Hi All! Thank you for taking the time to help! Pool specs are in the signature line. I am having an issue getting the chemicals right/stabilizing in the pool! 
We have had the pool about 5 years, and I thought we had mastered it; boy was I wrong! This year started with us having an issue with High PH. We are in the mid-west, and have had tremendous amounts of rain (not sure if this affects PH or not). So we began adding muratic acid to bring the PH down. Everything seemed to be going ok, with the exception of continuing to have to add the acid quite often. It never seemed to stabilize. After our 4th of July party (thank goodness), the water started getting very cloudy. The test kit we had (chemical kit from the pool store - yes, i know!), that we had good luck with in years past (replaced each year - no exception for 2015) was registering the chlorine OFF the charts with PH still high. Cloudy water and algae starting to grow.
Thinking it was the media in the filter, we cleaned out the filter entirely (the last clean out was about 3 years ago). We did add some pea gravel to the bottom of the filter (about 50 lbs to cover the "fingers", and about 150 lbs of sand). After a few days of lots of chlorine and running the pump with the new media, I figured we would have crystal clear water! Wrong. Now, cloudy, and algae growth (which actually I couldn't quite tell if it was mustard colored algae, or blow-back from the new media).
At any rate, under suspicion, that the test kit was foul, I decided to take the water to a pool store to
test. Pool store test came back LOW chlorine, LOW alkalinity, Low Calcium hardness, High PH. I came home and ordered a TFTestkit!
In an effort to maintain the water even a little bit (don't beat me up TOO BAD!!), I did add chlorine; 2 tabs a day, and also added baking soda until I received the test kit. The water looked great! But below results indicate otherwise!
So, with all that background, here are the REAL water test results. And I am at a loss, 1) how did the CYA get so high, and can I do anything to lower it (besides drain the pool)? And 2) what is the first thing I need to address in this mess? And WHY has our PH been an issue since the beginning of the year?! Anything you can provide is GREATLY appreciated!!
FC - 40PPM
CC - 0
TC - 40PPM
TA - 180
CYA - 100
PH - average 8
We have had the pool about 5 years, and I thought we had mastered it; boy was I wrong! This year started with us having an issue with High PH. We are in the mid-west, and have had tremendous amounts of rain (not sure if this affects PH or not). So we began adding muratic acid to bring the PH down. Everything seemed to be going ok, with the exception of continuing to have to add the acid quite often. It never seemed to stabilize. After our 4th of July party (thank goodness), the water started getting very cloudy. The test kit we had (chemical kit from the pool store - yes, i know!), that we had good luck with in years past (replaced each year - no exception for 2015) was registering the chlorine OFF the charts with PH still high. Cloudy water and algae starting to grow.Thinking it was the media in the filter, we cleaned out the filter entirely (the last clean out was about 3 years ago). We did add some pea gravel to the bottom of the filter (about 50 lbs to cover the "fingers", and about 150 lbs of sand). After a few days of lots of chlorine and running the pump with the new media, I figured we would have crystal clear water! Wrong. Now, cloudy, and algae growth (which actually I couldn't quite tell if it was mustard colored algae, or blow-back from the new media).
At any rate, under suspicion, that the test kit was foul, I decided to take the water to a pool store to
test. Pool store test came back LOW chlorine, LOW alkalinity, Low Calcium hardness, High PH. I came home and ordered a TFTestkit!
In an effort to maintain the water even a little bit (don't beat me up TOO BAD!!), I did add chlorine; 2 tabs a day, and also added baking soda until I received the test kit. The water looked great! But below results indicate otherwise! So, with all that background, here are the REAL water test results. And I am at a loss, 1) how did the CYA get so high, and can I do anything to lower it (besides drain the pool)? And 2) what is the first thing I need to address in this mess? And WHY has our PH been an issue since the beginning of the year?! Anything you can provide is GREATLY appreciated!!
FC - 40PPM
CC - 0
TC - 40PPM
TA - 180
CYA - 100
PH - average 8
