Marian,
Just so you know the kit Boburk got isn't a "Taylor-kinda" kit.... It is a standard Taylor k2006... With the .75 oz bottles. Leslie's just brands it as their own. Not too many store carry the kit, those that do keep in in stock for "pool care professionals." I know that sometimes Leslie's will order the reagent for you and you might get it faster.... But at this point Bo's will be here tomorrow and maybe he'll even luck out and it will be here today....
Boburk,
It won't be an exact number, but if you have a typical OTO (yellow drops) tester for chlorine with a scale that goes up to 5... You can force it to read higher by diluting your pool water sample with equal parts distilled water, like you would use in your iron. In your case you will need to dilute 1 part pool water to 4 parts distilled and then multiply the result by five. you will lose some precision with this method, but if you can get exact amounts for your dilution-- with a medicine syringe, for example-- your result will be fairly close. This will let you keep up your SLAM while you wait, so you won't backslide hopefully.
And for what it's worth, kids and women tend to be better color matchers than men... Well, presumably.
I hope you are using a 10ml sample for your test.... For a typical pool, you never need more than .5 ppm precision... so with the smaller sample your reagents will last a lot longer. Also you only need to use enough powder to make the sample clearly pink... For a 10ml test it's usually 1scoop. (if you add 2 and it's still not pink, then you have 0 Cl.)
I also wanted to add that the biggest reason for dropping your CYA under 50 is because the SLAM numbers end up so high otherwise.... But if your pool gets full TX sun every day, you may end up needing it to be at least 50 to keep from losing too much Cl to the sun... So if you are willing to conduct your SLAM at the higher numbers then it's up to you how much you continue to drain and refill. Except for the amount of bleach to get up to the higher range initially (20-25+), running a SLAM at those levels doesn't take more bleach over time ... You would have to add the same ppm over the course of the day to combat algae, as someone who started their SLAM at, say, 15. And you will have less loss to the sun during the day. With a concrete pool, you could even go above SLAM #s, and maybe get done sooner. The pool won't be swimmable if you go above SLAM, but it will probably be blue & clear up faster. Of course this assumes you aren't "yoyo-ing"... And it sounds like you probably aren't.
A note about swimming in the pool when you can't see the bottom: This is why we say....
I know it's hard to say no, and the kids get angry... But remember, crying kids are alive kids... That's what's important!
(Just tell them that some day they'll get to be "mean" to their own kids... It's one of the "joys" of being a parent...
)
Last thing, I promise (my fingers aren't crossed at all ) you may wanna go ahead and order more CYA reagent now. The amount in the kit only gets you about 6 tests, and the reagent lasts for years if you keep in a cool, dark cabinet. Buy the 16 oz bottle, and you'll have enough to last many seasons... (Normally, you'll test CYA monthly during swim season, and then if you close your pool for winter, you'll want to test then as a baseline for comparison when you open the following spring.)
FYI you can get reagent refills and a "CYA 50ppm control solution" from TFTESTKITS.NET (run by the owner of TFP.com). The control solution can be helpful to "train" yourself how to read the CYA test. When you add it to the measurement tube, if you are reading the test correctly, you will always get a 50ppm result. It's just a helpful tool to gain confidence in your testing procedures. You can also do a search for videos using taylor or TFP kits. (The testing procedures are the same.)
One of the most important things to know when testing CYA is that you always need to have full sun at your back... And to do the test in the same way each time. To get an idea of how much different lighting can matter-- after you've done the test your normal way, pour the solution back into the little bottle and try the test again facing the sun... And again indoors... And on the porch, in full shade.... Holding the tube at armpit height.... You get the idea-- basically try many different lighting conditions and you'll understand why the way you read the test is important. you could do the same thing with the control solution, I suppose. ?
Good luck
Just so you know the kit Boburk got isn't a "Taylor-kinda" kit.... It is a standard Taylor k2006... With the .75 oz bottles. Leslie's just brands it as their own. Not too many store carry the kit, those that do keep in in stock for "pool care professionals." I know that sometimes Leslie's will order the reagent for you and you might get it faster.... But at this point Bo's will be here tomorrow and maybe he'll even luck out and it will be here today....
Boburk,
It won't be an exact number, but if you have a typical OTO (yellow drops) tester for chlorine with a scale that goes up to 5... You can force it to read higher by diluting your pool water sample with equal parts distilled water, like you would use in your iron. In your case you will need to dilute 1 part pool water to 4 parts distilled and then multiply the result by five. you will lose some precision with this method, but if you can get exact amounts for your dilution-- with a medicine syringe, for example-- your result will be fairly close. This will let you keep up your SLAM while you wait, so you won't backslide hopefully.
And for what it's worth, kids and women tend to be better color matchers than men... Well, presumably.
I hope you are using a 10ml sample for your test.... For a typical pool, you never need more than .5 ppm precision... so with the smaller sample your reagents will last a lot longer. Also you only need to use enough powder to make the sample clearly pink... For a 10ml test it's usually 1scoop. (if you add 2 and it's still not pink, then you have 0 Cl.)
I also wanted to add that the biggest reason for dropping your CYA under 50 is because the SLAM numbers end up so high otherwise.... But if your pool gets full TX sun every day, you may end up needing it to be at least 50 to keep from losing too much Cl to the sun... So if you are willing to conduct your SLAM at the higher numbers then it's up to you how much you continue to drain and refill. Except for the amount of bleach to get up to the higher range initially (20-25+), running a SLAM at those levels doesn't take more bleach over time ... You would have to add the same ppm over the course of the day to combat algae, as someone who started their SLAM at, say, 15. And you will have less loss to the sun during the day. With a concrete pool, you could even go above SLAM #s, and maybe get done sooner. The pool won't be swimmable if you go above SLAM, but it will probably be blue & clear up faster. Of course this assumes you aren't "yoyo-ing"... And it sounds like you probably aren't.
A note about swimming in the pool when you can't see the bottom: This is why we say....
I know it's hard to say no, and the kids get angry... But remember, crying kids are alive kids... That's what's important!
(Just tell them that some day they'll get to be "mean" to their own kids... It's one of the "joys" of being a parent...
)Last thing, I promise (my fingers aren't crossed at all
) you may wanna go ahead and order more CYA reagent now. The amount in the kit only gets you about 6 tests, and the reagent lasts for years if you keep in a cool, dark cabinet. Buy the 16 oz bottle, and you'll have enough to last many seasons... (Normally, you'll test CYA monthly during swim season, and then if you close your pool for winter, you'll want to test then as a baseline for comparison when you open the following spring.)FYI you can get reagent refills and a "CYA 50ppm control solution" from TFTESTKITS.NET (run by the owner of TFP.com). The control solution can be helpful to "train" yourself how to read the CYA test. When you add it to the measurement tube, if you are reading the test correctly, you will always get a 50ppm result. It's just a helpful tool to gain confidence in your testing procedures. You can also do a search for videos using taylor or TFP kits. (The testing procedures are the same.)
One of the most important things to know when testing CYA is that you always need to have full sun at your back... And to do the test in the same way each time. To get an idea of how much different lighting can matter-- after you've done the test your normal way, pour the solution back into the little bottle and try the test again facing the sun... And again indoors... And on the porch, in full shade.... Holding the tube at armpit height.... You get the idea-- basically try many different lighting conditions and you'll understand why the way you read the test is important. you could do the same thing with the control solution, I suppose. ?
Good luck
