Tested my two fill water options with Taylor K-2006-SALT - thoughts?

haroldo · Friday at 9:35 PM

I was planning on filling the new pool after it is completed with my soft water, but I just tested both soft and city water this this kit, and now I am not sure:

Soft water:
Free Cl 0
Combined 0
TA 250 ppm
CH 10 ppm
CYA 0
Salt 800 ppm

City water
Free Cl 1.8 ppm
Combined Cl 0.4 ppm
TA 250 ppm
CH 270 ppm
CYA 0
Salt 400 ppm

The city water doesn't seem that bad, except:
- 0.4 combined Cl - it smells like that bad chlorine smell. Would I have to shock it right away after filling to get rid of it?
- I have slight red staining on one of my sinks possibly indicating iron. I am not sure if its plumbing, or slight iron on the water

Should I buy the Taylor iron test to be sure?

My water softner is a Kinetico XP, it costs about 7K, its the most magical thing. I use maybe 4 bags of salt a year. It has 2 channels, it only regens 1 channel at a time, so soft water is always available, there is no interruption during regens.

The pool we are building is a plaster pool, about 27000 gallons.

Also, I need to point out that I just learned how to use this test kit, not sure how error proof they are. For instance, for CH, when it says "add this drop wise until it turns from red to blue", I notice that at some point it turns from red to blueish purple (is that it?), if I add a few more drops, it completely turns to light blue (which one is it, is it enough the blueish purple? or do I keep going until it is a complete light blue?) So, take my numbers with a grain of salt, I just did this for the first time.

thanks in advance for any input

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta · Friday at 10:03 PM

For the CH test and most others, continue to add drops of reagent until the color no longer changes. Then subtract that last drop.

If your CH is around 270, this is a great starting point for your pool water. It's close to the minimum we recommend for a plaster pool. Fill with tap water and top off with softened water as we suggested in your other thread.

You will constantly be battling rising pH due to your high TA level.

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta · Friday at 10:05 PM

For the CH and FC tests, use the 10 mL sample option to save reagents.

trivetman · Friday at 10:15 PM

I wouldn’t worry about the small level of combined CL in the fill water. I think youll see it disappear quickly as long as your fc level stays in the right range.

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta · Friday at 10:23 PM

If you're on Municipal water, iron is likely not an issue. I wouldn't purchase the Tayor kit.

It's not unusual to find CCs in Municipal water. Don't worry about it.

Just Filled Your Pool with Water? Here's What To Do Next - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

ol_whistle_britches · Friday at 10:28 PM

You were talking about filling with RO water in your other thread. Have you discarded that idea?

generessler · Friday at 11:52 PM

Interesting. Our water supplier deliberately uses chloramine as a sanitizer. (It's controversial.) I wonder if yours does, too. I'm guessing that would cause the non-zero CC.

haroldo · 2025-05-03T12:10:03-0400

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
...
You will constantly be battling rising pH due to your high TA level.

Thanks Rancho. Noob question - what does this mean? Does it merely mean I have to control the levels with Muriatic acid routinely (which sounds ok)? Is this manageable? Your use of the word "battling" is what concerns me

haroldo · 2025-05-03T12:11:41-0400

ol_whistle_britches said:
You were talking about filling with RO water in your other thread. Have you discarded that idea?

That RO system is not suitable for filling the entire pool, it is meant for the fill line after the pool is initially filled. We are still looking into it. I have an estimate in the works, but we are not sure yet if we will pull the trigger right away (is it over kill?) or if we will rock the fill line of the softner after initial tap water fill and see how it goes.

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta · 2025-05-03T12:53:37-0400

Your RO system will be overkill.

haroldo said:
Does it merely mean I have to control the levels with Muriatic acid routinely (which sounds ok)? Is this manageable?

Yes, for the most part. When TA levels are high, pH rises much more quickly. This requires frequent dosing of muriatic acid to keep pH in range. Each time you add MA to drop pH, you lower your TA level as well. With top-offs, your high TA fill water will increase TA levels. This is the "battle" I'm referring to.

There is a way to lower ta by aggressively aerating and adding MA. This will be challenging with a TA level of 250. Check out the article below.

Also, let's confirm that your TA is actually that high. Use a 25 ml sample and count each drop as 10 ppm. Continue to drop until the sample no longer changes color and don't count the last drop.

Lower Total Alkalinity

A lower Total Alkalinity level can help a pool owner stabalize their pH increase. We'll explain how to lower TA with a little help from muriatic acid.

www.troublefreepool.com

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta · 2025-05-03T13:08:59-0400

This is a real good set of Articles that will help you understand pool chemistry. Take a close look at the ABCs of pool chemistry and recommended levels.

Being in the construction phase, you have the unique opportunity to learn all the stuff before your pool is actually built and you make the same mistakes many of us did.

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Tested my two fill water options with Taylor K-2006-SALT - thoughts?

haroldo

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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta

trivetman

Rancho Cost-a-Lotta

Just Filled Your Pool with Water? Here's What To Do Next - Further Reading

ol_whistle_britches

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generessler

haroldo

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haroldo

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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta

Lower Total Alkalinity

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