New SW pool owner and just tested my professionally maintained water. Uh-oh.

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dcp063

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2023
57
Atlanta
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
New owner of a sw pool. We pay a company to come weekly and clean, add chemicals, and maintain the equipment. (They've neglected the equipment and I've had to replace the flow switch and pressure gauge that was reading 50psi)

I want to learn how to maintain the pool myself so I bought a TF-Pro Salt test kit and just tested my water for the first time today.

The visual chlorine test was off the charts. The water was orange. I confirmed with the more accurate tests. Here are my results:
FC- 18
pH- 7.5
TA- 30
CH- 250
CYA- 40
Salt- 2600
CSI- -0.99

Being my first test I decided to take it to Leslie's (first time for this too) to check my math:
FC- 15
pH- 7.6
TA- 0
CH- 202
CYA- 50
Salt- 2900

Right now they have my pump running 24/7 and the chlorine generator panel set to 70%

Our maintenance person doesn't come until Thursday and I don't want to add chemicals until I talk and probably fire them.

How do I proceed until then? Thanks for the help
 
dcp063 said:
New owner of a sw pool. We pay a company to come weekly and clean, add chemicals, and maintain the equipment. (They've neglected the equipment and I've had to replace the flow switch and pressure gauge that was reading 50psi)

I want to learn how to maintain the pool myself so I bought a TF-Pro Salt test kit and just tested my water for the first time today.

The visual chlorine test was off the charts. The water was orange. I confirmed with the more accurate tests. Here are my results:
FC- 18
pH- 7.5
TA- 30
CH- 250
CYA- 40
Salt- 2600
CSI- -0.99

Being my first test I decided to take it to Leslie's (first time for this too) to check my math:
FC- 15
pH- 7.6
TA- 0
CH- 202
CYA- 50
Salt- 2900

Right now they have my pump running 24/7 and the chlorine generator panel set to 70%

Our maintenance person doesn't come until Thursday and I don't want to add chemicals until I talk and probably fire them.

How do I proceed until then? Thanks for the help
Click to expand...
You can turn down the chlorine generator maybe down to 40%. The chlorine level is fine to swim in but no need to be that high unless you’re performing the SLAM process in which case it’s perfect.

Then you want to get your TA up to 50-60ppm. You can do that with baking soda.

Next step is to forget where Leslie’s is and don’t worry about them testing the water. Your kit is way better.
 
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dcp,

Good job on getting the TF-Pro Salt... :goodjob:

There is not a pool guy in the world that can take better care of your pool than you..

Many people here run their pool pumps 24/7, but we all have VS pumps.. It appears to me that you have single speed pump. If that is the case, it would be best to run the pump less and your SWCG output higher. This will allow you to make the amount of chlorine your pool needs in a shorter period of time.

Can you show us a pic of your main pool pump?

Is this a new pool, or just a new to you pool?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Jimrahbe said:
dcp,

Good job on getting the TF-Pro Salt... :goodjob:

There is not a pool guy in the world that can take better care of your pool than you..

Many people here run their pool pumps 24/7, but we all have VS pumps.. It appears to me that you have single speed pump. If that is the case, it would be best to run the pump less and your SWCG output higher. This will allow you to make the amount of chlorine your pool needs in a shorter period of time.

Can you show us a pic of your main pool pump?

Is this a new pool, or just a new to you pool?

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Jim.

It's just new to me; about 2 months.

Here's the pump we have.

If I run the pump for 6-8 hours a day, is there a way to figure out what to set the SWCG to or is it just trial and error and testing?
 

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Your water is not that bad.

FC is unnecessarily high, but not a problem with your CYA, SWG just needs adjusting from summer to autumn UV load.

TA is a bit low, but easily fixed as mentioned above. Certainly not as low as Leslie's made you think it is. They don't report Total Alkalinity, but only Carbonate Alkalinity by subtracting CYA's Alkalinity contribution, their advice would make you way overreact.
 
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What's the water look like ? Is it stupid clear ? If so, let that be a lesson to you anytime you have to decide between too much chlorine and not enough chlorine. If you're ever going to goof, goof high.
 
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dcp,

I assume you have the T-15 cell.. This means that in your pool, it will make .37ppm of FC per hour when the cell is at 100%

So, basically you will need to run the pump for 8 hours, with the cell set to 100% output, to generate 3 ppm of FC. This time of year you should not need 3 ppm per day. 6 hours at 100% will give you a little more that 2 ppm.

Since you have a single speed pump, I would run at 100% and just adjust the pump run time to make the amount of chlorine your pool needs.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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dcp063 said:
FC- 18
Click to expand...
Turn the SWCG off for a few days and let the FC drift down naturally.

dcp063 said:
pH- 7.5
Click to expand...
pH test is invalid with FC greater than 10.

dcp063 said:
TA- 30
Click to expand...
Are you adding drops until there is no further color change? You'll typically add a couple drops after the first sign of color change. When you add a drop that doesn't result in color change, don't count that drop (and the test is complete).
 
Have a look thru the extended test kit directions.

Extended Test Kit Directions Archives

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Be sure you are taking the TA and CH tests to their true endpoint.
Many times, members new to testing with one of the recommended test kits don't take the test to its endpoint.

For the TA and CH tests, continue adding drops until the color doesn't change. Subtract the last drop that doesn't produce a color change.
 
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proavia said:
Have a look thru the extended test kit directions.

Extended Test Kit Directions Archives

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Be sure you are taking the TA and CH tests to their true endpoint.
Many times, members new to testing with one of the recommended test kits don't take the test to its endpoint.

For the TA and CH tests, continue adding drops until the color doesn't change. Subtract the last drop that doesn't produce a color change.
Click to expand...
pjt said:
Turn the SWCG off for a few days and let the FC drift down naturally.


pH test is invalid with FC greater than 10.


Are you adding drops until there is no further color change? You'll typically add a couple drops after the first sign of color change. When you add a drop that doesn't result in color change, don't count that drop (and the test is complete).
Click to expand...
Obviously, I'm new to this and mistakes happen, but from what I can recall, I had to use a lot of drops to get the color to change for a few of the tests; to the point that I was getting worried that I was wasting them. I did not subtract the last drop that didn't produce a color change but will do that moving forward.
 
dcp063 said:
Obviously, I'm new to this and mistakes happen, but from what I can recall, I had to use a lot of drops to get the color to change for a few of the tests; to the point that I was getting worried that I was wasting them. I did not subtract the last drop that didn't produce a color change but will do that moving forward.
Click to expand...
Hang in there my fellow TFP'er. It will get easier and these guys can and will get you through this. The testing takes a bit of time to master but as long as your willing to learn thus is the place to do it.
 
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