First Time

[clmsntiger1]

Hello, I'm a first time pool owner and just opened my pool today. The water is a little on the cloudy side. I ran all the test available in my TF-100 test kit and the results are:
pH - 7.2
Cl - 5, Br - 10
FC - 8 ppm
CC - 1 ppm
CH - 150 ppm
TA - 90
CYA - 100

From reading the forums it appears my CYA is really high, I ran the test twice just to be sure. The water temperature is 58 degrees. What are my options? Thanks in advance for being patient with me!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Welcome to TFP, glad you found us! Smart job having that great test kit at hand too!

You need to take equal parts pool water and tap water and mix. Then use this water to perform another CYA test, doubling the results. You may be far higher than 100 because the test only reads to 100. Stop using chlorine pucks to sanitize with- they're just adding to your CYA problem. Try household bleach (aka "liquid chlorine") as it adds nothing unwanted to the water. The only way to lower CYA is with water replacement.

Having 1 ppm CC means something unwanted is in your water. A SLAM is most likely in your near future. Please refer to the SLAM instructions up in the PoolSChool section (top of page) and bring us back any questions you have. Your pH is perfect to start a SLAM procedure. Lets get that cloudiness taken care of STAT!

CH is fine- you dont need to worry about it in a vinyl pool. TA okay too.

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

Yeah, what he said... repeat the CYA test using the dilution method. Then decide how much you want to drain off and replace. If you reduce CYA to a reasonable number, then the SLAM process will go a lot easier. If the pool is just cloudy, not green, it should only take a few days to clear it.

Oh, and congratulations on having your own proper test kit and posting up results without being nagged.

 

[clmsntiger1]

Thanks for the responses! I'll try the dilution method this evening when I get home. And I should be able to use that to determine how much water to replace, correct?

 

[Isaac-1]

A couple of other details the CYA test works best when the water sample is at around swim / room temperature so you may need to let your sample warm up and also when done in full sunlight with the sun to your back and the view tube held in your shadow.

 

[pooldv]

Here are some handy pics of what the sample should look like, https://www.taylortechnologies.com/ChemistryTopicsCM.ASP?ContentID=3630t

 

[clmsntiger1]

I drained roughly 6k gallons of water out of the pool this evening, which is only about a quarter and I'm refilling now. I didn't want to drain it too much for fear of anything detrimental happening to the liner. I'm going to test my CYA again tomorrow and see where I'm at and then I'll give the SLAM procedure a go if need be.

 

[kimkats]

You are on the right track. Having the CYA lower will help on many fronts. Let us know what it comes to after this drain/refill.

Kim:cat:

 

[clmsntiger1]

Ok so after my partial drain and refill here are my new numbers.

pH = 7.2
FC = 6 ppm
CC = 1 ppm
CYA = 50 ppm
TA = 90

I ran the pool calculator and added 2/3 of the recommended borax to get my pH higher. When the previous owner helped me open the pool this past Sunday I added 1 gallon of 12.5% bleach but haven't added any since then. Based on the numbers above how does everything look right now? TIA

 

[Texas Splash]

You appear to be in a perfect position now to do a "SLAM" (link below). Based on that new CYA, increase FC to 20 and you're off & running. Make sure to follow-up daily on the SLAM page to ensure you're doing everything you are supposed to. Good work!