Bright Blue Milk!!

[jesper]

I purchased a Taylor 2006 from BEHQ S.L.U. - Químicos y productos para piscinas in Spain two years ago based on a recommendation from Test kits in europe I don't recall the details, but I probably used the email address there. When you order, ask for the 2006C that contain larger quantities of the reactants you will use most of.

Since then I've purchased refills from TFTestkits.net using a package forwarder in the US, please note there are several of the reactants that cannot be shipped with air freight, and I had to get them removed before the package forwarder would ship the package to me. This combined with the cost of shipping means I would not recommend going this approach again, next time I plan to use behqsl for refills.

 

[Shellalewis]

We know that your pool is 144,000 liters and that is about 38,000 gallons. We also know that getting a taylor test kit or regents is illegal where you live. I don't think anyone here will advise you to purchase or have delivered items that are illegal for you to get. With that said I believe we should help out as best we can with what we have.

Madame if you could give us your current readings? We can figure out the CC from the TC and FC you give. il serait très apprécié merci beaucoup.

That would be awesome…I appreciate it will be advice on ‘estimated’ readings, but as you say, I need to keep on this and can only work with what I have!!

So this mornings readings at 11am:

FC 2
TC 2
TA 160
PH 6.8
TH 100
CYA 40

I turned off the filter overnight and more crud and white powder had settled. Hoovered(sorry - vacuumed?!!) as well as I could, although couldn’t seem to get sensible suction from it today .

Have now put filter back on , added some more DE in filter and have strapped pillow cases over the return jets in the (possibly futile?) hope of catching some fine powder before it shoots back in!! Also have the pool robot running to collect anything it can!

As you can see from pic…there’s still a load of fine powder clouding the water.

 

[Shellalewis]

I purchased a Taylor 2006 from BEHQ S.L.U. - Químicos y productos para piscinas in Spain two years ago based on a recommendation from Test kits in europe I don't recall the details, but I probably used the email address there. When you order, ask for the 2006C that contain larger quantities of the reactants you will use most of.

Since then I've purchased refills from TFTestkits.net using a package forwarder in the US, please note there are several of the reactants that cannot be shipped with air freight, and I had to get them removed before the package forwarder would ship the package to me. This combined with the cost of shipping means I would not recommend going this approach again, next time I plan to use behqsl for refills.

Okay - thanks for that info…
I read while researching that some ‘body’ hasn’t approved the reagents for use here, but I will check out this link - thanks.

 

[NowintersinAZ]

That would be awesome…I appreciate it will be advice on ‘estimated’ readings, but as you say, I need to keep on this and can only work with what I have!!

So this mornings readings at 11am:

FC 2
TC 2
TA 160
PH 6.8
TH 100
CYA 40

I turned off the filter overnight and more crud and white powder had settled. Hoovered(sorry - vacuumed?!!) as well as I could, although couldn’t seem to get sensible suction from it today .

Have now put filter back on , added some more DE in filter and have strapped pillow cases over the return jets in the (possibly futile?) hope of catching some fine powder before it shoots back in!! Also have the pool robot running to collect anything it can!

As you can see from pic…there’s still a load of fine powder clouding the water.

Make sure your filter does not need cleaning. You will need to vacuum you r pool and brush the walls of the pool during the process. Do you have pool math on your phone? Have you read and understand the SLAM process?

Input your numbers into pool math and follow the numbers given you from the app.

Mind your numbers are from test strips so the outcome may not be accurate. This is up to you to follow or not.

 

[jesper]

Okay - thanks for that info…
I read while researching that some ‘body’ hasn’t approved the reagents for use here, but I will check out this link - thanks.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that approval if on the EU level, so should not be any different in France compared to Spain. However there are restrictions on what can be shipped by air, which is an issue for me in Cyprus, being an island practically everything is flown in. For you ground shipping from Spain should be straight forward I would think

 

[Shellalewis]

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that approval if on the EU level, so should not be any different in France compared to Spain. However there are restrictions on what can be shipped by air, which is an issue for me in Cyprus, being an island practically everything is flown in. For you ground shipping from Spain should be straight forward I would think

Aha…okay. So I will try to buy in Spain then. So strange they aren’t available in France! Unless it’s more of a temporary supply issue that’s the problem…

 

[Shellalewis]

Make sure your filter does not need cleaning. You will need to vacuum you r pool and brush the walls of the pool during the process. Do you have pool math on your phone? Have you read and understand the SLAM process?

Input your numbers into pool math and follow the numbers given you from the app.

Mind your numbers are from test strips so the outcome may not be accurate. This is up to you to follow or not.

Yes I have the app and understand the SLAM process. I did a SLAM on the pool when it first got cloudy (after waiting a few days after adding the initial metal treatment so as not to go completely back to square one again!) However, this was based on my strip readings of CYA at 0 so raised the chlorine to 3. I’ve since started a new pack of strips - different brand, different readings!! This lot are giving me a reading of approx 20-30. So my SLAM level would have had to be higher. ( I did eventually, after about 4 days, pass the overnight loss test though). Could it be that my CYA is actually low, rather than very high as we discussed earlier in this thread (from using the chlorine pucks)?
My TC and FC levels match now (so that means no CC right?!) and I try to maintain them at 2 using bleach, but I’m having to add 2.5L of 9.6% bleach morning and afternoon as it’s burning off throughout the day.

If CYA levels are ideal, would 2ppm of ‘chlorine’ burn off during a sunny day? What is the norm one would expect?

With regard to my cloudiness issue…it’s a bit better, but not clear. I have had pillow cases over the return jets which have been collecting something white - it feels almost slimey but I can’t ‘pick up’ anything off the cotton surface, its invisible (white pillowcase not the best choice perhaps Lol) and when I rinse them into a dark grey bowl…the water is so cloudy I can’t see the bottom of the bowl through a couple inches of water. Eventually it settles and is like a micro fine white powder, which is VERY easily disturbed into a cloud once more. Is it calcium perhaps? I find after dealing with the pool water my hands feel very dry…

 

[Katodude]

So a few things.

Your strips are not going to give us any real information. We dont believe in them and they will lead you in the wrong direction.
If you were using tabs and you did not do a pool drain you have CYA in your water we just dont know how much.
2ppm loss per day in the summer is low. 2-4ppm loss per day is normal.
I would recommend that you add 5ppm of LC every day until you get your real test kit from Spain.
What part of SW France are you in? I will be in Bordeaux in about 2 weeks, if you are very close I might be able to drop in for a bit to help (if the wife allows).
Do you have a submersible pump? If so you can build a fine filter with a bucket and some pollyfill. It could help trap some of the metals and fine sediment.
How does the pool look now? Send pictures.

 

[jesper]

Aha…okay. So I will try to buy in Spain then. So strange they aren’t available in France! Unless it’s more of a temporary supply issue that’s the problem…

I don't think it is a France thing - just it is not very common in Europe, this company in Spain is the only distributor in Europe I found.

 

[Shellalewis]

So a few things.

Your strips are not going to give us any real information. We dont believe in them and they will lead you in the wrong direction.
If you were using tabs and you did not do a pool drain you have CYA in your water we just dont know how much.
2ppm loss per day in the summer is low. 2-4ppm loss per day is normal.
I would recommend that you add 5ppm of LC every day until you get your real test kit from Spain.
What part of SW France are you in? I will be in Bordeaux in about 2 weeks, if you are very close I might be able to drop in for a bit to help (if the wife allows).
Do you have a submersible pump? If so you can build a fine filter with a bucket and some pollyfill. It could help trap some of the metals and fine sediment.
How does the pool look now? Send pictures.

Oh my goodness…that’s so very kind of you! But I think we are a bit out of your way…about 2hrs from Bordeaux!
So, pictures attached. As you can see the colour is good! The shallow end is looking clearer, as is the deep end (you can just make out the main drain and a forgotten diving toy!)…but it’s still way off from the clarity we had before adding that sodding metal treatment!!
We have just had our plumber replace a couple of unions in the pump room because some air was getting into the system - I’m hoping that may make the filter run more efficiently(it’s definitely quieter!). Also, we have discovered that a piece of kit still works - an automatic PH reader/adjuster?! It has some kind of wired electrode(?!) that is linked into the pipe work which seems to measure the pH and then it sucks up Liquid ph minus from a huge bottle I have just installed and feed it via another little pipe into the system! Interestingly, this gadgets test readings say PH was too high …strips read very low!!
I added more HA yesterday as TA was still reading at 140ish…so between my new pH gadget and that addition, this mornings test results (still strip based - sorry)are:
FC 3
TC 3
TA 100
PH 7
TH 100
CYA 20

 

[jesper]

Oh my goodness…that’s so very kind of you! But I think we are a bit out of your way…about 2hrs from Bordeaux!
So, pictures attached. As you can see the colour is good! The shallow end is looking clearer, as is the deep end (you can just make out the main drain and a forgotten diving toy!)…but it’s still way off from the clarity we had before adding that sodding metal treatment!!
We have just had our plumber replace a couple of unions in the pump room because some air was getting into the system - I’m hoping that may make the filter run more efficiently(it’s definitely quieter!). Also, we have discovered that a piece of kit still works - an automatic PH reader/adjuster?! It has some kind of wired electrode(?!) that is linked into the pipe work which seems to measure the pH and then it sucks up Liquid ph minus from a huge bottle I have just installed and feed it via another little pipe into the system! Interestingly, this gadgets test readings say PH was too high …strips read very low!!
I added more HA yesterday as TA was still reading at 140ish…so between my new pH gadget and that addition, this mornings test results (still strip based - sorry)are:
FC 3
TC 3
TA 100
PH 7
TH 100
CYA 20

The pH probe needs to be regularly calibrated using reference solutions, otherwise it can measure wildly inaccurate values.

What are the active ingredients in your pH minus ?
You want to use hydrochloric acid, not sulfuric acid, as it adds sulfates to water, see Muriatic Acid vs Dry Acid for details.

Do you have the pH control and the acid container in an enclosed space ? If so you might want to have a look a my thread Calcium deposits? where I ended up not using my pH control system, as the conclusion was I could not safely store the acid container in the enclosed space where I have the pump etc.