10ml water sample for the FAS-DPD test or you are going to run out of reagent very quickly. In fact, you should just order some refills now ... for both the FAS-DPD and the CYA test.

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