Ph after water softener First readings

[kul]

I did my first t-100 testing. Below I have included my readings as well as readings I tried on the standard solutions. Interestingly the standard solution results did not match what was written on their bottles. I was doing the tests as directed on the plastic card and even did most of them twice. Are the standard solution measurements different than they should be? I was expecting the results to match the notations on each solution bottle.

Free chlorine =2
Combined chlorine = 0
Total chlorine =2

Calcium
Standard: 20 drops for the standard 200 to reach blue 20*25= 500 (200ppm on “standard”bottle)

Pool 70 drops*25= 1750

TA
Pool 18*10=180
Standard 23*10=230 (bottle 100ppm)

CYA
Standard 60
Pool 100

PH
Standard 7.1
Pool 7.2

 

[kul]

 

[Mdragger88]

Great job getting a good test kit
For cya you need to do the diluted test to see if your results are over 100 & if so how far.
Be sure to do the cya test outdoors in the sun .
See step 8

CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test

Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

For the ta test you may need to wipe the tip of the bottle w/ a damp paper towel between drops (there can be a static charge on the new bottle that affects drop size resulting in higher than true results) this is only necessary for the first couple of tests with the new regeant.
Possibly the same with the ch test.

On all the tests that you count drops be sure to hold the regeant bottle vertically & kind of let the drops come out (don’t squeeze)
At any rate your cya is really high- you look to have a water exchange in your future. Do the diluted cya test to determine how much you need to drain. This will help reduce your ch as well.
To reduce cya by 50% you will need to exchange 50% of your water. It’s directly proportional that way.
Have you been using cal hypo & trichlor/dichlor? If so discontinue their use & use liquid chlorine to increase fc according to the FC/CYA Levels pronto.
PoolMath can help with calculating additions.

Here’s some reading on exchanging water

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[kul]

Great job getting a good test kit
For cya you need to do the diluted test to see if your results are over 100 & if so how far.
Be sure to do the cya test outdoors in the sun .
See step 8

CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test

Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

For the ta test you may need to wipe the tip of the bottle w/ a damp paper towel between drops (there can be a static charge on the new bottle that affects drop size resulting in higher than true results) this is only necessary for the first couple of tests with the new regeant.
Possibly the same with the ch test.

On all the tests that you count drops be sure to hold the regeant bottle vertically & kind of let the drops come out (don’t squeeze)
At any rate your cya is really high- you look to have a water exchange in your future. Do the diluted cya test to determine how much you need to drain. This will help reduce your ch as well.
To reduce cya by 50% you will need to exchange 50% of your water. It’s directly proportional that way.
Have you been using cal hypo & trichlor/dichlor? If so discontinue their use & use liquid chlorine to increase fc according to the FC/CYA Levels pronto.
PoolMath can help with calculating additions.

Here’s some reading on exchanging water

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Thank you for testing tips. I’ll try them out tomorrow by doing the diluted cya test and the wiping of the drops for the tests you mentioned. I was squeezing in the drops while holding the bottles at an angle so will try the method you suggest.
I currently have a pool guy who added cya at the beginning of summer and then also used cal hypo powder shock weekly. He would also add tablets now and then. He said he usually does this in the summer, but uses liquid chlorine and no additional cya in non pool season (Oct-March).
I’m unlikely to consider a drain at this time as I’m in Southern California and water is expensive and it doesn’t feel ethical to do this at this time due to our drought. I might change my mind if there are severe issues. We’ve lived here a year and the pool is always clear and looking good so far.

 

[aussieta]

is the pool water, city water or filled from a well

 

[kul]

is the pool water, city water or filled from a well

City

 

[Mdragger88]

The issue with keeping a pool with high cya (over 100) is that you need to continuously keep fc at 10 or above & this makes testing ph impractical as ph results are skewed at fc levels above 10ppm.

 

[kul]

The issue with keeping a pool with high cya (over 100) is that you need to continuously keep fc at 10 or above & this makes testing ph impractical as ph results are skewed at fc levels above 10ppm.

Thanks for this information. I retested some items using your suggestions. Here are some measurements from a few minutes ago.

CYA diluted= between 120-140

TA= 11 to get to pink and 12 to get to red so= 110-120

Calcium (city water that goes into pool): 5-6 drops so = 125-150 is going in. Likely the Cal hypo is the reason for my elevated CH in pool

 

[mknauss]

At that level of CH (1750) and TA of over 100, you will have scale at the water line. Do you?

 

[kul]

At that level of CH (1750) and TA of over 100, you will have scale at the water line. Do you?

In the jacuzzi, yes. Around the pool water line- less so

 

[mknauss]

Best to get that CH lower ASAP - or the whole pool will have scale in it, quite soon. If you get rain this winter, drain off as much water as you can and refill with rain water. Use pool water for landscape watering and refill. If you have a water softener, use softened water to refill the pool.

 

[kul]

Best to get that CH lower ASAP - or the whole pool will have scale in it, quite soon. If you get rain this winter, drain off as much water as you can and refill with rain water. Use pool water for landscape watering and refill. If you have a water softener, use softened water to refill the pool.

Appreciate your input. The CH was the only one I didn’t retest today. I just did it and using the wiping bottle/one drop at a time /bottle upright, CH is reading at 750 today. This is probably more accurate.

 

[mknauss]

Better, but still quite high. Do your best to use rain water, etc, as described above. You need to reduce the CYA by at least half too.

You really need to re-think using a pool service that manages pools this way. Best to do it your self. Really quite easy. Especially if you eventually install a SWCG.

 

[kul]

Better, but still quite high. Do your best to use rain water, etc, as described above. You need to reduce the CYA by at least half too.

You really need to re-think using a pool service that manages pools this way. Best to do it your self. Really quite easy. Especially if you eventually install a SWCG.

I will go ahead and monitor the situation for a few months to see how it goes. I’m currently planning on stopping pool service at the end of December and will be managing it myself after that (I hope I don’t chicken out)

 

[kul]

When adding liquid chlorine, if the recommended addition is 1.7 gallons, is it a big deal to just put 2 gallons?

 

[wireform]

December starts tomorrow ya know

 

[kul]

Has anyone heard of this stuff? Local pool store has it online and I have only heard of draining and refilling as the way to decrease CYA. Or the long game of filling after typical evaporation.

CYA Removal Kitâ„¢ - Natural Chemistry

naturalchemistry.com

 

[mknauss]

One person came on the forum and said it worked. Many others have tried and had no success.
Your issue is as much with your CH as CYA. Both take water exchange to reduce.

 

[Donldson]

Or the long game of filling after typical evaporation.

Neither CYA nor CH are lost through evaporation. Liquid water must be removed and replaced to reduce these levels.

 

[kul]

Neither CYA nor CH are lost through evaporation. Liquid water must be removed and replaced to reduce these levels.

Interesting! I thought I had read that here on someone’s comments.