New pool owner

[sureshot]

Hi Guys,

The pool was installed last October. I took the cover off last week and a lot of the debris/leaves went into the pool. The pool water was a dark green color last week and now is a blue/grey color. Most of the leaves/debris is out of the pool now. I have ordered the taylor k-2006 and will have it on Wed. I have test strips and my readings are: fci 0 tci .05 alk 80 ph 7.8 th 100 cya 0. What should I do now? Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum

Each evening, add a small jug of Clorox to the pool.

When your test kit comes in, please do all the tests ASAP and post the results

That'll give you accurate numbers and we'll be able to help more. The test strips are no good.

 

[sureshot]

Agreed, the test strips came with the new pool package. I have had two pools in the past and used the taylor kit for my other pools. Should I by Clorox or the generic bleach?

 

[sureshot]

Just tested new pool water. What next?

Hello, I got my taylor kit in today and here are my readings.
PH 7.0
CH 0
TA 100
FC .2
CYA 0

 

[Numb]

Any bleach will do just stay away from the outdoor/scented/whatever....straight bleach. Just make sure you know the percentage on the bottle so we can ensure you are adding the proper amount.

Your CYA is non-existent...going to need to fix that.
FC is close to non-existent (expected with a CYA of 0), that will need to be fixed after fixing the CYA.
PH is low
CH is through the roof (might want to re-test? I've personally found the CH test a bit tricky sometimes)

I'm going to say you need to start with adding CYA and getting yourself ready for a SLAM, use Pool Math to figure out exactly how much, you'll need to calculate the volume of your pool. You should be aiming for 30-40 CYA.

As for the PH and CH, I'm going to defer to some of the more experienced people here. If that CH is accurate, they may recommend a partial drain before doing anything.

 

[sureshot]

Just retested ch and I had a false reading the correct reading is 0

 

[Numb]

Ok, so zero is highly unlikely too.

What size sample are you using and tell us exactly how you're performing the test.

 

[sureshot]

25 ML test I add 20 drops of R 0010 swirl then add 5 drops of r 0011L and the color goes purple. per the instructions I have it calls for adding 5-6 drops of the hardness reagent to the test water and then test as normal.
When I do this first the test remains blue.

 

[Numb]

You should only be adding the R0012 to begin if you are experiencing 'fading endpoint', which I wouldn't jump to assume.

20 drops of R0010 - swirl
5 drops of R0011 - swirl
Count drops of R0012 one at a time, make sure to swirl well between each drop, the color change can be slow sometimes. I have a Speed Stir on the way for precisely this test as I've seen some that say they've seen it take 20-30 seconds for the color change without adding more drops. Don't rush the R0012.

These tests take some getting used to. Everything came quickly to me except the CH and the CYA. CYA I was doing right, my confidence just wasn't high until repeating it multiple times.

 

[sureshot]

So, purple color is okay to start with?

 

[Numb]

It should be some shade of red after the R0010 and R0011. If its starting out purple, something isn't adding up.

Try it again with a 10ml sample so you aren't using up so much reagent in this process.
R0010x10 - swirl
R0011x3 - swirl (should result in red)
R0012 drop by drop until blue, count drops and multiply by 25

I've not read or heard of anything that would cause this to start out purple after the R0011.

 

[sureshot]

I tested I will do a 10 ML sample now. Stand BY.....

 

[sureshot]

purple again

 

[Numb]

Well, color me confused then. I'm going to defer and wait for someone with more knowledge than myself to chime in. I'm anxiously awaiting these answers as well now.

 

[sureshot]

Thanks for trying to help.

 

[Numb]

So maybe this boils down to differences in color perception. I'd call that pink based on the lighting of the picture and a viable starting point for your CH test.

 

[sureshot]

So, this test is a little tough to get use to. I made a mistake and multiplied by 100 and not 10. That said, my initial reading was 230. after adding my nightly clorox i tested again and I now have a CH of 330. Sorry for the confusion guys.

 

[Numb]

Either one is in acceptable ranges, much better. Glad we got it straightened out.

 

[sureshot]

Any advice on what to do next?

 

[Numb]

So if you're battling a green pool, you're going to need to SLAM. Read through the SLAM process and the rest of Pool School if you haven't already and familiarize yourself with the process and what it requires. You're going to need to make some adjustments to your levels before you can properly begin the process:

1a) PH needs to go from 7.0 to 7.2
1b) CYA needs to go from 0 to 30ish, add it by putting it in a sock and placing over a high flow area like the skimmer or a return jet

2) FC will need to be maintained at SLAM levels, but first the CYA needs to get settled first

See Pool Math for the appropriate changes to make based on the volume of your pool.