Conflicting Test Results

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J

jadesse

0
Jun 22, 2017
10
Chicago, IL
I am working on getting my pool 100% clean. However the water is clear but I still might have some algae growing on the sides so a slam might be in my future. Anyway here is the reason for my post. I thought that my CYA level was around 30 a couple of weeks ago but most recently when I do the test. It does not register anything. When I fill the small tube & still see the black dot. I resorted to using to guess strip it did not yield much better results. So, today I made a trip to Leslie's Pool to have then test my water & they came up with 33. They did give me some other results that are conflicting too.

I purchased a new Taylor Test kit last year & it expired April of this year. I bought a bottle of CYA reagent a couple of years ago & that has expired. This would probably explain why my CYA test is not registering a result? I believe this stuff is usually only good for about a year.

Leslie's Pool also told me that my hardness was too low & that I need to raise it. Of course they wanted me to buy their product. Below are both my test results & Leslie's.

Should I buy a new test kit? Obviously I need to purchase some more CYA reagent.

FC - 4.6
CC - 0.8
TA - 80
CH - 150
PH - 7.4
 

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CYA reagent does not go bad unless it is contaminated or it has been frozen.

Your CYA may be showing as 0 if you have had rain, etc. I would suggest you add 20 ppm CYA via the sock method. Start a SLAM Processusing a CYA of 40 so a FC of 16 ppm. After the CYA is dissolved, test it again a couple days later.

Your CH is fine. You have a vinyl liner. A CH of 50 or more is fine.

You should get a refill of your reagents. See TFTestkits.net for a full refill set.
 
I did finally get my refill kit & started my SLAM on Sunday evening. However I do need to backup a little. I was out of the country all last week & my wife was adding chlorine daily to keep the FC level at 7. When I returned home I found all kinds of Crud on the bottom of the pool but there wasn't too much on the walls. I wish that I would have taken pictures.

I vacuumed the pool on Sunday really well & cleaned the cartage filter. There was a little bit of stuff on the bottom of the pool on Tuesday so I vacuumed again. Last night it rained & now again there is Crud all over the bottom of the pool. See the attached pictures that took a little while ago. I am not sure if this is algae or just dirt. I don't see how this could be algae with my FC level at 24 this morning & my CC was at 0.5. The pool has cleared up because on Sunday after I vacuumed the water was really cloudy.

If this is algae then it is most likely coming from my ladder because that is the only place. The bottom of the ladder was cover in what is probably green algae. Yes, I did clean that all off & tried to got some of the Crud from inside the ladder out.

I am going to vacuum the bottom of the pool again this afternoon but why does this Crud keep coming back. It is getting really frustrating.

FC - 24
CC - 0.5
PH - 7.8
TA - 100
CYA - 50
CH - 150
 

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The 'crud' is dead algae. Does it 'poof' away when you try to sweep or vacuum it up?

You are very early in the SLAM Process. Do clean the ladder, remove it if possible to really clean it.

No need to run any tests but the FC at this point. No reason to go above 20 ppm FC which is your SLAM level for your 50 ppm CYA.

Stay at it. When the dead algae diminishes, do a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
 
Yes, everything does just poof away when swept or vacuumed.

My overnight chlorine loss this morning was off as my FC was actually higher than last night. I am going to test it again after I vacuum again to see where I am at. How much loss in a day is attenable because I have been seeing a 2.0 to 2.5 ppm loss in my FC during the day.
 
Normal FC loss is 2-4 ppm FC when the pool is clean. In SLAM process, you can have high FC loss, or normal. Be sure you brush brush brush. Clean all hiding spots, ladders, steps, skimmers, etc.
 
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