Just cancelled my pool service thanks to this forum!!

[jRom]

Hi Everyone,

New to pools here. Just moved into a home about 1.5 months ago that had a pool. Had no clue how to care for a pool so just hired a pool service until I could figure out what I needed to know. Today I cancelled my pool service after spending a couple weeks researching and reading through the forums.

I downloaded the beta pool math, pool calculator app and started testing on my own last Friday. Before that I had the pool servicing company send me the chemical levels they were measuring so I had a little history. So I had about 6 weeks of data from the pool company. They only measured FC, pH and TA. The 6 weeks I had the service the FC fluctuated from 3.0-7.5, pH was from 7.4-8.0 and TA was between 80-110. I got my Taylor K-2006 kit last Friday and my first test was:

3/28/17
FC 4.0
CC 0
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 270
CYA 100+ (couldn't see dot before it reached the 100 mark)

So I thought ok everything was looking ok except for the CYA. So on 3/29 I took a sample to Leslie's to double check my readings.

3/29/17 (Leslie's readings)
FC 3
TAC 3 (Total Available Chlorine no CC measurement)
pH 7.8
TA 90
CH 220
CYA 95
Total Dissovled Solids 450

So my results were similar, except for the CYA levels. From reading the forums a high CYA level is not good. So I asked the Leslie's person if my CYA was high and he said you shouldn't worry until it's around 115.

So I measured again today 5/1
FC 3.6
pH 7.6
CC 0
pH 7.6
TA 80
CH 300
CYA 100+


Since my pool service used to come on Monday I wanted to add some chlorine. Looking at the Chlorine/CYA chart from the Handy Refernce section it said my minimum FC should be 8 if CYA is 100.

I got the volume of my pool from the pool inspection report when I bought the house. I have an L shaped pool so looking at his calculation he used average width x length x average depth.

So for the calculation:
(22+12)/2 x 37 x (3.5+7.5)/2 = 3459 cu ft. converted to gallons and he got ~25875 gallons but for the report he rounded up to 26000 gallons.

I used 26000 gallons for the calculation in the new Pool Math Beta App I downloaded.
I wanted to raise my FC from 3.6 to 8. Using the 26000 gallons for volume the app said to add 1 gallon, 1 qt, 1 cup of 8.3% Chlorine (165 oz).

I turned on my Pool Filter and poured in the Chlorine slowly. I let it run for about 2 hours and then remeasured the FC levels. After 2 hours the FC was at 11. So I thought wow that was off by a lot. So I figured the volume of my pool was wrong since the calculation was so rough. So I measured the radius of the pool and tried to do a more accurate calculation by cutting the pool into sections 2 semi circles and 2 rectangles and I came up with 24,477 gallons, so it was close.

So here's my questions: (thanks for reading if you made it this far)

1. Why did my FC go up so high? Did I measure too soon? I plan on measuring again in the morning just to see if I measured correctly.

2. When I first measured my pH today it showed 7.2, The new pool math app is great because it saves the history. So when there is such a huge shift I tend to question my testing skills. so I thought I did something wrong and measured it again it came out to 7.6. To double double check I did it again and it was 7.6. Just wondering why the first reading was off. Is this common?

Thanks for reading any feedback would be great.

 

[kimkats]

That makes me so happy! Your wallet will be happy as well!

Okay lets get this testing stuff down. It will take you a little while to really get it down. Here are some tips:

-bottles straight up and down

-One drop at a time with a gentle squeeze

-Wipe tip for TA test between drops in the beginning

-Hold something white (I use a white plastic plate I bought just for this) up behind the PH tube to help with color matching

-CYA-GLANCE only! Do not LOOK for the dot or you will end up seeing it Pour to first line (100), GLANCE in. If you see the dot move on to next line.

Why your FC shoot so high is a puzzle BUT it the chlorine might be stronger than you thought. I know when I get mine they SAY it is 11% but I have tested it as high as 15% so..........you might be facing that. After a while you will learn YOUR source and what it does over time.

Kim

 

[Jimrahbe]

J,

Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all pool owners who have just said "You're Fired" to their pool service...

Since your CYA tests are above 100, at this point you don't know how high your CYA really is. So, take your sample of pool water and add an equal part of tap water. Using this diluted sample re-run your CYA test and then multiply the reading by two. A reading of 60 means your CYA would actually be 120, etc...

With a CYA of 100 or more, it makes it much more difficult to maintain a pool. You really should drain about half of your pool water and refill, if at all possible.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[jRom]

Hi Jim,
Tried your method of measuring CYA using 50/50 pool water and tap water.

1st time I measured it came out to be 70. (Used the glance method from kimkats. Thanks Kim)

Thought wow much lower than I expected. So I made another 50/50 mixture and it came out to be 90.

Retested again with 100% pool water and it was cloudy before hitting 100.

I measured everything again today to check my testing consistency..

FC 7 (7.2,8.4,8.8,10.4) measured multiple times to see if I'd get consistent readings. not so consistent.

Ph 7.6
TA 70
CH 250
CYA See above.

Will try and search the forums to help improve my testing accuracy.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[domct203]

Hi Jim,
Tried your method of measuring CYA using 50/50 pool water and tap water.

1st time I measured it came out to be 70. (Used the glance method from kimkats. Thanks Kim)

Thought wow much lower than I expected. So I made another 50/50 mixture and it came out to be 90.

Retested again with 100% pool water and it was cloudy before hitting 100.

I measured everything again today to check my testing consistency..

FC 7 (7.2,8.4,8.8,10.4) measured multiple times to see if I'd get consistent readings. not so consistent.

Ph 7.6
TA 70
CH 250
CYA See above.

Will try and search the forums to help improve my testing accuracy.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If you need to redo the CYA test, simply pour the sample back into the mixing bottle and repeat the test. You can do this a few times until you are comfortable with your testing.
Making a new sample, especially a diluted sample, will throw more error margin into your comparison. Best to use the same sample for those comparisons.


The most important part of the CYA test is waiting for the solution to fully develop. I like to shake for 30 seconds, wait 1 minute, shake again for 30 seconds, then begin the test. If the water is really cold I let it sit another minute or so.


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