Just Got my Test Kit......Now what?

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That's weird about the FC test today ... the FC level should have dropped more than that in a day. Oh, do you still have trichlor pucks in an automated chlorinator? Or is there a floater with a puck or several still in the pool? You must take all those things out of the pool. Otherwise, your testing methods are suspect.

Also, you need to keep practicing on the CYA test. That level should not change by very much on it's own. Next time you do the test, pour all the mixture back into the little bottle and do it again, and again, then ask someone else to read it for you. You need to be in bright light, outdoors with sun at your back. You are looking for the black dot to dissappear, not for the whole sticker to go away necessarily. One person has suggested filling the tube to the next line before looking for the dot again. I think that works well, then you can pour it all back and try to fine tune it to the nearest 10 or 5 pts.

As for the tap water, that is high CH and TA is rather high as well. Good to know that for every time you add water these numbers will increase some. We knew the tap water would have no CYA. As for the FC, had you tested for CC, you may have found that. This would indicate chlormines instead of chlorine being used.
 
I am not a simple person, but a lot of what was told to me in the replies is still going over my head.
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Have you read and reread the ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry in Pool School? How about "How to Shock your pool".

Reading (eventually) everything in Pool School will make the responses more meaningful. This will also become second nature very soon if you will continue to read and ask questions.
 
By the time your tap water reaches your plumbing it probably has less than 1ppm of chlorine. Probably around .3ppm more likely. If you really want to know, use the 25ml sample and count each drop as .2ppm. Well water is chlorine free but municipal water isn't, the treatment plants are required to chlorinate in some way.

Tap water has no CYA, it has to be added. The shock product you've been using is the most likely source, that and any solid tablets you may have used.
 
We use a floater that can hold 4 or 5 3" pucks. The floater is still in the pool. Should I remove it?

I have read the pool school pages, but re-reading would not be a bad thing.

Water still looks good. But i do want to get a handle on the chemicals.
 
The TF100 test kit and the Pool Calculator work together to make operating your pool super easy.

Re-read Pool School, the entire Pool Chemistry section. When you get to the Pool Calculator, fill out the values you have and see what it says. You will input the volume of the pool at the top, then at the bottom enter surface of the pool and select TFP goals. Then Bookmark the page.

Notice the sections at the very bottom, Effects of Adding Chemicals. Weigh one of the tablets you have in the floater, probably 7 oz, so enter 35 oz trichlor in that section and see what those 5 pucks will do to the pool when they are all dissolved. Notice that your CYA is already above the recommended range as is the FC. You can remove the pucks and let them dry out, then store them in a sealed container to use when your CYA and FC are low and need to be raised.

I suggest keeping a log book of vital info on your pool, equipment specs, volume, etc, and then keep a running log of all the tests you do, what you add to the pool and what you expected to happen. You will notice what changes rapidly (FC, CC) and what changes slowly (TA, CH, CYA), and what initiates those changes (rain, fill water, some chemicals, debris). Write down tidbits like what 5 pucks in the floater does to the chemistry. Then note what one small jug of bleach does to the chemistry, or 1 cup of muriatic acid.

In my pool, I use bleach and muriatic acid, almost exclusively. When I go on vacation, I use trichlor pucks and upon return I check to see that chemicals are OK, CYA not too high and TA not too low. I keep several sources of chlorine on hand; bleach, cal-hypo, and trichlor pucks.

In your pool, you may need to drain and refill once you are certain of the CYA level, 65 is high but managable, 90 is too high. Those differences may be due to reading the test indoors in poor light that gives a falsely low value. As I suggested, redo that, pouring it back into the tube to do again and again, until you settle on a value.
 
Good morning, Joe,
But i do want to get a handle on the chemicals.
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Well, that's really the only requirement.....that you want to learn. The rest will come through repetition and reading the answers to your questions and reading Pool School.

Check your PM's when you get a chance.
 
By the way...I forgot to mention that there is a small bit of green algae starting to form on the far end of the pool away from the filter. I'm sure I could wash it away with a cloth. Also, the chlorine pucks are gone and we have not added any shock or other chemicals. Just trying to burn off the chemicals that were already in there.
 
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