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I see nothing wrong with those numbers. Keep an eye on your pH with your TA at 140, and keep monitoring your FC daily to ensure it stays in range for your CYA of 80 (see the FC/CYA Chart link in my signature). Edited: I had my SWCG hat on -- that CYA is high for a non-SWCG pool. You could live...

Hi yankees - your FC is definitely too low for your CYA level, and your CC is elevated. You could do an OCLT, but my guess is that when you add in the other clues (slippery sides, visible cloudiness), you could just cut to the chase and do a SLAM. You could try first doing a water replacement to...

You're sure CC is 7, and not TC -- which would make CC 0? Back to Dom's post: I'd agree and recommend you perform an OCLT to see if you need to move forward with a SLAM. Vinyl makes the CH test less important, but not irrelevant. You should provide that figure as well.

What was your last pH reading and how many days ago?

Thanks for clearing that up for me, apologies for the mistake. Not trying to be argumentative, but I wouldn't say they're "totally separate concepts" in the context of this discussion, as what we're talking about is the precision of the measurement of water in relation to the accuracy of the...

MMMmmm.... soup.

I agree with teal that repeatability <> accuracy. That said, I also agree with others saying that it's not all that impactful to the end result. However, this approach prides itself on ACCURATE owner-performed testing. Accuracy is akin to precision in my mind, and this finding unfortunately...

Hi Gleave - no, first you need to get some chlorine in that water. Your SWCG isn't going to be able to raise it from nearly 0 -- it will maintain it as long as you are running it at a high enough % with a long enough run time. I would add enough bleach to get you to your target of 6 FC (see the...

Congrats!!! Way to stick with it. Enjoy your pool!

I hadn't heard of this town either. I'm assuming they meant Framingham, but it seems attention to detail may not be their strong suit.

Anyone happen to catch how many times they said the word "sell"? I lost count.

Great tips, thanks!

Laughing out loud. This forum app needs a "Like" option. This thread would certainly fit the bill!

Hi vatrixsta -- the shadows aren't just from turbulence / mini-whirlies at the surface of the water? Or am I looking at the wrong thing? Is it near a return jet?

Side note: awesome pool!

If you're interested, you could also get a Taylor K-1766 (link in my signature) to get an accurate read within 200 ppm. My display is always way off, as were the strips I was using... as ping noted, what matters is that your SWCG is happy. It will generally let you know when it's not.

Unfortunately, yes. Chipmunks are the most frequent victims. But I've gotten mice, moles, plenty of frogs and the occasional toad. Also salamanders if the pool goes without use for more than a week or so. The first year I owned it (pre-TFP), we had literally dozens of frogs swimming in the pool...

Hi - I didn't find anything specific on a quick search of TFP... are THMs of concern to the typical residential pool owner? My understanding is that testing for them is very expensive (?) -- any insights from the experts?

CYA issues can often be attributed to testing error. But a 60+ point loss to a level of zero seems to indicate something more sinister is going on -- possibly ammonia, but my understanding is that that occurs more often over the winter. Can you post a full set of numbers? I'm sure a true expert...

Yes, you definitely need to get CYA in your water to prevent UV from burning through it before it can sanitize. CYA = cyanuric acid. As others noted, it's often called "stabilizer", and is available online. I got mine off Amazon. Just make sure it's 100% cyanuric acid. However, the only way...

Yes you can.

I've seen previous posts where folks have clear water, and they're adding bleach / producing chlorine at just enough of a rate to keep a full-on bloom at bay, but not enough to kill it off as a SLAM would. They're sort of stuck in the middle. I think it could be that the precipitate you're...

Welcome, doughboy62! The TFPC approach to clearing a pool entails a very specific set of fairly straightforward steps involving standard bleach and proper testing. It's called a SLAM, and there's a link to it in my signature. However, before you SLAM, you'll need to understand the state of your...

I'm sure mods and others will also chime in, but my initial reaction is that your FC had fallen below the minimum at 70-80 CYA... and you're seeing the bleach literally beginning to kill algae that's already in your water.

This might help: Has anyone heard of Pool Proof - Borate Water Harmonizer?

FC 0.5 TC 6.0 CYA 300 pH 8.2 TA 180

Hi jdumka, welcome! Unfortunately, the strips aren't a reliable way of measuring your water chemistry when adhering to the TFPC approach. You'll need to invest in a drop-based test kit that will give you repeatable, reliable results each time you use it. I have a link in my signature to a...

It's cyanuric acid. I bought mine online, although I've seen some posts around Clorox's efficacy -- which is odd given that it's 100% cyanuric acid... the brand name theoretically wouldn't matter. But there are other brands available online as well.

I think you need to SLAM, but you need an accurate CYA before you can do that. In 18,000 gallons, 5 lbs. of trichlor will add ~20 CYA. You could assume that level and start a SLAM at based on 50 CYA, or you could wait until you are able to accurately read it.

Fellow Mass pool owner here. I'm sorry to hear the struggles. I will say that it seems 90% or so of owners I know follow their own, non-scientific approach. I know I did before I found TFP! Don't be too hard on the prior owners or yourself. Listen to pooldv... he's an expert. Your pool will be...