New owner down under

[trapp3r]

Hello all, Trapper here in North Queensland. Purchased a house with a pool so first time I've had anything to do with one. It was a swamp when we took it over so had an expert clean it up and point me in the right direction. He has been good but having trouble getting the pH down. using about 2 litres of acid a week and doesn't seem to change- he checks every fortnight. The time has come for me to learn what I can so have been reading this site. At first couldn't keep the chlorine up so swapped the pure silk SWG which was probably 11 years old for a K Chlor. Pool looks good when still but a bit cloudy when i run the leaf rake across the bottom. Purchased a Clear Choice Labs test kit as this sites favoured one is very hard to find in Aus.
So I made an attempt at tests and got the following (bearing in mind I could have botched the readings )
FC 13.5
PH 7.8 plus ( pool guy said 8.2 last test)
TA 140
CH 250
CYA 68
CC 1
Salt 5800
Temp 31 C.
Water is from a bore which I haven't had tested yet, but lots of calcium deposits at the taps and the dishes always look terrible

I'll be here asking lots of questions because pool guy is getting a bit expensive and although done a good job so far, I'm sure I can solve the problems myself with a bit of gained knowledge

Cheers
Trapper

 

[pooldv]

Welcome to TFP!

 

[aussieta]

hi and welcome
i know it is hard to get the reccomended kits in australia
but it is a tool that you need
Taylor FAS DPD Test Kit Chlorine - SERVICE SIZE K-2006C $139.99
these guys deliver to aus and are a reasonable price, compared to one trip to pool shop
ph test only goes up to 7.8 so a much higher reading will be recorded as 7.8
be aware that the ph test will read false high when chlorine is above 10ppm
as to fc only a fas dpd chlorine test can read over 10 so this number is suspect
eventually your ta will come down to around 60 and your ph will stop rising so quickly
hopefully your pool water is not really 31c
again welcome and this site will have you not believing how easy it is to maintain your pool and how little it costs

 

[Jezza]

Welcome to the forum Trapper! You have come to the right place here to learn about how to manage your pool.

Yes the Taylor kit is difficult if not near enough impossible to get hold of in Australia. It's worth every dollar. But the one that you have from Clearchoice labs is well regarded around here and should do the job. Importantly it has the the FAS DPD test.

From what you describe with cloudy water and a CC of 1.0 you could still have an underlying algal issue, (although your FC number looks high)- you could be just keeping it from getting worse by running the SWG. How long are you running your SWG and at what percentage?

I would run an OCLT to see if you are losing any large amount of FC overnight. This will confirm that theory.

Secondly your pool's appetite for acid is likely due to the relatively high TA number and by bringing that down this should steady. See Pool School- Recommended Levels

But my first priority would be to establish if your still fighting algae.

 

[trapp3r]

Hello aussieta checked the water temp at 4pm.. The SWG says 30 degrees C and my cheese thermometer says 29C . Does this seem odd? Its is the tropics and in the last week it certainly feels like swimming weather.
Hi Jezza running the SWG at 100% from 10:00 to 14:30 then from 22:30 to 02:30 ( no idea why its how pool guy set it up)

 

[kimkats]

You come to the right place! We can get your pool looking like a jewel :sun:

You have a good test kit. It has all of the tests you need.

Please take a picture of your pool so we can see where you are at. As they say "a picture is worth a thousands words".

I agree with what has been said above:

-FC over 10=PH testing wrong so let the FC go to 9 and retest the PH

-IF PH is still high then lets work on getting the TA down. Shoot for 80 and we will go from there. It will take a little work but will be worth it. Here is a link:Pool School - Lower Total Alkalinity

-Do the OCLT as linked to above. Let us know the results