Test Kit just arrived!!!

[Shelby123]

Going to watch all the YouTube videos and re-read all the directions and then when I take a break from working, I'll post my first results!

I almost kissed the delivery guy, lol, feels like I've been waiting forever for it to arrive

Kim

 

[Patrick_B]

Excellent, and welcome to the forum!

Let us know when you have some numbers..

 

[Shelby123]

Love this test kit, so simple to use!!

My only question is on the TA test...the water flashed pink at 9, then went back to green, flashed pink at 10 then went back to green and stayed clear at 11...so does that mean 110 is correct?

FC = 8 - do nothing goal is 7 according to pool math
CC = 0 - YAY!
pH= 7.2 - raise to 7.5? I have Borax to do it, washing soda is extremely hard to find here...pH has been consistently 7.2 all summer and returns to 7.2 when I try to raise it, so is my pool just happy here?
TA = 110 (if above is correct) this has me stumped, is it ok this high? it also says adding borax will raise this by 7.4
CYA = 60 (this was a leftover from last year and advice from pool store, not too concerned bc pool is emptied halfway for winter and I siphon vacuum to waste occasionally and liquid chlorine 12% is only 3.99 at Canadian Tire, it also explains why my FC never seems to go down!! it has read highest level on test strips for weeks)

Any advise on above??

Thanks in advance,
Kim

 

[Texas Splash]

Congrats on the kit! For your TA, once the color starts changing, continue adding drops until the final drop doesn't change the color any further. That's your final count - in your case it looks like 110, so it's fine. A PH of 7.2 is fine. You don't want to go any lower, but you can just keep an eye on it for now. It may creep-up on its own through aeration and activity. Everything else looks pretty good. Keep your FC up to your target level based on your CYA of 60 and you should be in good shape.

 

[Shelby123]

Sweet! so at this point I have a nice healthy pool and don't really have to do anything until my FC floats down. I'll just keep testing nightly
Thanks for the advice! SO happy I found this website, no more pool store for this girl!!!

 

[DaninFLA]

numbers look great, how does the pool look? sparkly clear? no need to worry about TA, just keep an eye on pH. if you want to raise pH, try aiming one of your return jets at the surface to increase aeriation which should drive up the pH a bit.

I would keep your FC at 8 for now. after a few weeks you will learn how much FC it consumes. give yourself a bit of a buffer, as you never want it to go below 5ppm for your CYA level.

 

[Shelby123]

Unfortunately, no return jets, just a crappy Intex 1000 gal/hr pump. Kids use the pool frequently but are only here every 2nd week. pH has never gone below 7.2, it has been really consistent at 7.2. I'll check my FC again tonight bc I pulled the cover off, then I'll add to 7 and see how much it drops in a day for awhile and I should be able to get a good idea of what my regular consumption will be. I accidently over added chlorine 2 weeks ago (forgot to change the gallons in pool math) so I haven't added anything since and had 4 kids in there last weekend for quite awhile! The FC has always taken forever to drop in the past (more understandable now that I see the CYA, I used pucks last year and pool store had me add more stabilizer, so this is after a 50% drain/refill from closing/opening), although I was using test strips previously so it was much more difficult to be accurate.

I feel much more confident about things now that I have my pretty new test kit!

 

[kimkats]

Well look at you NAIL IT!

What an awesome job!

Kim

 

[Shelby123]

Thanks Kim!! It is soo sparkly and clear, can't wait for the kids to get here Friday night!!