Supplemental testing strips, high phosphates > 1000, and DE grid question.

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Alloy25

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Feb 7, 2016
16
Austin, TX
Hello all. Your website has been a great help. I haven't worked on a pool since my early teens. I'm working on a rehab in Austin, TX and cleaning up the pool. It's been neglected for about 1.5 years and went through a flood. About nine months ago one of the contractors tried to fix the pool issues but didn't get anywhere, just wasted a bunch of chemicals. Pulled about 40 gallons of leaves and algae from the bottom. Fixed multiple clogs and leaks around the pump and replaced a broken DE grid. Cleaned the DE filter twice when back washing didn't help. Pressure jumped over 15 psi within 2 hours last time. Algae really clogs up a filter! Hosed off and soaked in Cascade dishwashing detergent twice which really helped.

Cya was above 120 (diluted the water 50% with distilled and the reading was CYA 60 since test only goes up to 100) so I did a 3/4 drain and refill. I haven't added any chemicals (before or after) until i could fix all the leaks and clogs, and remove as much leaves and algae as i can manually. CYA now reads 0, but Leslies said their test doesn't go below 25. I probably ended up draining about 7/8 of the pool.

I'm preparing to shock the pool.
FC and TC are both 0.
CH is low @ 160
TA is low @ 60
PH is 7.8 (which according to your SLAM page needs to be below 7.5)
Pho (Phosphates) are above 1000 after drain refill.

I read Pho aren't a problem until they reach over 1000 ppb. Would you correct this or let it go?
Is it worth testing for ammonia?

I've been getting my test done at Leslie's but i'm about to order a Taylor K-2006 testing kit since the water is clearing up. Are there any other tests that i need beside what is contained in the Taylor Kit or supplement with any strip tests? It looks like the reagents give the best results.

The last time I added DE, there was a slight amount returning to the pool. It wasn't much. Is this normal? The only tear i found last time was about 1/8" on the bottom of one of the grids.

Any other suggestion, pleas let me know.
 
Welcome Alloy,

Many of us likely have over 3000 Phopsphate, but don't even know it since we don't test for it. Generally, we don't worry about them at all, because even if you have them, they don't matter much in a properly Chlorinated pool. Others will weigh in more, but we hope you enjoy the forum.
 
Welcome to TFP!!:handwave:

First, you are trying to mix pool store advice and TFPC advice. It won't work!

Before you rush out and buy that K-2006 I recommend you order a TF100 and at least include the XL option. That will give you what you need while you are clearing the pool, and probably enough reagents for a couple of years normal use. The TF-100 uses the same Taylor reagents as the K-2006, it is just that the amount of different reagents are changed to better suit a homeowner rather than a commercial pool. Everybody looks on line and sees the basic K-2006 for less than $50, but the K-2006-C you need is closer to $90. I made this mistake and ordered the K-2006 and now 3 years later I have reagents going stale that I have never used and have had to reorder the stuff we homeowners use. Ev

If for some reason you have your heart set on the K-2006, be careful comparing prices because the K-2006 comes in sizes, designated by a letter. The basic K-2006 has .75oz bottles. You need to get the K-2006-C to get the larger bottles that you want. Even then it is a little short on the reagent & powder for the FAS/DPD test.

While you wait for your Tf-100 to get delivered, you have a homework assignment. Start with Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis. I want you to read and understand our pool care methods before you start your SLAM.

Now, if you are going to follow our methods stop going to the pool store. Not much credence is given to pool store testing around here. While you would think that a "professional" would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite. Between employees who blindly trust the word of chemical sales representatives and high school kids working in the pool store for the summer you end up with poor results from their testing. Plus, they are going ot sell you stuff you don't need like that PhosFree to reduce the phosphates. We have folks here with phos numbers in the multiple thousands with no problems.
 
Thanks for pointing this out. I remember a lot of that from the TFP forums but that's a well written guide and I really like it all in one place.

Appreciate the heads up about the TF-100 kits. I found two different kits left with the house and tested it against the neighbors pool guy's Taylor tests and the reagents are still good.

Disassembled and cleaned the grids with Cascade.

Lowering the PH before the shock with muriatic acid using the Pool Calculator.

Walmart has 10% chlorinating liquid for $3.64 a gallon. That's cheaper than Costco/Sam's club and Clorox bleach which is 8.25%.

I was using Leslie's for testing, but i see your point. I was having the guy testing walk me through the steps to make sure he was doing it right. I've only bought hose ends, de grid and scoop and silicone lubricant. Besides, TFP is the reason I didn't try the CYA reducer!!!

Onto more reading and diving deeper into pool school!
 
He threw it into *your* pool? Did your pool *need* calcium??

You wouldn't want it to get too high because like CYA, the only way to remove excess calcium is via water exchange.

Too much calcium can cause scaling problems.


Addendum: Ooops I see you listed your CH as 160.....but I don't see if you have a cement pool or a vinyl lined pool? Vinyl pools don't need calcium.
 
Yeah he tossed about 5 lbs worth. It is a concrete pool and the CH is a bit low which I forgot until you pointed it out.

Hello from GA. I'm actually from Atlanta. In Austin fixing up a house.

Off to buy my TF-100 test kit. What else do I need to get $100 and free shipping!
 
Alloy25 said:
Yeah he tossed about 5 lbs worth. It is a concrete pool and the CH is a bit low which I forgot until you pointed it out.

Hello from GA. I'm actually from Atlanta. In Austin fixing up a house.

Off to buy my TF-100 test kit. What else do I need to get $100 and free shipping!
Click to expand...
The two things that make testing easier are the Sample Sizer and the Speed Stir!
 

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The speed stir is great and well worth the money, no one has ever regretted buying one after spending some time swirling tubes by hand, it is a how did we ever live without it kind of device.

The sample sizer while nice to have, is easy enough to live without.


Think of it like this given that you live in the south, if the TF-100 were an automobile, the speed stir would be air conditioning, and the sampler sizer would be power locks and windows.
 
Well pool is in good shape. After neighbors pool guy shocked it, i did it again that night and next morning. The FC held at 3-4ppm after that. Before applying shock, getting the CYA under control, lowering the PH and pulling all the leaves (40 gallons) and algae (10 gallons) out of the pool, it has remained in spec. It was definitely a swamp. Raised the CH and TA recently. PH is creeping up and will lower that today.

It was comical the amount of bleach jugs I found around here after the previous contractor tried to clear up the pool. Kinda hard to do with a CYA of > 120. I doubt they even tried to clean out the pool of debris first.

This site and Pool School are great!
 
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