taken over pool, cya 42pm, chlorine less than 0.5, ph, 6.8 alkalinity over 500! Help!

[PanamaDogRescue]

Hi there,

I am house sitting and have some experience with tending to pools, but I have been left with limited tools, a green and cloudy pool,, people complaining their eyes are sore etc etc. I have a testing kit here, but I would say it is definitely over a few years old. Obviously the alkanility is a huge issue - do you think this is a result of an old testing kit? If not, how can I rapidly reduce the alkanility and balance the water?

Any suggestions welcome and please ask any questions...

 

[JamesW]

Those numbers don't make sense. You definitely need a good test kit.

 

[JamesW]

If you use tabs, I suspect that your TA is zero, or lower.

Can you describe your test procedure for TA?

What test kit do you have?

Since you list TA as "over 500", I'm going to guess that you can't get a color change.

If you're not getting a color change, I suspect that the reason is that the color change happens right away when you add the indicator reagent, which would point to a zero TA and a pH below 4.5.