Another confused newbie

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slickkk

0
Sep 12, 2016
4
Philadelphia/pa
Hi, hope someone can help me...

I just bought a house with a pool so it is all very new to me. I have already bought a taylor test kit.


Here is the timeline of events:

Had a independant pool company come out 3 weeks ago and give me a tutorial. They also tested the water and said all was good. I have some Leslie's FRESH N CLEAN oxidizing shock bags (left behind by prior owners) so they told me to dump 3 bags of this shock on a weekly basis which i am doing.

2 weeks ago I also took a sample of water to leslie to get an official reading since i was getting used to the test kit. Here are their readings..

FAC = 0
TAC = 0
CH =100
CYA = 90
TA = 110
PH = 7.4

They told me to buy power powder plus and dump two bags to shock it which i did. They also said it might be a good idea buy some stuff to raise the calcium hardness before closing the pool next week.


This week-- I used the Taylor test kit and tested it again and here are the readings..

Chlorine = 1-2
PH = 7.2
TA = 110
Calcium = 110


So two questions...

1. Should i buy the stuff to raise the calcium hardness?
2. SHould i buy the Power Plus or keep using the leftover bags to shock it?
 
Welcome aboard!

  1. Don't trust pool store readings - trust your test kit
  2. Make sure to measure and report:
    FC - Free Chlorine - A sanitizer which keeps your pool water safe and free of germs. Chlorine must be constantly replenished. (level depends on CYA)
    PH - Acidity/Alkalinity - Needs to be kept in balance to prevent irritation and protect the pool equipment. (7.2 to 7.8)
    TA - Total Alkalinity - Appropriate levels help keep the PH in balance. High levels can cause PH to rise. (60 to 120, sometimes higher)
    CH - Calcium Hardness - Appropriate levels help prevent plaster damage. High levels can cause calcium scaling. (220 to 350, vinyl lower)
    CYA - Cyanuric Acid - Protects chlorine from sunlight and determines the required FC level. (outdoors 30 to 50, SWG 70 to 80, indoors 0 to 20)
    This comes from Pool School, see     this link
  3. Don't put anything other than chlorine (or bleach) and muriatic acid in your pool until you've got complete readings of your chemicals

Bags of shock will cause other chemical levels to go out of balance. Shocking (in TFP parlance, that's SLAM) is nothing more than raising the FC level sufficiently to kill off any algae and other biologics in the water. See Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
 
slick,

Welcome to TFP... :lovetfp:

You should just stop going to the pool store!!!

Not sure what specific "Taylor" kit you have, so you will need to provide the model or Part number.

We cannot provide much assistance, at this point, because you forgot to provide us with the most critical reading.. your CYA number.

Please post back your kit number and what your CYA level is and we will be able to get you pointed in the right direction.

Jim R.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

We also need to know your pool details. Please fill out your signature.

The type of pool affects the answer you will get as far as whether you need to raise the CH or not.
 
All you need to make that kit complete is the FAS-DPD. TFTestkits.net

I would do the following.

Order the FAS-DPD test.
Drain half the water and refill. (You can do this in phases, if it's not convenient to dump half the water at once)
Once refilled confirm CYA 40-50. If so
Keep the FC near 5 or slightly higher with the OTO test until your FAS-DPD test arrived.
If CYA > 60, I would replace water until it was < 60.
Then use Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart to keep your FC above minimum for your CYA at all times.

How's the water look?
 
Yes it is plaster.

So apart from draining the pool isnt there something I could or should be doing? Do I need to do something about the Calcium count?

- - - Updated - - -

Also here are the complete list of tests done at Leslies

FAC =0
TAC = 0
CH = 100
CYA = 90
TA= 110
PH = 7.4
Copper = 0
Iron = 0
TDS = 1100
Pho = 0
Temp= 75
 

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What is the CH in your fill water?
I would replace water to get the CYA in range, then run a full set of tests. You do want to make sure the CH is up in the 200-300ppm range to you could be damaging the plaster (or keep your pH in the upper 7s). My guess if you get a lot of rain and that dilutes and lowers the CH.
 
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