Our local Leslie's instructed me to add 20LBs of Hardness Plus to raise the calcium level. OK, no problem. However, they tell me (and have numerous times in the past) to add 5 lbs. one day, recirculate, 5 lbs the next, 5 lbs the next and 4 days later the last 5 lbs. The instructions on the bucket mention nothing about spreading it out over a period of time. Why does the pool store say to do this? What is the benefit? The only think I can think of is that it allows you to measure the level as you are adding, see where you are each day. Any comments appreciated!
Adding Hardness Plus?
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Dropping a big dose of calcium chloride can cause clouding in your pool and take a long time to clear up......that's why they suggest it in doses.
What is your CH anyway? You may not need any.
You didn't ask this but I would also suggest your stay OUT of the pool store and do your own testing.......pool stores are not helpful in maintaining a pool correctly.
What is your CH anyway? You may not need any.
You didn't ask this but I would also suggest your stay OUT of the pool store and do your own testing.......pool stores are not helpful in maintaining a pool correctly.
Thanks. Their reading was 180. Mine was 300. However, I am getting readings that don't match any of theirs. I think my test kit reagents are old as the kit is 2 years old. My PH as way lower than theirs, my Chlorine was 2 when theirs was a high 4.5. Usually they are pretty close. Think it is time for new reagents? One other piece of info is that I consistently have a white "powder" that settles in my spa. I always though it was calcium that is settling. No one can seem to tell me what it is. It's not salt (SWG pool). If it is calcium I'm not sure whether it is from having too much or too little....
Which test kit are you using?
More here about adding chems to your pool, Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
More here about adding chems to your pool, Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
I have the Taylor K-2006, complete kit. The reagents look fine, no change in normal color but when I do simple PH and CL tests, repeating them to verify, I get a wide variance from the pool store then something is off. I am always leery of their advice and purchase suggestions (Phos-Free, etc.) and am completely allergic to their prices.
The reason that their results differ from yours is because theirs are wrong. Get some new reagents and trust your test results.
If you do two FC tests in a row from the same sample, does your test result repeat within 0.5-1ppm with the 10ml sample size (+/- 1 drop)?
That's aligned with my experience: that of their testing, their CH results are the poorest. Not only did their results not agree with mine, but they also didn't agree with the calculations of a fresh fill and carefully measured additions of calcium chloride.