New pool owner - So. Maryland

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Dhall150

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Bronze Supporter
May 25, 2015
6
Great Mills MD
Hello all!

We started this journey to building and now owning our pool last summer. Had to have many trees removed and a few other backyard issues. The PB broke ground 3/15 and completed the project last Friday 4/22. PB was very knowledgeable and we had no issue adjusting to changes that we came up with on the fly, such as additional concrete and lighting and was always available to answer questions.

I have been reading and re-reading pool school and the forums on this website for over 4 months in preparation for this moment. Well here are the numbers from the latest test

FC- Unknown. color never changed from pink to clear after 100 drops of r0871 reagent. Maybe I did something wrong.
CC- Unknown.
PH- 7.8
TA- 120
CH- 30
CYA- 70
Salt- 3400 also ordered this test kit too.
Pool is pretty clear as you would expect I guess.

Looking for advice from many of you experts out there.
Thanks and glad to be here and learn the most efficient way to mange my pool.
Still need to figure out how to post pictures as well...
 
Last edited:
Hello and welcome to TFP! :wave: For pics ... Have you tried linking your photos from Photobucket? That's what many of us do here on TFP. Upload your pics to Photobucket (free), then copy & paste the IMG code for that pic from Photobucket to your TFP post. Works great.

Also, you can try going to the bottom of your quick reply post where it says “Go Advanced”, and then down to where it says “Manage Attachments”. It may let you upload them that way. They may show-up large because you can't adjust the size of the attachment, but it may work.

Great to have you with us, and congrats on the new pool!

- - - Updated - - -

Some chemistry concerns: CH is very low, normally not an issue for vinyl, but you may want to refer to your SWG owners manual to see if it has a recommended level; pH is on the high end, so keep an eye on it; your chlorine looks to be incredibly elevated. We'll discuss that more below.
 
Splash I didnt add my signature prior to posting. Pool is a vinyl line and PB is still around if needed. We have decided to manage the care and feeding using the TFP processes, so we wanted to go that route first before involving him.
 
Perfect! That would explain the low CH and stuff. In that case you are in a great position to move forward. :goodjob: The only thing you may need to do is watch your slightly elevated TA because it may cause your pH to rise a bit as well over time. Also, even though CH is not an issue for vinyl, check your SWG manual. I believe some SWGs are sensitive to a specific CH range. If yours is not, then you can ignore CH.

Getting back to FC ... 100 drops is way too much. That would mean your FC is incredibly high. To save on reagent, try the 5ml sample size: 5ml sample, multiply drop count by 1 (used to save on reagent; not as precise). See what FC reading you get. In the future, once we get this under control, use the 10ml sample, multiply drop count by .5 (standard method). Let us know how this testing method works for you.
 
If your FC is as high as your testing seems to indicate, you'll need to dial-down the SWG considerably for now until the FC drops back down to your target area of 4-6 ppm. The sun is your best friend in this case to help burn-off the extra FC that appears to be in your pool. FYI - I modified my notes in post #2 as I initially thought you had no FC when in-fact you appear to be quite high. We'll help you get it taken care of.
 
I'll dial it back to 20% on the SWG. I adjusted it to run 8 hours during the day, I'll reduce that time as well. The pool is is full sun all day, so this week should be a great help at reducing the high FC. I also ordered more reagent that will arrive tomorrow. I'll let you know.
 
Fantastic. Nice. If you have any questions about the 5ml or 10 ml sample size FC testing, please let us know. Those methods should help you considerably to save reagent (drops) in the future. Have a nice evening, we'll look for your updates tomorrow.
 
One last thing I thought about before calling it a night .... when you're testing FC ... you should just be adding one heaping scoop of powder (R-0870), then counting the drops of the R-0871. I wanted to ensure you are using the correct drop reagent (R-0871) and not one of the others. Some people have mistakenly used the R-0003 reagent by mistake. You can confirm tomorrow.
 
Tested today after leaving SWG off all day and testing the FC/CC using single heaping scoop of R-0870 powder and 10ml sample size the following results were revealed.

FC 7.5 (15 drops R-0871)
CC .5 (1 drop R-0003)
PH 7.7
TA 120
Salt 3800

I think my next course of action is to continue to allow the FC to come down, get the PH under control (now that it is under 10 it should be somewhat reliable) and then start working on lowering TA.
 

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No plumbed heater only solar. My CH checked last week was holding at 40 ppm. Thanks, whenever the sun decides to visit Maryland again I'll get some better pictures. Amazingly temp during the day has been in the 60s and night 50s but the water seems to be holding well at 70. I told my wife it's due to the southern Maryland clay...:p
 
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