First time testing

[Andy.B]

Hey y'all. As I mentioned in my intro thread not long ago, we bought a new house and with that became new pool owners. While I worked on inside projects I had a pool maintenance guy get the pool ready. He shocked it and got all the levels right. I just received my TF-100 kit this week and did the tests for the first time myself today. It's been about 10 days since he said it was ready. Here are the results.


FC=6.5
CC=1
TC=7.5
CH=250
TA=130-140 (had two drops squeak out on the last one)
CYA=40-50 (40 by the fiancé and 50 by me)
Aqua Check strips said 3360 ppm salt
pH approx. 7.8

Based on the instructions, seems to me that the total alkalinity is a little high. Somebody with experience want to give a little briefing on analyzing the results and what steps of any to take?

 

[JVTrain]

The only number that's immediately concerning is the CC. A CC greater than 0.5 could mean you have algae or other organics in your pool. What is your water clarity like? Can you easily see the screw heads on your main drain? Sparkling clear? This is how clear it should be:

photo credit: duraleigh

Yes there is water in there. 7 feet of it.

TA is less concerning. Yes it is a bit high but just maintaining proper pH with acid additions will bring that down.

 

[kimkats]

Nice job on your first test! Joel has you covered on what to do....tell us what the water looks like and we will go from there.

Kim

 

[Andy.B]

It's pretty dang clear. Not quite as clear as that picture though. My pool doesn't have a typical main drain in the bottom. Has a "main" drain on one wall about 3' under the surface and the skimmer on the opposite wall.

 

[MarianParoo]

Let's see where your next CC test is.

 

[cowboycasey]

nice job testing for the first time below is what I am thinking

First, drop your PH with muriatic acid down to 7.2, this will also drop your TA some.... (after the SLAM, you can to continue this process to drop your TA to the 70/80 range) remember with FC above 10 the ph is not tested as it will be off.

Because of your CC, I would kick your FC up to SLAM level of fc16 for 24 hours and then do an overnight chlorine loss test (OCLT), if you pass all 3 let it drift back down to FC of 5/6 for a SWG pool. If you do not pass the OCLT continue with your SLAM until you do pass all 3.
After everything is good Bring your CYA up to 70
Then continue to monitor.

Hope this helps

 

[kimkats]

That is some clear water already! You are so going to have an easy time getting your levels in line!

Kim

 

[Richard320]

First time? Did it look like this?

 

[Andy.B]

It was a green swamp 4 weeks ago. Pool maintenance guy shocked it, it cleared up over the next two weeks, and has looked this clear for about 2 weeks now. Considering this was my first time trying any of these tests, I think I need do a whole new round of tests this week and make sure I didn't screw something up.

 

[Texas Splash]

You'll have it down to a science in no time. Just make sure you keep a close eye on the FC level each day to ensure it's staying in-line with the corresponding CYA based on the Chlorine/CYA Chart. That's key to sanitation and keeping the water clear. I keep a printout of that chart in my test kit.