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Re: OCLT during the daytime, and bleach drip feeder wasteful Having re-read Bama Ramblers post, I think that what he is referring to, when saying it's just 'sitting around', is the excess FC over and above the FC that is required to keep the water sanitary. So if the 'required' ( minimum ) FC...

Re: OCLT during the daytime, and bleach drip feeder wasteful OK. Great. I fully get the point about the bucket test and agree with your comments. Thanks. About the 2 ppm added - if it is added during the daytime, wouldn't it be less effective as some of it would also be destroyed by the...

Looking for input on 2 items that I have been pondering on. OCLT during the daytime. If my understanding is correct, the main purpose of the OCLT is to determine if an algae problem exists. I fully understand the reasoning for doing the test overnight to rule out sunlight that destroys the...

Hi Jason Again, I thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. I hadn't considered the CYA effect on that FC for the overnight test. And again, I have learnt something new for today. I am so glad I found a forum with so many genuine experts who are so willing to give up time to help...

Many Thanks for the advice. The above statement, although most likely true based on your experience, I do not understand. My thinking tells me that if there is a problem like algae, that it would consume 'x' amount of chlorine ( in ppm ) over a time period. Why then would it matter if you...

OK. I think 1 last question before I start crunching numbers. During the overnight loss test, do you leave the pump running 24/7 ? ( assuming that the test is being done to prove a problem exists, and not part of the slam process, which would require the pump running ). Dave

Thanks for the advice Jason. Much appreciated. Just a question : shouldn't the slam process first start with an overnight test to actually determine if it is required ? Also, I didn't see anything about using the pool during the slam ?

Day 6 and really happy. It's been 6 days since I started using my DIY color analyzer for the DPD tablet test tube. In all cases, I have used the HTH water tube to measure the 13ml of sample water, calibrated the sensor, and then added the DPD tablet. And in every case, I have noticed the pink...

Day 2 of using the new color sensor and am really confidant with the reading that I am getting. A late afternoon sample gave me a reading of 2.45 ppm. Again we spent more than 3 hours in the pool today, 4 people, lots of sunblock, etc. In addition to now having the LCD display the Green sensor...

Thanks Mike_W Reason for using the transmission lighting is that the color sensor board only has a white LED for reflective lighting, and I needed a green light for this application. I also think that the transmission thru the solution in a light tight container will give more accurate /...

Update on progress Today I completed the enclosure ( light tight for the sensor section ) and coded the Arduino and LCD screen. I used distilled water and household bleach to create a control solution, and created 18 sample strengths between 0.256 ppm and 6.678 ppm. After calibrating the...

Hi dschlic1 I fully understand and agree 100% with your advice and info. However, I am thinking that my pre-measured control samples and data will give enough accuracy for this application. For example : ( simple numbers used to keep the example easy for others ) : The color sensor can...

Sincere Thanks for the advice. I had read about the green light issue before, and think that I have taken that into account in the procedure below. To test the green light theory, I will be making 4 sets of readings for each stage of the calibration tests. First a reading ( actually all...

Hi jblizzle The HTH test tablet does produce a pink color in the water, so I am assuming it is DPD. I am going to use the results to adjust the ( next project ) automated bleach feeder ( based on the color test results ) so am not expecting FC levels to be too far away from my target of 4ppm (...

Well, it's been a few days since I last posted, and I finally found some time tonight to get the test wiring completed. As a side part to this water test project, I have added the following : I am using an Arduino Uno R3 board ( with 16 x 2 LCD screen ), and connected 2 one-wire temperature...

Thanks for the reply. I fully appreciate and respect your opinion, and do agree with you with regard to the complexities and challenges that I am likely to face to get this to work reasonably well. But as you said earlier : appreciate the entertainment value of working on this and creating...

Hi Jason FAS-DPD is not available in our country, except for 1 or 2 companies that import, usually at about 500% import mark-up. I do realise that my idea is not as good as FAS-DPD, but it is the best that I can think of at the moment. Also, at a future point, I want to fully automate the...

I have almost completed an electronic water color tester ( DIY unit using an Arduino board, LCD display and color sensor ). Once done, I will need to calibrate it with a few known control samples, so that I can get accurate readings at different levels, and then use these to calculate the...

Update #4 - on track The likely source of the problem is that I may have my borax and HCl calculations incorrect. Somewhere I read that the curcumin reacts with borates to form the rosocyanine, but prefer an acidic solution to test in. The rosocyanine degrades in an alkaline solution ( it...

Additional Update Leaving the reagent overnight has not made any difference. When adding the reagent to the 1000ppm solution, I do notice a very dark red colour ( as I am hoping to see ) at the point where the reagent contacts the water, but it lasts only for a second before dissipating. So...

Progress and positive update. After the initial "no positive results" test ( see previous post ), I did some extra research. Looks like the curcumin does need to be extracted from the turmeric. So my method of adding the turmeric to water / saline for the reagent was not going to work. The...

Partial test results - DIY Borate test. This afternoon I started with 5 liters tap water, and added 44g borax and 22ml hydrochloric pool acid. This should create a Control Solution with 1000ppm, or 1 part borate per 1 ml water. Next decanted from this 200 ml into glass container A. And then...

Thanks for the reply chem geek. They did have the Boric Acid available, and the cost was only about 30% higher. I think it would have worked our cheaper than buying the borax and the hydrochloric acid, but I thought the borax was better as I could use that at a later stage if I needed to...

Is Borax decahydrate (Na2B4O7·10H2O) correct to use ? Hi all Just wanting to make sure I have this right before I risk poisoning the pool water in the morning. After the recent drain and refill, I have the readings ( from a liquid 4-in-1 test kit ) : FC 3 TA 80 pH 7.3 In addition, the test...

Hi linen I did mention earlier that I had " Next added 2kg sodium bicarb and expect pH of 7.47 and TA 82 " I was later advised to rather use the liquid test result for TA ( 40 instead of either the 60 reading on the test strip or the avearge of 50 that I had chosen ) so the addition of the 2kg...

Thanks for the advice all. Given that the source of the current 'challenge' is the addition of the CYA, which is going to drop the pH, does the following logic have merit ? ... I read that the CYA is going to take a few days to fully dissolve and become effective ( or something along those...

Hi Dave J. Yes. I am using http://www.thepoolcalculator.com/ The only reason I asked the question was after I saw the warning on the packaging in the pool shop about not using soda ash in a fiberglass pool, and didn't seem to find any info regarding borax in fiberglass pools. Having read a...

Very true SafetyBob. I was thinking along the lines of a long 'pool noodle' fixed under the 2 outer hill channels of each section. If these don't last with long exposure to the water, I have a friend that works a lot with different types of 'closed cell' rubberized foam, and am sure he would...

OK. So I have taken the 'plunge' and drained and refilled the pool. And a special thanks to everyone on the forum for all the info I have learnt over the last few days. Now I am not too sure about the next step. I can not get the expert test kits ( in South Africa ) that are so well...

Hi Linen I fully agree with you, but even before we ( I ) changed to dichlor and unknowingly raised the CYA, we had the dust problem. I have just completed a full drain and re-fill this afternoon, so will be using all my new knowledge that I learned here to control the chemistry with some real...