Okay so the more videos I watch on YouTube the more I get confused. When doing the chlorine tests do I scoop the powder into the water or just use the drops? Or both? Is this more than one method?
Cloudy Intex Pool with Balanced Water
- Thread starter fralo
- Start date
- Mar 24, 2014
- 2,455
- Pool Size
- 32000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-55
Fill vial to 10 ml.
Add heaping scoop of powder. Swirl.
If pink then add drops of 871 until clear. Each drop = 0.5 FC
Five drops of 003. If still clear, CC = 0.0
Add drops of 871 until clear, each drop = 0.5 CC.
edit: The blue box test is a completely different test, where you fill the vial up to the line with pool water and just add 5 drops from the yellow bottle. That test (IMO) should only be used as a sanity check to indicate there is ANY chlorine in the pool. I haven't done that test in years.
edit 2
OTO (Blue Box) Test: Pool School - OTO Chlorine Test
FAS-DPD Test Pool School - FAS-DPD Chlorine Test
Add heaping scoop of powder. Swirl.
If pink then add drops of 871 until clear. Each drop = 0.5 FC
Five drops of 003. If still clear, CC = 0.0
Add drops of 871 until clear, each drop = 0.5 CC.
edit: The blue box test is a completely different test, where you fill the vial up to the line with pool water and just add 5 drops from the yellow bottle. That test (IMO) should only be used as a sanity check to indicate there is ANY chlorine in the pool. I haven't done that test in years.
edit 2
OTO (Blue Box) Test: Pool School - OTO Chlorine Test
FAS-DPD Test Pool School - FAS-DPD Chlorine Test
You should have the powder labeled R-0870 and the drops labeled R-0871 and R-0003. Using 10mL of pool water and one heaping scoop of the R-0870 powder and swirl. The water will turn pink if there is chlorine present. Then add one drop at a time of the R-0871 keeping count of them until the water turns clear. Write down that number. Then add 5 drops of R-0003. If there are any combined chloromines in your water, the water will turn pink again. If it does, use the R-0870 drops again, counting them one at a time until the water goes clear again. Write down the number of drops. If the water did not turn pink after the R-0003, you have no CC. Then divide the number of drops by 2 and that is your ppm for FC and CC.
Ah! I see. So the FAS-DPD would seem to be the one you would routinely conduct, since the OTO is simply to determine if there is any chlorine at all, which is probably pretty rare.
Hey, you guys are alright.
Hey, you guys are alright.
pinguy
0
Yep. I don't use the OTO at all personally, too hard to approximate a number.
I only use it because I already have the vial out and am filling it anyway to test pH, might as well use up the CL reagent as well! But I don't really look at the number. As long as it's yellow toward the top of the scale, I'm good! But I always follow with the FAS-DPD test.
1) My first results from my Taylor kit:
FC - 5
CC - .5 *
PH - 7.2/4
TA - 110
CH - 200
CYA - 0 *
Note on the CC: If it only takes one drop to turn the pink water to clear, then how do you know the CC is actually .5? It seems to me that dividing the number of drops by two means that your results are always gonna be 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, etc. while the range in between is automatically excluded from consideration.
Note on the CYA: It was only after conducting the test did I realize that the black dot may have only been partially covered as I didn't know how big it was initially. This means that my CYA may actually be 20 or 30 ppm?
2) Lo and behold when I awoke this morning I could see the bottom of my pool! It is still fairly cloudy, but maybe it is on the way to clearing on its own. The reason? Just time itself maybe? It's been about ten days since I dumped a bunch of chemicals in it. I have the 120V Intex Pump which I've heard is not the greatest at moving water. Or could it be that I started using regular bleach about 4 days ago, and removed the floating chlorine tablets from my pool? Or could it be that I jumped in it for the first time a couple of days ago and stirred up some of the dirt from the bottom, making it easier for the pump to pick up? I also got some leaves off the bottom. I wonder.
If you all have any advice about what I should do right now I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much for your help thus far.
FC - 5
CC - .5 *
PH - 7.2/4
TA - 110
CH - 200
CYA - 0 *
Note on the CC: If it only takes one drop to turn the pink water to clear, then how do you know the CC is actually .5? It seems to me that dividing the number of drops by two means that your results are always gonna be 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, etc. while the range in between is automatically excluded from consideration.
Note on the CYA: It was only after conducting the test did I realize that the black dot may have only been partially covered as I didn't know how big it was initially. This means that my CYA may actually be 20 or 30 ppm?
2) Lo and behold when I awoke this morning I could see the bottom of my pool! It is still fairly cloudy, but maybe it is on the way to clearing on its own. The reason? Just time itself maybe? It's been about ten days since I dumped a bunch of chemicals in it. I have the 120V Intex Pump which I've heard is not the greatest at moving water. Or could it be that I started using regular bleach about 4 days ago, and removed the floating chlorine tablets from my pool? Or could it be that I jumped in it for the first time a couple of days ago and stirred up some of the dirt from the bottom, making it easier for the pump to pick up? I also got some leaves off the bottom. I wonder.
If you all have any advice about what I should do right now I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much for your help thus far.
If the CC takes only one drop, it's between 0 and 0.5. No big deal!
The CYA test is the trickiest one but you'll get it and you can do it over and over by just pouring the water back into the dispenser bottle and trying again.
If your CYA is actually zero, you'll want to get some in there because your FC will burn off in the sun too quickly without it. Best way is the powdered CYA put in a sock hung in front of a return. Then just give it a squeeze every time you go past to help it dissolve. Since you're iffy on your CYA test, only add enough to raise by 10ppm at a time until you get a good reading.
- - - Updated - - -
If you want to know your FC and CC more accurately(not necessary) than to the 0.5ppm, you can use the 25mL sample, then every drop counts for 0.2ppm.
The CYA test is the trickiest one but you'll get it and you can do it over and over by just pouring the water back into the dispenser bottle and trying again.
If your CYA is actually zero, you'll want to get some in there because your FC will burn off in the sun too quickly without it. Best way is the powdered CYA put in a sock hung in front of a return. Then just give it a squeeze every time you go past to help it dissolve. Since you're iffy on your CYA test, only add enough to raise by 10ppm at a time until you get a good reading.
- - - Updated - - -
If you want to know your FC and CC more accurately(not necessary) than to the 0.5ppm, you can use the 25mL sample, then every drop counts for 0.2ppm.
Thanks. So what should I do from here on out? Check FC and PH daily, and the others every few days or so? How should I determine how much daily chlorine I should add? Pool Math is only for addressing specific problems, not for daily routines, right?
I shared with my co-workers that I was using regular bleach instead of tablets and they all laughed, stating it would ruin my liner.
I shared with my co-workers that I was using regular bleach instead of tablets and they all laughed, stating it would ruin my liner.
You can use PoolMath anytime you are adding chemicals. Just leave the Goals column setup with what you are targeting and put your current numbers in the left column. It will tell you exactly how much chlorine to add.
As for the co-workers, when they tablet-filled pools are green and they are spending hundreds at the pool store only to have to drain their pool and start over, you'll be the onelaughing helping them figure out what is wrong and showing them the right way to do it! They are correct that chlorine can mess up your liner, that powder that they throw in there every week that sits on the bottom of the pool until it dissolves will do the same thing. Just pour slowly in front of a return and you'll be fine!
As for the co-workers, when they tablet-filled pools are green and they are spending hundreds at the pool store only to have to drain their pool and start over, you'll be the one
Oh I didn't knows I should be adding the bleach in front of the return. I have been just distributing it out while circling the pool.
Is the BBB method only for saltwater systems?
Is the BBB method only for saltwater systems?
If my FC level is currently above the recommended range, and has been for about a week now, should I not add chlorine until it gets to the acceptable level?
You should maintain your FC at 40-50% of your CYA until your water is clear again. Do not let it drop below 40%, or you will simply be extending the process.
I don't see where you've posted a CYA reading since you said it was 0? Have you added and/or measured any CYA in your water?
I don't see where you've posted a CYA reading since you said it was 0? Have you added and/or measured any CYA in your water?
No I haven't added any CYA. Where to get it? I actually wanna test it again to see if it was actually zero, or if I was misreading.
I'm sorry but what do you mean by my FC should be 40-50% of the CYA? If CYA was 40, for instance, then FC should be roughly half of that?
Yes, with CYA at 40, keep your FC 16-20. After your SLAM is complete, you can let it drop back down to 7.5-10% of CYA.
You can buy CYA (aka stabilizer) in most hardware stores or big box stores that carry seasonal pool supplies. Although it is getting late in the season, and some have already taken it off the shelves. But any pool store will have it. Just don't let them talk you into anything else.
You can buy CYA (aka stabilizer) in most hardware stores or big box stores that carry seasonal pool supplies. Although it is getting late in the season, and some have already taken it off the shelves. But any pool store will have it. Just don't let them talk you into anything else.
I didn't know I was doing a SLAM. I have been doing nothing more than adding about half gallon of bleach until my test kit arrived, which came yesterday. I have yet to get a vacuum and brush to do the SLAM anyway. Since the water has started to clear up some I thought I didn't need to do that.
Just wondering where to go from here. Thanks so much.
Just wondering where to go from here. Thanks so much.
If you can't pass the 3 tests (less than 1 ppm FC loss overnight, CC .5 or less, and water is perfectly clear), then yes, you need to SLAM. Your cloudy water means you've failed one of the conditions.
pinguy
0
If your water is cloudy you should start a SLAM.
SLAM is our name for shocking, the only difference is that you shock your pool, and maintain shock levels until the problem goes away.
See here:
Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
I am considering a SLAM. But it seems so demanding of your attention, how in the world do you do it when you have a full time job? ��
I think I might first vacuum the pool. I got in it yesterday merely to scoop up what leaves I could off the bottom. After I was done the water became extremely cloudy again. Is it possible that all the chemicals I had put in it had settled on the bottom, and I stirred them up? If so, is it safe for me to vacuum if the water is cloudy, and I can't see the bottom?
Thank you again.
I think I might first vacuum the pool. I got in it yesterday merely to scoop up what leaves I could off the bottom. After I was done the water became extremely cloudy again. Is it possible that all the chemicals I had put in it had settled on the bottom, and I stirred them up? If so, is it safe for me to vacuum if the water is cloudy, and I can't see the bottom?
Thank you again.
Cloudy water means you need to SLAM. No way around it. If you continue to ignore it, you may come home from work to a green pool some day soon.