I'm new to pool water testing.

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Franceslin

Franceslin

0
Feb 14, 2016
16
San Diego, CA
Taylor K-2006 testing kit got here yesterday. I did a few test this morning. I got to admit that I'm very confused.

First, the FC test came out nothing. I add 10 dippers of R-0870 to the tube. The water didn't change color at all. Am I suppose to add more R-0870 until the water turns to pink?

pH test: my pool water's pH is above 8.0. I used 8 drops of R-0005 to bring the color match to 7.6/7.4. According the Table E, I need to add 1 gal of Muriatic Acid to my pool (20K gal water need 1.15gal Muriatic Acid, but my pool is 18K gal. water).

Total Alkalinity Test: I ended up using 10ml sample. It took 8 drops of R-0007 to turn the sample water into not red but bright pink (like the color of ph 8.0). My question is how to calculate ALK.

CH test: I need 47 drops of R-0012 to turn the sample to blue. What does it say about the pool water's CH number?

CyA test: Sample water didn't turn cloudy.

What should I do?
 
Welcome to TFP!

OK, first you MUST follow the instructions on the inside of the lid. You should only need to add two dippers.... ever. Then, "If free chlorine is present, sample will turn pink." Apparently, since the color didn't turn pink, you have no free chlorine. So, to get some, go to the calculator and calculate how much bleach you need to add. (Probably about 1 gallon and 2 quarts.)

pH - I'd put in about 1/2 gallon of MA and test again. It is better to sneak up on it, than go over.

If TA is 200, at this point, which sounds very high, you need to get that down by following instructions in Pool Math.

You may have a CH of 470, but that sounds high.

CYA? No cloudy? No CYA. So, you need to add some per instructions in Pool School and Pool Math.

First, let's get the pH under control and get some Chlorine in there.....

What does the water look like? Is this a fresh fill?
 
First, you need chlorine in the water. Pour in some bleach now. With no CYA you only need to get to FC 1 or 2. The reason you have no FC is because you have no CYA. In the Southern California sun the UV rays will burn the FC off in a couple of hours without CYA.

As to the TA test, sometimes a static electric charge can build up on the R-0009 dropper bottle tip, causing the drops to be smaller than usual and making the test read higher than actual. You can prevent this by wipping the tip of the dropper bottle with a damp cloth or tissue before you start and after each drop. Plus, go with a 25ml sample size so each drop equates to 10 TA

Most of the water out west is fairly high in CH. With evaporation and pool refills higher than normal CH is not uncommon. I'll let our resident expert on high CH Richard320 jump in.

So, if you don have acid while you are out pick up some CYA. Most Home depot, Lowes and WalMart stores have it. It may be labeled stabilizer, salt water stabilizer, or Cyanuric Acid. Just look for the ingredients to list Cyanuric Acid above 95%. Myself I would go to Lowes ans they generally have both products you need.
 
Added 1.5 gallon Chlorinating Liquid and 0.5 gal. Muriatic Acid to the pool early this afternoon. I then went to Leslie Pool Supply and bought a 8.lbs bag of Stabilizer. Test FC and pH again 2 and half hours later. The sample still didn't turn into pink after added 2 dippers of R-870. pH was better. It only need 3 drops of R-0005 to get sample color look like 7.6/7.4. So, I added another quarter MA to the pool after the test. I also poured half bag of stabilizer into skimmer basket (as the clerk from Leslie instructed). The clerk from Leslie also told me to wait for 3 days to test the pool water. Should I add more Chlorine? If do, I need buy more of it tomorrow.

The water in the pool looks pretty good, clear (if I don't brush the bottom) and light sky blue.

My pool was replastered a month ago. I thought the replaster guy would help me balance water at the end; however, he stopped showing up and return my message shortly after the pool was done and refilled. Now I got to learn everything:study:. Yap, New pool and "New" pool girl.

Thank everyone for helping. I will keep you updated.


By the way, Texas Splash, your baby looks madly scary.
 
HA ha. I'm experimenting with some pictures. :) In any case, glad you're getting control of the pH. That will be an on-going issue for a while since you had the pool re-plastered. New plaster tends to increase pH quickly, so always check pH fairly often. As for the stabilizer, adding it was good. Generally we don't add directly to the skimmer as the pool clerk instructed, but now that it's in there, just make sure you don't do anything with the filter. Those granules are probably stuck in the cartridges and it may take a day to dissolve. Also, since you just added the stabilizer, it will take about a week to show-up on your CYA test. Whatever your Poolmath Calculator "Goal" was for the stabilizer (i.e. 30 Ppm) just consider that target good.

Now for the bleach (your FC level). You must have the Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart chart handy at all times. This is what will keep your water clear and sanitized. Since the water didn't turn pink when you added the powder, that would tell me you had little to no FC. So for now, think of what your CYA goal was (example - 30), then look at that chart and use the matching FC as your goal for bleach (FC Target). Never let it go below that "target".

If your water looks cloudy, you have green silt on the bottom, or anything else, let us know. You may need to "SLAM" the pool to kill algae. But only if you and your trusty K-2006 tests can confirm that for us. If you have any more questions, we'll all be here ... and the scary baby. :)
 
Franceslin said:
The sample still didn't turn into pink after added 2 dippers of R-870
Click to expand...

Add another gallon of bleach, give it 30 minutes and test, again, with a 25 ml sample. I think you may have something growing in the pool that is eating your free chlorine. If that is the case, you are going to be using a few (at least) bottles of bleach.

Can I read between the lines that the pool chemistry hasn't been adjusted since the re-plasterer guy left a month ago?

You can test for chlorine, but your CYA won't show up on a test for 3-7 days. During that time do not backwash.
 
Franceslin said:
Added 1.5 gallon Chlorinating Liquid and 0.5 gal. Muriatic Acid to the pool early this afternoon. I then went to Leslie Pool Supply and bought a 8.lbs bag of Stabilizer. Test FC and pH again 2 and half hours later. The sample still didn't turn into pink after added 2 dippers of R-870. pH was better. It only need 3 drops of R-0005 to get sample color look like 7.6/7.4. So, I added another quarter MA to the pool after the test. I also poured half bag of stabilizer into skimmer basket (as the clerk from Leslie instructed). The clerk from Leslie also told me to wait for 3 days to test the pool water. Should I add more Chlorine? If do, I need buy more of it tomorrow.

The water in the pool looks pretty good, clear (if I don't brush the bottom) and light sky blue.

My pool was replastered a month ago. I thought the replaster guy would help me balance water at the end; however, he stopped showing up and return my message shortly after the pool was done and refilled. Now I got to learn everything:study:. Yap, New pool and "New" pool girl.
Click to expand...
First, please stop going to the pool store. I generally recommend Lowes and Home Depot because the clerks don't try to give pool advice. Pool stores do and it is generally wrong.

First, do you know how many gallons your pool is? That is the only way to correctly calculate the correct amount of CYA (or any other chemical) to add to the pool. Our methods are are based on accurate testing and only adding chemical to your pool in the amount it needs to achieve specific result. In your case how high did you want the CYA? You then use http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html to calculate the dosage needed. Plus, we never recommend pouring CYA into the skimmer, but we float it in the pool inside an old sock or other similar piece of cloth. Don't waste reagents testing in three days, it can take up to a full week for solid CYA to fully register on the test.

I promise, I'm not trying to be mean, I just want to help you learn and to understand why we do, what we do. Luckily, unless you pool is extremely small 4 pounds of CYA is not the end of the world.

So, let us know how many gallons the pool is and we can show you how to determine where your CYA will end up.

I am concerned that you are not showing any FC, but again it is hard to comment without knowing the volume of the pool. You say you used "Chlorinating Liquid". Do you know the % chlorine (10 or 12.5) and the age. The bottle will have very small print around the top edge above the label usually which has a string of cryptic letters & numbers. Post them and we can show you how to read the code.
 

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