New Pool Owner - Need Advice

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T

TheStuyft

Member
Aug 23, 2020
5
Orange County, CA
Hello everyone, just bought a house with a pool - it's my first time owning a pool and I want to try to take care of it myself. The previous owners had a pool guy, but I wasn't very impressed when I met him. Did some of the TF-100 tests and results weren't great (chlorine test was orange rather than any shade of yellow, further test showed FC ~23ppm and CC at 1ppm, CYA test was well over the measurable level of 100 - couldn't see the bottom of the measure tube before it reached the 100 mark). I didn't know if I was testing wrong so I took the sample to Leslie's which essentially confirmed my results - see attached (the guy said he couldn't enter anything greater than 15 ppm for FC, and 4000 for TDS, though the results were higher). Their recommendation was a full drain and refill to start from scratch. I asked a few pool services around and have received different advice - some agree and some say only partial is needed.

I'd like to hear from you more experienced pool owners - would you recommend a full drain and start from scratch, or just a partial drain to see if it helps? Obviously, my preference is just a partial drain (less expensive and less time), but if I do the partial and still have issues I might as well have done the full and I now I've wasted more time and money. What are your thoughts? Appreciate any advice here... I feel like I've gotten in over my head as a new pool owner with no experience :/
Thanks
 

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Welcome to the forum!
100 is the limit of the CYA test, so you have to do a diluted test. Mix 50% pool water with 50% tap water. Use this mixed sample as your test water. Multiply the result by 2 for your CYA level.
Then do all the tests and post them here.
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
 
Thanks. I’ve read it a couple of times -
FC 23ppm
CC 1ppm
pH 7.3

according to Leslie’s water test:
TA 49ppm
CH 657ppm
CYA 160ppm

The ABCs would recommend partial drain because of the high CYA, but with it as high as it is, I wanted to see if others thought a partial drain would fix it or if a full drain is needed as Leslie’s suggested...
 
Sure, although these results were somewhat weird so I’m not sure if I’m doing it wrong or what exactly to make of it.

TA - 230ppm - it turned yellow at 23 drops (rather than red) which I believe was from all of the chlorine

CH - 1500ppm - year never got to a deep blue, more like a diluted pink at 50 drops then light purple at 60 drops then gets clearer and clearer...

CYA - tried your half and half trick still couldn’t see the bottom of the tube before the level reach 100 (see attached pic for reference).
Thanks again for the quick replies.
 

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Hi, and welcome to TFP. You're in good hands now. You can safely ignore the pool store and the pool guy. Have a look here and add what you can to your signature. It'll really help us to help you.
www.troublefreepool.com

Read This BEFORE You Post

We'd like to give you a few basic pointers of items that will help us, help you. From filling out a signature to posting test results.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
So I don't know what type of pool you have. Do you know its water volume? If you're going to drain the pool 100%, you'll have a rare opportunity to determine the volume, as this trick only works when you start from empty. Just before you start the hose to fill, go out and read your water meter (near the street, probably). Take a picture of the numbers, then start your fill. Limit water use: turn off garden irrigation, limit showers and flushes, do the laundry later. Once the pool is full, go check the meter again. The difference between those two numbers will be your pool's volume! You can subtract some gallons for showers and flushes if you kept track of them, but either way the number will be close enough. That number will be very handy for calculating your chlorine doses, along with any other chemicals you might need. You won't get another shot at this anytime soon...

Marty helped me a lot when I was in your shoes, first starting out with my pool. You'll do great.
 
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If you pull off the meter trick, please post your results (and, of course, update your sig). I get a kick out of seeing how far off the actual volume is from what an owner or PB thought it was! 🤪 Sometimes it's 1000s of gallons!!
 
Will do! Hey just to make sure, do I need to be cautious about a full drain on a plaster pool in summer in So California? It’s high 70s at night and mid 90s in the day... heard the occasional horror stories so just wanted to understand my relative risk doing this...
 

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A lot depends on your water table, and the age of your plaster, and a few other factors. There is a risk, but there's no way I could put a number to it. Most times it is a small risk. Depending on conditions, it's the weight of the water that can be holding the pool underground, and the plaster to the gunite. Releasing that weight can result in anywhere from minor to major issues. The heat plays a factor, too. Plaster is not happy out of water. The dryer and hotter it gets, the less happy it is.

Probably the safest time to do it would be at night, or towards the end of the season (cooler, but just before rainy season).

If you are concerned about it, it is possible to exchange water without emptying the pool. But it takes more water and will never get everything out (which is rarely if ever necessary). To read about that, use Marty's link above and scroll down to "No Drain Water Exchange."

I think it is well worth the risk because I really want to see the results of the meter trick. That's the most important consideration!! ;)
 
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