Newbie here! Test kit on its way, but have some questions!

[adeleincali]

Hello Everyone!

I have been lurking and reading tons of threads-what an education and I have already learned so much. Thank you all!

Backstory: Recently single, hub used to "care" for pool and now its on me. Pool is 38x18 IG, plaster, Chlorine pool. I have ordered Taylor 2006 kit which will be here on Tuesday. I got water tested at local pool store BEFORE I cleaned out canister filters. THese are pool store numbers:


FC 0
TAC 0
CH 690
CYA 250
TA 230
pH 8
Acid 11
TDS 2900

There recommendation was to drain pool. From what I have learned in Pool Math/Calculator, its to replace water about 66%.

My questions are:

1) Should I really drain now or wait for test kit? (Numbers just so high that even if they are off-doesnt matter, still too high-drain)
2) What would be "protocol" in this situation? drain, then test, then balance?

Thank you all so much in advance!

33,000 gallon IG, chlorine pool

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to tfp!

The cya result that you are showing is ridiculously high. The problem is most test kits only go up to a 100 PPM. So I'm not sure how the pool store got that value and in fact cya is the test they are typically the worst at getting right.

I am going to guess that your cya is in fact too high and you do need to replace water however I would much prefer if that test result was from your own test kit.

 

[Flying Tivo]

I would also wait for your own tests before doing anything!

 

[Richard320]

Welcome, Adele!

For a change, I believe the pool store results. That CYA level is about where I started out after the previous owner and his pool guy fed the pool a steady diet of trichlor pucks.

Bad news is, it could be worse than 250. A partial drain and refill is called for, for sure. How much? Can;t say without being sure of those results. Assuming they're correct, you'd need to drain 80%. That's a heap of water. That's a big pool, so it would take a couple days to refill. It's a tough call. Draining half now would let you refill in a day, but then some of that fresh water will just end up going down the drain if you need to drain again to lower it. You'll have to decide. You're also in one of the few areas that has reverse osmosis available. It might be a little more expensive than the water, but it will strip out all the CYA and CH.

The protocol is to drain, refill, circulate to mix old and new water, and then test everything. If CYA is right, then you move on to pH and FC. If you went the R/O route, they'll probably test and get things real close before they leave.

 

[adeleincali]

Thank you jblizzle for the welcome and quick response! So, I will test on Tuesday and report updated numbers. Should I do anything between now and then? i.e. muratic acid or liquid chlorine ? Or is that just wasting money?????

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you Richard...and I saw your post about R/O (Reverse Osmosis). I found a company that does is, $850, but problem is I need to replace coping so I feel it would be sort of a waste. If pool deck repairs werent needed, I would absolutely spend the extra money and do the R/0. I also called Fire Dept, sadly they cant take the water...wish I could recycle it.

PS...water is clean, clear...pool looks great!