Just Few Questions

[emmitt240]

We just recently had a in ground salt water pool built. They gave us pool school and all that jazz. At the time I felt like I had a good grasp of everything we went over. I went out and bought a nice testing kit that seems to test just about everything. I just have a few questions to put myself at ease.

1. During pool school out instructor said they if we keep up with the Chlorine, PH, and Alkalinity we would be in good shape. Another words those 3 were pretty much all we had to worry about and our other numbers would fall in line. Is this true? We have had the pool for almost 3 months and I plan to maintain it weekly. Alkalinity has always been between 90 and 100. PH seems to need adjusting weekly. So that brings my next question.

2. Is it normal for the PH level to need weekly adjusting? I am using Muratic Acid to lower it when I do. I have spoke to other people with saltwater pools and they say Muratic Acid to lower PH is their biggest expense. I am usually pretty close to the 7.4 - 7.6 range. I would say around 7.8. The colors don't always match up exactly.

3. When I try to test chlorine my kit has 2 steps where you subtract on from another. I think I might be messing it up somehow. To me the colors of both tests always seem to be the same. As a backup I have some strips that came with my start up kit. They always show my PPM levels to be good. As a backup I went to the local pool store and they said everything looked good. If they are coming out the same color am I screwing up?

Sorry to go on and on, but I pretty anal about things. I just want to make sure I am doing things right and prevent a huge mess on down the road. If it matters to pool is crytal clear. It is 15,200 gallons. I have been adding Clarifier and Algae Preventer per the product directions. Anything else I should be doing? Your answers and advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP.

I'd suggest you spend some time reading the articles in Pool School pool-school/

SWCGs tend to drive pH up, so you will generally need to lower it weekly or so. If your pool is plaster, the problem will be even worse for the first year or so.



Get a real test kit. The TF100 at TFtestkits.net or a Taylor K2006. Either one uses a non-color matching chlorine test that can measure your levels in 0.2ppm increments if you want.

pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

 

[emmitt240]

Ok thanks I will check it out. I found that link after reading some of the other posts. I have a Complete DPD Kit. It was the most elborate and expensive kit they had. They said it is the same kit used in the store. As for the plaster it has a Quartzscape finish. Which i believe is pretty much plaster with fine pebbles of some sort in it.

 

[Bama Rambler]

You probably have the K2005 kit. That's a good kit but lacks the FAS-DPD. You can add that from either http://www.tftestkits.net or Taylor rather than buying another complete kit. You'll definitely want the FAS-DPD.

Once you read pool school a few times you'll find out that clarifier and algaecide are additions that you do not need. Just maintain your pool according to pool school and you'll not have to shock or add un-needed chems.

 

[duraleigh]

emmitt240,

Welcome to the forum. As you read and learn more, you will find the clarifier and algae preventer are most likely unnecessary products. The "method" we all use on this forum is really no method at all but rather very careful testing coupled with the knowledge to know what to do with the test results.

Post often and ask lots of questions. There's a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum.

 

[geekgranny]

My neighbor has a relatively new pool, 3-4 year old (compared to my old gal at 28 yrs). She has an SWG and says that her biggest expense is muratic acid. With a correct sized DE filter and a pool cover they only have to backwash a few times a year, with only one complete cleaning of filter once a year, so DE comes out to be a minor expense. They have a multi speed (or flow) pump so they run it on low most of the time.Their real biggest expense is that their cover mechanism breaks once a year.

gg=alice

 

[emmitt240]

Thank you all for the posts. I have been doing lots of reading and seem to be no different than others. Since it has cooled off I have been running the pump for 4 hours on high and 2 on low. Might be over doing it, but the chemicals seem to stay pretty stable. As it gets cooler I am thinking I might lower the time some more.

 

[PaulR]

3. When I try to test chlorine my kit has 2 steps where you subtract on from another. I think I might be messing it up somehow. To me the colors of both tests always seem to be the same. As a backup I have some strips that came with my start up kit. They always show my PPM levels to be good. As a backup I went to the local pool store and they said everything looked good. If they are coming out the same color am I screwing up?

No, you're not screwing up. The first step measures FC, Free Chlorine (the "good" chlorine) and the second step measure TC, Total Chlorine (good + bad). If they're the same, then your bad chlorine is zero, which is good. :-D
--paulr