1st test on recently converted to SWCG pool

BasicTek

0
Bronze Supporter
Oct 9, 2016
870
Lake Mary, FL
Hi everyone, I've been relying on the pool store, and today I finally started using my taylor kit. I haven't done all the tests but from what I can see my chemistry is out of whack (more so than previous pool store results indicated)

Now I tested the chlorine and PH with the taylor kit but I'm apparently missing a 7/14 mil bottle to test the CYA. For that I had to rely on aquacheck strips and the pool store

From taylor 2006c
FC 15 Turned off SWCG for at least a day will retest tomorrow
CC 0 (this could be a little higher but it was really hard to see any change to pink (seemed to stay clear) but when I dumped out the water there seemed a slight pink hue to it maybe this is normal)
PH 8.0 (this despite adding over a half gallon of "Klean Strip Green Muriatic Acid Gallon" that I bought at walmart over the past 3 weeks, I'm really not sure of it's effectiveness and I have some normal stuff I just bought at the pool store) I just dumped the last 1/4 gallon in today

So anyway I just wanted to see if there were any "gotcha's" when testing, #1 is there supposed to be an empty bottle with a 7 ml and 14 mil line for the CYA test in the taylor k-2006c test kit? #2 When testing for CC, it said if the color changes from clear to pink, it didn't seem to change at all, but when dumping out the water, there was still a little pinkish hue left, is that normal, I tested twice (once at the 10 and once at the 25 ml line) both times seemed to be FC 14/15 and CC 0. and #3 is that Klean strip some kind of crappy diluted Muriatic acid or is it normal for a new salt water pool to need 1/4 gallon per week, to note my pool is pool is only 10K gallons or so.

Anyway I used an aquachek strip to I could get an idea on CYA

on that my
PH was 7.8
FC 10 or 10+ I think 10 was the highest reading
TA 80
CYA looked between 100 and 150 (previous pool store rating was 60)

So I went to the pool store to confirm and got the following

FC 10+ (10 is their highest reading I think)
TC 10+ apparently indicating the same and no CC
Salt 3100
CH 200
CYA 100
TA 80
PH 8.0
acid 3
copper and iron 0
pho 100


The pool store owner indicated the previous CYA tests were not performed by him and that he didn't think 60 was accurate since I was using chlorine tabs previously. He also thinks that when Florida rain starts (if ever we're having quite a drought lately) that the CYA would naturally be reduced now that I was on a SWCG. He recommended turning off the SWG for at least a day and checking to bring down the FC. He didn't have an explanation how my FC jumped from 5 (the last 3 months) to 10-15 with the SWCG set to 23 the last few weeks. I think because my CYA is higher than I've been led to believe that my chlorine siply isn't breaking down as fast as it would. I was noticing last night with a still pool and the light on that my pool is so clear it appears like there is no water in it. So everything appears to be normal. Any insights would be appreciated.

Regards,


Tim
 
I think your 2006C includes the CYA view tube within that large, black plastic comparator....it also contains pH test.


It is immensely important you get an accurate read on your CYA. Your own testing is the only way to go.
 
Thanks Dave!!! I apparently took the bottle out of the comparator when I 1st opened the kit, I just found it from your comment.

So the 1st test showed over 100 so I did a 1/2 pool water 1/2 tap test (dilution test?), I 1st did the test on full tap water just to verify it had 0 CYA and it did.

So with the 50% dissolution test the CYA was 80 so that would effectively be X2 160 from the taylor kit.

So if my CYA is 160 and FC 15 I looked at this chart and it doesn't say how much chlorine I need for salt water, from the pool math I'm supposed to empty 50% of my perfectly clear pool, what will happen if I leave it and let the CYA eventually come down when our rainy season eventually starts?

Regards,


Tim
 
So talking to my pool store guy and reading through here my CYA is expected to be high as the pool has been using an inline chlorinator (pucks) for a very long time. Since the pool and water seems in good condition otherwise I'm going to reduce and monitor the chlorine down to the 5-8 range and periodically check the CYA as it starts raining and try to push through this until it hopefully slowly comes back down. We'll see how it goes...

Regards,

Tim
 
Your target FC should be 7.5% of CYA. That puts you at 12 FC with 160 CYA.

You will be walking a tight rope at that high of CYA.

Good Luck.
 
Are you using the inline chlorinator and the SWG? BTW, quit listening to the pool store.

as the title of the post, recently converted (about a month ago) to SWCG only. We are assuming the high CYA is leftover from the inline chlorinator, the pool has been fantastic until this week and the FC spiked to 10-15 seemingly overnight with the SWG set to 23%. I currently have turned off the SWG and will test again at around noon, to hopefully see my FC come down. The weather in FL has been extremely hot and dry, we are in an extreme drought actually. I'd really like to keep the pool where it was, maybe slightly higher FC and wait for our rainy season to slowly reduce the CYA. The SWCG does give me extremely good control over my chlorine levels, and now I can test myself instead of using the pool store.

Regards,

Tim
 
ok I just tested today after adding about 30 oz or muriatic acid yesterday and turning off the SWCG since about 3PM. Also important to note yesterday on my 1st tests I was taking water from the top, not filling a sample bottle (because I was right next to the pool) so I missed an important step. Todays results

FC 6.0 (SWCG was off since 3PM yesterday back on now)
TC 6.0
PH 7.4 (yaa the muriatic acid finally worked)
TA 110
CYA 180 (seems a tad worse than yesterday with the better sample)

My spicket is currently broken (only way I know of to drain my pool other than splashing around like crazy, but I'm going to fix that) I'll start swapping out some water if our rainy season doesn't get here soon. With the drought I don't want to do 5000 gallons at once, and since the pool does appear in great condition otherwise (and the CYA test with trying to dilute the solution with eyeing 3.5 mil can't be considered extremely accurate) hopefully it will stay that way. Thanks for all the feedback!

Regards,


Tim
 

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For emphasis, I am going to quote mknauss again
You will be walking a tight rope at that high of CYA
It's worse than that, your pool is essentially unmanageable unless you pay VERY close attention to all your parameters.

That 5k of refill water is chump change (probably $30) compared to what you will spend trying to eradicate an algae bloom, if you get one.

Certainly, it's your pool, but thousands of pool owners over the years have discovered the plague of high CYA and the consequences.
 
I agree with Dave. Until you get that CYA down, I would target FC of 15 ppm and never ever ever let it drop below 12 or you're going to have a green mess on your hands. Anything up to 64 would be safe to swim in with a CYA of 160.
 
Well I'm convinced this is a problem even though everything seems all right. I just did another dilution test with 1/4 and that showed the CYA at 200 (4 X 50) so after 4 tests I'd say I have a CYA anywhere between 180 and 220. I already had an algae outbreak back in February and that took me over a month with lots of work (brushing daily) to kill. I'm going to try this week hopefully before they add any water restrictions and see what happens.


My pool is going to drain slow since I only have a faucet over the pump (no backflow that I can see). I never had anyone explain my equipment and have figured out most of it by trial and error. I do have a pic below, Does it look like there is a faster way to drain it?

Regards,

Tim

View attachment 61661
 
Rent a submersible from Home Depot or buy one at Harbor Freight. Cost is about the same. The HD one will do it quicker.

Good luck.
 
Everything seemed right with the Hindenburg and Titanic, until... well you know..

If you have a dedicated vacuum line and skimmer line on the left of the valve providing input to your pump, I would think the input on the lower right of your image is the main/bottom drain. Appears to be closed though... not sure why that would be...
 
If you have a dedicated vacuum line and skimmer line on the left of the valve providing input to your pump, I would think the input on the lower right of your image is the main/bottom drain. Appears to be closed though... not sure why that would be...

That makes sense and it definitely is closed, is the bottom drain usually open? Could it be closed to increase the suction for the skimmer and vacuum? I inherited all this and until something breaks or doesn't work as it should I haven't known what it was, as you can see from the pic I've had almost everything break lol.
 
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