Calcium Hardness vs. Total Hardness

[Blas]

Have started managing my own pool for past two months. Thanks to all on this forum for the great advice. All my pool chemistry numbers are on target except for one, Calcium Hardness. I have a plaster pool and have been measuring a Calcium Hardness of 100 ppm when the suggested range is 250 to 350. When I test for Total Hardness (using test strips) I measure around 300ppm. Do I need to take any action to increase the Calcium level in my pool given the Total Hardness value?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[cfherrman]

Throw the guess strips away, get a tf100 or Taylor 2006c and test your ch with that.

The strips will have you running in circles added this then adding that when you need a drain

 

[SwimAustin]

There were some strips that came with my pool. They seemed fast and easy, but I didn't trust the results. One day I pulled a water sample and tested it with a strip. Then tested it with another strip. The results were different enough to convince me to toss the strips. I've done repeat tests like that with my drop based test kit and get exactly the same results every time.

 

[Blas]

Yes, I agree. I used a drop test to measure the CH at 100ppm. I only used the test strips which measure Total Hardness to get a comparison to what my water company measurements are. They claim a Total Hardness of roughly 300ppm which matches their own test claims. I guess my question, more specifically is: Do I need to take any action to raise my CH given that my TH is 300ppm? Or are they totally unrelated and I should act specifically on my CH measurement?

Thanks for responding!

 

[cfherrman]

We only need use ch, what kind of pool do you have?

 

[duraleigh]

TH includes other minerals (manganese is one) that are not relevant to why we test. CH is what you want. If you trust your CH test, you will want to raise it.

I am assuming you have a plaster pool, right?

 

[Blas]

Yes, plaster pool. Thanks for the answer. I'll take action to raise my CH.