TFP vs Poolshop

[Hawknz]

Hi All,

I've only recently discovered this site, wish I had sooner, would have saved me nitemare situations in dealing with local poolshops.

Only yesterday I went to a brand new pool shop that just opened near me to get my water tested.

After giving them all my details and testing the water I have found their "idea ranges" are far different to what is described here

Their printout of ideal ranges is

FC - 1.5-5

TC - 1.5-5

pH - 7.2 - 7.6

TA - 125-150

CH - 175-225

Salt - 4-7k

CYA - 30-100


Consequently I was advised to add things, that after reading this forum and the "recommended levels", I didn't need to at all (e.g my TA was tested at a "low" 101), yet it would appear my tested result for CH at 165 is well short of what is recommended here, but only slightly short of the poolshops test, so I can now see the markup and stupidity of using a poolshop generic testing.

Can I clarify that with my setup I should be using the recommended levels:

with SWG
FC 3-5 (See chart)
pH 7.5-7.8
TA 60-80
CH 220-320
CYA 70-80


Thanks guys, fantastic site

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi, welcome to TFP!
you are wise to avoid the pool stores. Their advice as well as their testing is just something we most all have learned to avoid.

The recommended leves for your pool are correct. If you maintain those, you wont have any water chemistry problems.

I would recommend also, to get your own very good test kit.

 

[Catanzaro]

Hawknz:

Welcome to the TFP Forum. Over time, you will find that a lot of member's on this forum manage their pools quite effectively at levels that are different then the recommended levels. These levels are for most pools, but not all. One of the biggest obstacle you will face in Australia is purchasing a quality test kit. Over time, you will find what the best levels for your pool are. Even though we do not rely on pool store testing, at this moment can you please provide us with what levels the pool store provided you. Someone else may chime in on where you can obtain a quality kit in Australia so you can perform your own testing, etc. Most pool store testing is inaccurate, but at least we will have an idea.

Meanwhile, if you have not gone to Pool School, it is recommended highly you start there.

Pool School - Getting Started

 

[kimkats]

Well hello there! So nice of you to join us! Nice to see you already know what needs to be done! Drop the pool store!

Kim

 

[PAGirl]

I am pretty convinced they only recommend a higher TA so they can sell you the increaser. It's the first thing my SIL gets "poolstored" on every year. You can lead a horse to water.......

You are on the right track to a trouble free, crystal clear pool!

 

[Hawknz]

Hawknz:

Welcome to the TFP Forum. Over time, you will find that a lot of member's on this forum manage their pools quite effectively at levels that are different then the recommended levels. These levels are for most pools, but not all. One of the biggest obstacle you will face in Australia is purchasing a quality test kit. Over time, you will find what the best levels for your pool are. Even though we do not rely on pool store testing, at this moment can you please provide us with what levels the pool store provided you. Someone else may chime in on where you can obtain a quality kit in Australia so you can perform your own testing, etc. Most pool store testing is inaccurate, but at least we will have an idea.

Meanwhile, if you have not gone to Pool School, it is recommended highly you start there.

Pool School - Getting Started

Hi Catanzaro ,

Thanks for your reply,

Yes I am investigating quality test kits and have been looking into this in Australia. I have ordered a kit through Clear Choice Labs | Simple. Accurate. Fast. which from what I read and others say it is very promising, upcoming company here.

Anyway my levels the pool shop told me yesterday are

FC: 6.25 (bare in mind I shocked my pool 3 days prior to this test)

TC: 6.66

pH: 7.6

TA: 101

CH: 165

Salt: 5380

CYA: 45

Iron: 0.1

Copper: 0.1

They could not test for phosphate at the time i was there

I did (foolishly) it may seem add 4kg of baking soda to raise the TA as they recommended. I also added 1kg of calcium, although it looks like the CH needs a huge increase?


Thanks for advise

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Welcome

So it all it takes to demonstrate the poor quality of pool store recommendations is to do a little math -

Recommended FC - 1.5 to 5ppm
Recommended TC - 1.5 to 5ppm

So, if they measure your TC at 4.5ppm and your FC at 1.5ppm, they would be totally OK with the fact that your water has 3ppm worth of combined chloramines (CC) in it. Those are the organic compounds that give pool water that "nasty" chlorine smell that everyone attributes to a bad pool water. Most of us here on TFP would freak out if we had 2ppm of CCs in the water.

So that's all you need to know to show why you should never trust a pool store.

Enjoy the site!!

Matt