New TFTest kit owner Please help!

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Snoufette

0
May 29, 2015
47
Cincinnati/ohio
After becoming extremely frustrated with the local pool store (got sold on the phosphate issue) I purchased the TF-100 test kit and decided to educate myself. It arrived in the mail and the morning I was going to test my water one of our landscapers crew dropped a wheelbarrow full of topsoil in our pool! We have spent the last 3 days vacuuming to waste and filtering/backwashing. We are now able to see the bottom slightly so I decided to use my test kit.

Here are my readings...

FC 24 ppm
CC 1.5 ppm
CYA 55
pH 8.2
TA 160

After opening our pool this season we were not able to keep chlorine in our pool and were sold on the phosphate issue.. (I now believe it was due to low stabilizer) So we added chlorine per pool store instructions. After retesting we were told our level was at 10 ppm 2 weeks ago. We thought after our landscaping incident and backwashing so often we would be severely low on chlorine so we added more last night. Now my reading is off the chart high! We will be continuing to backwash as we deal with this problem and so hoping it will go down.

Should I turn off or turn down my swg so it's not making more chlorine?
Should I add the muriatic acid per pool math even though we will be losing some of it with future backwashing??
 
When FC is above 10 the pH test reads high, so at this point you can't get a test to verify where you really are.

24 is actually your shock level, so it is really not that high.

If it were me I would be vacuuming to waste to get all of the trash off the floor of the pool and then SLAM the pool to clear it up.
 
Confirming what Tim has said, you are actually in good shape. You have attained SLAM value for FC so just keep the FC right where it is until your pool is crystal clear.

Brushing, vacuuming and filtering will be your biggest project.

When you have finished the SLAM (it's a process, not a one time event) I think you will find you can let your FC drift down to about 4-5 ppm and the rest of your numbers will be in very good shape as will your pool water.
 
Yes I would say you can turn off swg until Chlorine is at the level you want, then restart
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Not exactly. You must continue to ADD chlorine to keep your FC level at 24. Whether you do that manually or with the SWG (manually is better) it is imperative your FC stay at 24 until your pool is crystal clear and the SLAM is complete.
 
Thanks so much! I didn't realize before more research that I was at SLAM level however, prior to getting any responses I turned off the generator and like you said have been brushing, vacuuming and filtering. It is much improved but very cloudy. Test results this evening are as follows:

FC 16
CC 1
pH 7.8
TA 130
CH 275
CYA 40

Obviously I am no longer at SLAM level so what is my next step? Should we leave the swg off and manually add chlorine? If so how much? What about CYA? Should I add that as well?
 
Snoufette said:
Thanks so much! I didn't realize before more research that I was at SLAM level however, prior to getting any responses I turned off the generator and like you said have been brushing, vacuuming and filtering. It is much improved but very cloudy. Test results this evening are as follows:

FC 16
CC 1
pH 7.8
TA 130
CH 275
CYA 40

Obviously I am no longer at SLAM level so what is my next step? Should we leave the swg off and manually add chlorine? If so how much? What about CYA? Should I add that as well?
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Well, actually, you are at SLAM level. 16 FC is shock level for 40 CYA.

Something does not compute. Did you replace a whole bunch of water since the first test? CYA doesn't drop 30% overnight by itself. One of your tests is wrong. It's the hardest test to do, and there's no shame in pouring the sample back and forth and reading it ten times or more. As long as you start consistently hitting within about 5 of each other, you're probably there. Use the highest number of the group as your CYA.

Be certain of that CYA, and then raise FC up to shock level again. Don't mess with anything but adding bleach until the pool passes all three tests to end the SLAM. The rest can be fine tuned in a couple hours no matter how far out of whack. Just get that pool crystal clear.
 
The CYA test is definitely the most difficult!!! I believe my result of 40 is probably the most accurate. It was at 90 (according to the pool store) 3 weeks ago. I was getting ready to test it using my TFTest kit when our "dirt incident" happened. We have replaced A LOT of water since then so I am assuming it has dropped quite a bit. Not sure if we should have but my husband added 4 pounds of CYA this evening (recommended amount was 6 pounds but we started small just in case). Problem is now I have no idea how much chlorine to add to stay at SLAM level and understand that my CYA will not show up for a few days.
 

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Snoufette said:
The CYA test is definitely the most difficult!!! I believe my result of 40 is probably the most accurate. It was at 90 (according to the pool store) 3 weeks ago. I was getting ready to test it using my TFTest kit when our "dirt incident" happened. We have replaced A LOT of water since then so I am assuming it has dropped quite a bit. Not sure if we should have but my husband added 4 pounds of CYA this evening (recommended amount was 6 pounds but we started small just in case). Problem is now I have no idea how much chlorine to add to stay at SLAM level and understand that my CYA will not show up for a few days.
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Did he just dump it in, or in a sock that maybe you can pull out??
 
Snoufette said:
I had never even heard of a sock until this website. :(
He put it slowly in the skimmer like we've been told to do by the pool store..... Really wish I had found this website prior to installing our pool. Live and learn.
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Well, you could backwash now because most of the CYA is probably sitting on top of the sand, but that would wast it. But, now you will need more bleach to clear up your pool because your shock level just went up. You had 40 CYA before, and what you just added will raise it anther 27 (not sure where you figured 6 pounds) so as of tomorrow morning you must shock at 28ppm FC.
 
The 6 pounds was calculated by using a chart in my pool manual. Inaccurate I'm assuming by your response but like I said I just now have figured out this website. Unfortunately I think I am in a sticky situation until I can get more accurate results. I realize the stabilizer addition was a dumb move but its over now. I hate to add chlorine to 28 ppm when I know I will be continuing to backwash to clean this topsoil out of my pool, which will then lower my cya level and yet it is too soon to get an accurate cya reading. correct?
Guess I'll just wait it out and hope nothing goes terribly wrong... I appreciate all of your responses.
 
Snoufette said:
The 6 pounds was calculated by using a chart in my pool manual. Inaccurate I'm assuming by your response but like I said I just now have figured out this website. Unfortunately I think I am in a sticky situation until I can get more accurate results. I realize the stabilizer addition was a dumb move but its over now. I hate to add chlorine to 28 ppm when I know I will be continuing to backwash to clean this topsoil out of my pool, which will then lower my cya level and yet it is too soon to get an accurate cya reading. correct?
Guess I'll just wait it out and hope nothing goes terribly wrong... I appreciate all of your responses.
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With a SWG a CYA level of 40 + 27 is just about right!
 
Thanks Dave! Unfortunately I wasn't educated enough yesterday evening and we added CYA because I thought it was low based on having and swg.... whats done is done. Based on pool math calculations and Tim's calculation of what 4 lbs of cya did to my level we added chlorine last night to get us up to shock level. This morning at 6:30 am I am at 30 ppm if I'm testing correctly. My concern at this point is I don't really know what my cya level is and I also know that I will need to backwash again because I'm still vacuuming dirt. What should be my main goal at this point? Should I leave swg off also?
 
I would turn off the swg during slam to save the cell from working so hard. Just use regular unscented bleach, not splashless. If it doesn't say 8.25% don't buy it.
 
Defgufman said:
I would turn off the swg during slam to save the cell from working so hard. Just use regular unscented bleach, not splashless. If it doesn't say 8.25% don't buy it.
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Agreed.

Use 70 at the CYA level for your SLAM. Backwash when you need to and don't bother testing CYA for at least a week.

You will find that on the internet and in printed materials many differing suggestions on how to maintaining your pool and what chemicals to use and in what quantities. Mixing and matching from different sources can be problematic.
 

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