Help me find the erroneous zone..

[brakes]

Happy 2009 pool season everyone, warming up here in the northeast and with my new found knowledge began to bring the pool up to use...

I have a taylor test kit...

after an initial muriatic acid dump to bring the ph down...

Checking T/A i got a reading of 70, so i wanted to bring it into the range of 90, i added 10lbs of baking soda

Reading a day later, was 80...

I needed a new pool brush (man they break easily) so went to the store and took a water sample with...

T/A 130..

Went back and retested via Taylor, still 80... but i was using agents from last year, so i got the agents i bought at end of season last year cause i ran out of the cya fluids, so they are only 6 month or so...

Test still reads 80...

I know that 130 is detrimental to plaster (or believe so) but i didnt want to chase it if the pool store test is wrong...

here is the complete list of pool store recommendations stemming from these numbers

FC - 2.8
TC - 2.8
ph - 8.0
cya - 15
tds - 3000
nitrate - 40
recommended - 6lbs of 'stabilizer' cyuranic acid, 80lb of salt, and 1 gal of muriatic

any help or input is appreciated...

Thanks
Evan

 

[JasonLion]

Trust your own readings, especially if you can do the test twice and get the same result. Pool stores are wildly inaccurate more often than you might imagine and frequently a little off.

Even if your TA was 120, it would probably not be a problem, unless your CH level is very high.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi. Salt? I don't see SWG in your sig? If you are planning to use an SWG, 6 lbs of stabilizer probably won't raise you up to where you need to be for an SWG.

I don't see a CH result?

I would trust a complete set of your own Taylor test results vs. any pool store.

Yes, if accurate, your PH is high and you should lower with muratic acid. This will also lower your TA. But if you plan to use an SWG, this number is fine, so retest the PH with YOUR kit and if it's above 7.8 you should lower it with the MA, retest both PH and TA and let us know where you stand.

 

[brakes]

Trust your own readings, especially if you can do the test twice and get the same result. Pool stores are wildly inaccurate more often than you might imagine and frequently a little off.

Even if your TA was 120, it would probably not be a problem, unless your CH level is very high.

Yes, if accurate, your PH is high and you should lower with muratic acid. This will also lower your TA.

Exactly that was my plan, the pH always runs high in the pool, so it was like 8.2 at first, added 2 gallons of muriatic, took it down to 7.2, then add the 10lbs of baking soda to up the T/A from 70 - 90 and bring the pH inline....

Yes i do have a SWG ,

the CH reading, via the taylor was 250 on the first check after cover came off, i saw it to be in proper range so i didnt check it as I worked on the ph and the t/a...

the pool store has a reading 'total hardness' 370

the thing about the water test that has/had me wondering really is, i questioned her t/a reading, she obtained from some fancy machine, she pulled out a strip and did the test on the table infront of me and the strip got dark blue, though i know its the most inaccurate way of testing it did turn a darkish blue

would the water temp matter, the pool is chilly, in the 60's, but i had the sample in the car, the black car, for a while, perhaps the water temp was 72 by the time we got to the store... that matter in the test results?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

The temp shouldn't matter for TA test.

Trust your own results.

 

[Guest]

Exactly that was my plan, the pH always runs high in the pool, so it was like 8.2 at first, added 2 gallons of muriatic, took it down to 7.2, then add the 10lbs of baking soda to up the T/A from 70 - 90 and bring the pH inline....

Yes i do have a SWG ,
Since you have a SWG and are having problems with pH rising fast it would be better to leave your TA at 70 ppm! You stated that your CYA was 15! If this is an outdoor pool get yor CYa up to 80 ppm! THIS is why you are having pH stablity problems!
water-balance-tips-for-a-swg-t3663.html

the CH reading, via the taylor was 250 on the first check after cover came off, i saw it to be in proper range so i didnt check it as I worked on the ph and the t/a...

the pool store has a reading 'total hardness' 370
The pool store is using strips with a strip reader if they are giving you total hardness and not calcium hardness. DO NOT trust these readings.

the thing about the water test that has/had me wondering really is, i questioned her t/a reading, she obtained from some fancy machine, she pulled out a strip and did the test on the table infront of me and the strip got dark blue, though i know its the most inaccurate way of testing it did turn a darkish blue
It is a test strip and the TA test is not that precise...Don't trust it! Remember, pool stores want testing to be fast and easy, They don't care about accurate as long as they can sell chemicals. I've worked in pools stores so I know a bit about this.

would the water temp matter, the pool is chilly, in the 60's, but i had the sample in the car, the black car, for a while, perhaps the water temp was 72 by the time we got to the store... that matter in the test results?

not if the water was above 70 when it was tested.

 

[brakes]

Since you have a SWG and are having problems with pH rising fast it would be better to leave your TA at 70 ppm! You stated that your CYA was 15! If this is an outdoor pool get yor CYa up to 80 ppm! THIS is why you are having pH stablity problems!
water-balance-tips-for-a-swg-t3663.html


It is a test strip and the TA test is not that precise...Don't trust it! Remember, pool stores want testing to be fast and easy, They don't care about accurate as long as they can sell chemicals. I've worked in pools stores so I know a bit about this.

the pool store said cya was 15 but, if that is the black dot test, mine was in the low 30's when i did my test, but im still too low.... I am going to run the tests again in a bit... get a better grip on whats going on before i start to add and chase...

 

[brakes]

the pool store said cya was 15 but, if that is the black dot test, mine was in the low 30's when i did my test, but im still too low.... I am going to run the tests again in a bit... get a better grip on whats going on before i start to add and chase...

hit submit too fast... on the pool store note, i used the words baking soda a couple of times while in there, when the technician asked me to stop using it, cause she said, 'We are told that if we use those words we will be fired" and i can see why at the prices they were charging for their Alkalinity Plus...

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

LOL So did you whisper "baking soda"?

 

[brakes]

LOL So did you whisper "baking soda"?

haha no but i did tell the guy who was just instructed to buy a bunch of it, quietly in the aisle of course, 'its just baking soda', but he kind of looked at me like i was a dentist at a candy convention... oh well, guess the pool store people gotta eat too...