5 Way Test results. Help, please!

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eanik

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Apr 25, 2016
29
Florida
So I am still trying to understand and balance my water. It is about 2-3 weeks old. A 12'x30"ish Intex steel frame. The 5 Way Test results from my interpretation are as follows

FC- basically 0 (it was registering at .6 10 hours ago pre-rain)
Bromine- basically 0
PH- 7.2
Total Alkalinity- 140 (14 drops to clear/yellowish)

It seems a little cloudy today. I'm trying to keep the chlorine on the low side for my daughter's skin condition.
Thank you!

I currently own 121 oz jug of 8.25% generic bleach, stabilizer, borax and baking soda.

My neighbor also gave me one like this...
 
Unfortunately the 5-Way tester is not one of our recommended test kits since they don't offer the full range of testing we encourage owners to have at TFP. Have you considered a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C? Those are much better choices, and with those test results, we feel better advising your properly regarding both water clarity and your child's skin condition.
 
Congratulations on your new pool!! Are you planning to follow the guidelines here? i.e. Trouble Free Pool Care (TFPC)? If yes, then you'll need to do some reading here and order a good quality test kit. The TF100 is the quickest and best to get. The one you have lacks a couple of key tests that you'll need for TFPC.

You can also start some reading with the top two links on the page: Pool School - Getting Started

In the meantime, keep some sanitizer in the pool (chlorine). It's not safe for swimming without sanitizer. You'll get recommendations here that won't bother skin, but we need to know the volume of your pool in gallons.

Welcome to TFP and have fun with your pool!
 
Ok, thanks! I was told here by an "expert" that the kit I purchased was fine for the small pool I have. I do plan to follow TFPC guidelines.

ETA: Not questioning the "expert" title, I was just emphasizing that is the title under the screen name. ;)
 
Pool School - Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools

You pool runs about 2100 gals so it would fit the above guidelines.

Your 5 way test should work for you. Pat and Needs are used to larger pools that need the bigger test kits.

Read over the link and let me know if you have any other questions or just want to make sure you understand.

I will also have Cowboy Casey come talk to you about skim issues and pools. He knows all about it!

You need to get the CYA up and the FC up per the link above.

Here is the link to the levels you will need:

Pool School - Recommended Levels

Here is what you use to for each area needing work:

Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

Kim:cat:
 
Yes, in a previous thread Richard did say that the HTH kit would work if you follow the temp/seasonal pool process. And assuming that you would add 30 ppm of CYA and then drain the pool when summer is over. But, since you skipped steps 5 and 6 and the water is cloudy it is now time to move to step 7.

Pool School - Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools
 
eanik said:
So I am still trying to understand and balance my water. It is about 2-3 weeks old. A 12'x30"ish Intex steel frame. The 5 Way Test results from my interpretation are as follows

FC- basically 0 (it was registering at .6 10 hours ago pre-rain)
Bromine- basically 0
PH- 7.2
Total Alkalinity- 140 (14 drops to clear/yellowish)

It seems a little cloudy today. I'm trying to keep the chlorine on the low side for my daughter's skin condition.
Thank you!

I currently own 121 oz jug of 8.25% generic bleach, stabilizer, borax and baking soda.

My neighbor also gave me one like this...
Click to expand...
Save those. You already added stabilizer and those have more in them and you don't have the test for it. When the outside of the pool is a soggy mess from a lot of splashing and you have to add a couple inches, then you can use one in a floater. But CYA doesn't evaporate with the water, it stays behind.

The low FC can be expected if all your CYA hasn't dissolved yet. And you do know that bleach is a consumable, right? It needs to be added every day. A pool is just like a pet - you have to feed it every day.

How much stabilizer to you add, and what did you target? If it was the 1¼ cups, your estimated CYA is 40, so your target FC is 6 or 7. 2 cups of that bleach will do you.

Now I'm looking through your past posts and see you're switching to saltwater? That will change the CYA recommendation, so let us know. It helps to keep things all in one thread.
 
To avoid such misunderstandings in the future you should update your signature with some information on your pool, per this: Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post

That will remind us in the future that you have a smaller pool and are running it under the seasonal/temporary setup. We talk to a lot of people, it is hard (impossible) to keep track of who has what if it isn't in their signature ;)
 
Hi, Richard! I am planning to follow the TFP recommendations and see how much daughters skin does for the next few weeks. I was told it would not make a difference for her skin, but I do have one more option. I'm hoping I can keep it mild enough that it won't add to the depigmenratiin spread. Anyways, I think I added 1 1/4 cups. That was a week or so ago. I will from now on keep my questions in this thread. I understand how that is most convenient when asking for help! Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -

Also, I have added water since the stabilizer. About 2" needed to be replaced. I have been adding chlorine every 2-3 days when it calls for. I guess my pool just uses it all up more quickly than I thought. :/
 

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eanik said:
Hi, Richard! I am planning to follow the TFP recommendations and see how much daughters skin does for the next few weeks. I was told it would not make a difference for her skin, but I do have one more option. I'm hoping I can keep it mild enough that it won't add to the depigmenratiin spread. Anyways, I think I added 1 1/4 cups. That was a week or so ago. I will from now on keep my questions in this thread. I understand how that is most convenient when asking for help! Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -

Also, I have added water since the stabilizer. About 2" needed to be replaced. I have been adding chlorine every 2-3 days when it calls for. I guess my pool just uses it all up more quickly than I thought. :/
Click to expand...
Typical chlorine usage is 2-4 ppm per day. 3 ppm is a single 8 oz measuring cup of bleach in your pool. In a very short while of testing and dosing, you'll have it memorized. If FC is X then add Y. Just that easy. Maybe even that easy when it comes to adjusting pH, but that isn;t usually a daily thing so it'll take longer.
 
Here are my results from this morning. I added 12 oz of bleach last night.

FC and Bromine


PH


Acid Demand (one drop added, which I probably should not have because it was already close to 7.4?)



Total Alkalinity (15 drops - 150)



TC (after 2-3 minutes)

 
FC is a little low still. With 40 CYA (calculated) you want to maintain a minimum of 3 FC.

TC looks pretty much the same as FC, which is what you want.

TC - FC = CC

Total - free = combined. Combined is the bad stuff that smells. You don't want that. So far so good. You're getting the hang of it.
 
Thank you! I'm still learning by the chart provided. This is my main question, and forgive me if it's very basic but I'm having no luck resolving this question on my own, but how do you know the CYA is 40? Which result IS actually CYA? :???:
 
eanik said:
Thank you! I'm still learning by the chart provided. This is my main question, and forgive me if it's very basic but I'm having no luck resolving this question on my own, but how do you know the CYA is 40? Which result IS actually CYA? :???:
Click to expand...
Your test kit has no CYA test.

Using poolmath, I entered your pool's volume as given by Intex and input 40 as the target CYA. It calculated 1¼ cups of granular CYA. You added that, right? And the container says Cyanuric Acid, not something else? If you added it, it's in there. CYA doesn't wear out or evaporate. It can only go down by splashout, and I doubt you've lost any significant amounts that way so soon.

Anyway, the answer is that your CYA volume is a calculated value and not a measured value. That's the downside to your test kit. But do you really want to spend as much on the kit as you did on the pool?

Just a passing thought, but you're sure of the pool's size? Looking through some older threads of yours, that looks a little bigger than a 12' diameter.
 
eanik said:
Also, per the chart, I think my TA is really high at 150? How do I lower that if so?
Click to expand...
It will come down over time. Each time you add acid to lower pH, you're also lowering TA. pH will rise but TA won't. And then you lower it again and TA drops a little more. There's no reason to try to accelerate the process. A couple kids splashing will aerate the water real good and drive the pH up. You might need to adjust pH every couple days, but that will slow down as the TA goes down. It's not harmful in any way. Your kids drink the same source water.
 

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