New to pools! ??? on test results

[goosgrl]

Hi all,

This is a great site, I've been searching for answers everywhere and so this is great, the pool calculator is GREAT.

Anyway, I have a large non-traditional pool. In full sun!!!

37 X 49 oval
approx. 40 to 42k gallons (it slopes like a pond so the depth varies)
Black vinyl liner
Pentair sand dollar 26", 75 gph with Zeobrite, 1/2hp hayward super pump (will be getting 3/4hp)
The pool lives in Vermont

I have shocked it 3 times, still chlorine levels barely register (my friends the newts have returned).
I understand now why, I have no buffering so it just disappears.

I have the HTH 6 test kit and it shows:

TC .5 (or possibly less)
PH bet 6.8 and 7.2 (a bit hard to read)
TA 30
TH 70
CYA 0 ( the solution NEVER turns cloudy).

After reading about chlorine here I realize I should just use liquid chlorine or bleach, I had been using HTH 3-1 tabs and having no clue how much, how often.

It seems I should add Washing soda to boost both PH and TA?
Would this be better than Borax and/or baking soda?

How would I put that in, broadcast or slowly add by the water entrance?

According to the pool calculator I need 4 gallons (or 13 lbs.) of stabilizer to increase the CYA, seems like a lot!!!

Being a newbie I'm so afraid of putting to much of something in...

So, should I not be afraid and put lots (4 lbs I think) of washing soda in, almost 2 gallons of bleach and lots of stabilizer???

All at once? Or spread out over days??? Also can it be swum in after adding the chemicals??

I think I've asked too many questions in one post..

Thanks so much!

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP.

For long lasting chemicals like CYA or sodium carbonate, it's better to add part of what you need, then retest after the chemical dissolves and circulates. CYA is very slow to dissolve, so you need to wait about a week before testing again. I like to add half of what I think I need unless I'm sure of my results ahead of time, then after retesting, I add half of what I think I need then.

 

[duraleigh]

goosgrl,

What does your water look like? Cloudy? Green? You are gonna' need some chlorine in your pool quickly but tell us about your water quality first.

 

[cubbybeave08]

Also if you are going to add CYA...be careful...use rubber gloves...and don't inhale...wear eye protection...Put it in an old sweat sock and tie it right into the stream of your return jet...It does take a long time to dissapate into the water, 1 1/2 pounds took about 6-8 hours weekend before last. But you should probably get it in their as soon as you can. According to the Pool Calculator...you would need to add about 53-56 ounces of CYA which would be about 3.3 to 3.5 lbs so you might want to start like JohnT said with maybe 1.5 to 2 lbs...and then let it circulate then test....You should be ok then...But becareful...the stuff can be bad if you breath it or get it in your eyes...

 

[Butterfly]

Hi all,

This is a great site, I've been searching for answers everywhere and so this is great, the pool calculator is GREAT.

Anyway, I have a large non-traditional pool. In full sun!!!

37 X 49 oval
approx. 40 to 42k gallons (it slopes like a pond so the depth varies)
Black vinyl liner
Pentair sand dollar 26", 75 gph with Zeobrite, 1/2hp hayward super pump (will be getting 3/4hp)
The pool lives in Vermont
Hi. This is great information about your pool. If you would put it in your sig, it would be a big help for later.
Each time you post the info will already be there and you won't have to re-add it. Info on 'How to" is in Pool School.

I have shocked it 3 times, still chlorine levels barely register (my friends the newts have returned).
I understand now why, I have no buffering so it just disappears.
When you say the newts have returned I assume you mean your pool is turning into a pond w/frogs? :lol:
I have the HTH 6 test kit and it shows:

TC .5 (or possibly less)
PH bet 6.8 and 7.2 (a bit hard to read)
TA 30
TH 70
CYA 0 ( the solution NEVER turns cloudy).
This kit can get you started on adjusting, but you really need a good kit like the TF100 to get control of your pool. Link in my sig.

After reading about chlorine here I realize I should just use liquid chlorine or bleach, I had been using HTH 3-1 tabs and having no clue how much, how often.

It seems I should add Washing soda to boost both PH and TA?
Would this be better than Borax and/or baking soda?
My suggestion is to use Baking Soda to raise your TA first to about 60. Use the Pool Calculator to determine dose.
Then restest pH. If pH is not a definite 7.2 read, then I'd add Borax to increase the pH to about 7.4.

How would I put that in, broadcast or slowly add by the water entrance?
You could broadcast and brush . Some mix in a bucket of pool water and then pour around the pool.

According to the pool calculator I need 4 gallons (or 13 lbs.) of stabilizer to increase the CYA, seems like a lot!!!
Add about half the recommended CYA (in a sock like CubbyBeave said)

Being a newbie I'm so afraid of putting to much of something in...

So, should I not be afraid and put lots (4 lbs I think) of washing soda in, almost 2 gallons of bleach and lots of stabilizer???

All at once? Or spread out over days???
First, adjust your TA & PH.
Second, add 1/2 the amount of CYA
Third, Shock your pool - See "How to Shock Your Pool" article in Pool School. Not having any CYA in your water, your Shock Level is 10.
24 hours after you add the CYA, adjust your shock level based on the amount of CYA you added.

Also can it be swum in after adding the chemicals??
You do not want to swim while shocking.

I think I've asked too many questions in one post..
That's fine. We'll try to help the best we can. Also, you may want to try to find liquid chlorine (stronger bleach ) for a pool your size.
You would have less jugs to carry and you may find a better deal $$-wise.

It is a lot to take in at once, hope it made sense. Post all your questions in this thread and someone will be along to help.

Welcome to the forum
Thanks so much!

s

 

[goosgrl]

Thanks for such in depth help.

Yup, as soon as the water quality gets to their liking the newts are back, the toads were singing away in there last night I keep relocating them, but they seem to like the pool

The water quality is pretty good, it's pretty clear right now, when I first started it it was green and cloudy, then blueish white and cloudy after I shocked it. It does get clearer each time I shock it.

So the best order for correcting the balance is, TA first then PH then CYA and then shock?

But if it takes a week for the CYA to stabilize, when do I shock?

I will definitely do half to start with then adjust from there. The stabilizer I bought says I can put it directly into the skimmer, I quess I must backwash first since I can't backwash for a week.

The pool supply place near me has 5 gallons jugs of 12.5 chlorine so I'll be getting that.

Pool care, steep learning curve :lol:

thanks

A

 

[Butterfly]

Thanks for such in depth help.

Yup, as soon as the water quality gets to their liking the newts are back, the toads were singing away in there last night I keep relocating them, but they seem to like the pool

The water quality is pretty good, it's pretty clear right now, when I first started it it was green and cloudy, then blueish white and cloudy after I shocked it. It does get clearer each time I shock it.
When you shock a pool, it is important to understand that it is a process and not a one-time event! Read How to Shock your Pool in Pool School

So the best order for correcting the balance is, TA first then PH then CYA and then shock?

First, adjust your TA & PH.
Second, add 1/2 the amount of CYA
Third, Shock your pool - See "How to Shock Your Pool" article in Pool School. Not having any CYA in your water, your Shock Level is 10.
24 hours after you add the CYA, adjust your shock level based on the amount of CYA you added.

But if it takes a week for the CYA to stabilize, when do I shock?
See above quote. Once you adjust TA & pH, add CYA and you can immediately shock to shock level of 10.

I will definitely do half to start with then adjust from there. The stabilizer I bought says I can put it directly into the skimmer, I quess I must backwash first since I can't backwash for a week.
When you add the CYA, you can put it in a sock and hang it in front of a return. This will enable you to backwash when needed.


The pool supply place near me has 5 gallons jugs of 12.5 chlorine so I'll be getting that.
Sounds good.

Again, if you want to take control of your pool, you need a good test kit. We only recommend two, but my fav is the TF100 from TFTestKits.Net.

Pool care, steep learning curve :lol:
We all started the same way!

thanks

A

 

[goosgrl]

Ok,

We seem to be making progress! I added 24 lbs of Baking Soda and my TA is now 90.

FC 0 ( I haven't shocked)
PH 7.5
TA 90
TH 70
CYA - not sure yet??

My Ph is up too, I did take my water to the pool store to compare results, they were the same except she measured Ph as "off the charts", but it had rained so hard, added about 2" to the pool over night and I took the sample from the top so I retested that, when I tested it it was 7.5. She did not check CYA, I don't think she knows about that the owner wasn't there.

I added 3 lbs. of stabilizer Thurs. night but still got no reading on CYA, I added 3 more lbs. last night and I'll check again. I've used all my reagent.

I guess I'll have to get the better test kit, so that I can have confidence in my results.

I am however confused about shocking. I understand I need to shock to 10 and see that in the Pool Calculator but am unsure what values to plug into the FC field (now and goal) to get the amount of Chlorine needed for that shock level. Do I put in 2 (which is what I need after all is said and done) or do I plug in the 10 in the goal field (if I do it's like 20 gals of bleach)?

After I raised my TA my pool is very clear, or it was the rain :-D So, I have no algae bloom happening.

I added a gallon of bleach last night, just to keep the algae at bay while I'm futzing around and give the hint to the frog that I relocated that this was NOT his pond, scooped the toad out too, they seem to think my pool is the ideal place to meet dates :lol:

I mentioned not using the trichlor or dichlor to the gal at the pool store and she looked at me as if I had 3 heads, although they do sell 5 gals of liquid chlorine.

TFP has been a lifesaver, I really was wandering around in the dark!

A

 

[reebok]

you will have algae soon if you don't start keeping the chlorine in there. the pool school information, as well as the info already replied to you in this thread, states cya takes up to a week to dissolve. you're throwing away reagent by testing like you are.
in the now field put 0 since it is now at 0. in the target field put 10 if you've added the correct amount of cya to get your cya level to 20ppm. if you've added more, figure out what your cya level should be (based on how much you've added, not what your testing is showing since it's not time to test yet), then shock with the number found in the chlorine/cya chart in pool school.

 

[duraleigh]

So, I have no algae bloom happening.

That's temporary. Chlorine is the only thing that will prevent algae in your pool. The other parameters have nothing to do with it.

The shock value of 10 assumes you have no CYA in your pool so you must first determine the CYA level in your pool before you can tell how much chlorine you need to shock.....it'll be more than 10

Also understand that once you put the chlorine in there (sooner rather than later) it will very quickly go away and you must replenish it back up to the shock level (Based on your CYA).

You are doing a lot of the right things but are just dabbling at clearing your pool completely. I would suggest you get an accurate test result for CYA and then gather up 10 or so large jugs of bleach so you can shock the pool correctly. Shocking is a process wherein you hold the FC level up high over a period of days until your test results tell you the pool is clear. It is not a one-time dose of chlorine.

 

[goosgrl]

Good morning folks!

Here's the latest on the pool front.

I took my water to the other pool store for testing, they use a computer.

FC 1
TC 0.8
CC-0.2
PH 7.6
CYA 11
TA 115
CH 71

So according to the PC I added 6 lbs stabilizer to bring to 30, then shocked the pool to 13 with 3 gals of 12.5% chlorine based on the CYA level of 30.
The problem being is that since I don't have the good test kit (which I ordered) my readings of chlorine are not exact. Yesterday AM it was above 10 according to my test strip. In the afternoon it was at 5 so I shocked again last night. I will bring my sample to the pool store today. It was clear then became cloudy after shocking.

So far so good, right direction?

When will we actually be able to swim in this toxic sea?

After reading about Borates I'm definitely going there after I get the pool settled.

Thanks again for the great help!

A

 

[JohnT]

Please take a breath and stop adding and testing for CYA. It can take several days at least to completely dissolve, so you have to be patient with it. It's best not to retest for about a week so you are sure your results are accurate.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Keep at it. Keep your FC up to shock level with frequent additions of liquid chlorine and the pool will clear. Make sure the filter is running 24/7. 6 lbs of CYA in a pool your size isn't going to raise it very much. To get to 50 I calculated 17 lbs. So you have a ways to go till your CYA is in the 30-50 range, and you need to be patient while it dissolves. It does take a week for it to fully dissolve and register, but after 24 hours after it has dissolved, assume it's in there and start adjusting your FC level. So by the time your CYA should be 30, your shock level is then higher, refer to the CYA chart. KWIM?

You do need your own test kit. Pool Stores can also be unreliable and inaccurate.

 

[goosgrl]

One step forward two steps back.

The pool was looking pretty decent this morning...

The pool was "looking" good until I started to fix it.

I left at 1:30 and there was a huge storm, torrential rain, hail etc. Returned home at 4:00 and all heck had broken loose. The pool was green again, super cloudy and had brown dirt all over the bottom :grrrr:
The brown stuff looked like the white stuff that was on the bottom which I assumed was dead bleached crud, but it had turned brown, or it was a bunch of silt, or really dirty rain.

So I shocked it again, and we'll check in the AM

How long does it take for the test kit to get here :-D
Is this a get worse before we get better scenario? I sure hope I'm doing the right thing...

So, after I do the shocking and it remains stable, do I just wait until it gets to a FC level ok for swimming? Does it need to remain stable over night, when the sun is not eating it? Then I know that it had eaten everything?

You folks are so good, answering all these questions from us newbies :-D

A

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Once you have your test kit, everything will begin to click and sink in. 8)

Read How to Shock your Pool, How To Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test, and Defeating Algae. If you follow the steps in these articles, you will clear your pool.

Have some POP.