New Pool... First Test.

[breezin]

Well bought a home with a 6 year old 19,000 gallon plaster inground pool. It was a green mess with frogs and all kinds of good stuff living in it. We hired a pool guy to drain, acid wash, fill, and do the initial chemicals. This was about a week ago... and I finally got my Taylor K-2600 kit from Amazon today. So here are what my current numbers look like:

FC: 18.0
CC: 0
PH: 7.6
TA: 150
CH: 400
CYA: 70

So the FC is way high... but I assume that is fine as it will drop over time? The CH and CYA also show as a bit high via the poolcalculator with the only solution being to drain 35% and 45% respectively of the pool water. Did the pool guy jack something up with these or can I expect them to change as things get stabilized?

Thanks!

 

[zea3]

Do you have a saltwater chlorine generator? If so then the CYA should be fine, if not, the pool guy used too much dichlor to shock the pool and draining is likely the only way to lower it. 70 is a manageable CYA as long as you stick to liquid chlorine from now on. Over time rain dilution and splash out will slowly lower the CYA level.

Your TA is high. Try re-testing and wiping the tip of the reagent bottle with a damp cloth every couple of drops. Sometimes a static electricity charge builds up and restricts the size of the drops. Thus it takes more drops to see the color change. See if retesting makes a difference. If your CH gets much higher, a high TA and pH will lead to calcium scale. What area do you live in? That can effect how much CH occurs naturally in your fill water.

The FC will drop over time. If it is still cool where you live it will take a little longer to drop to recommended levels.

 

[breezin]

Thanks for the info...

I do not have a CWCG.

I will try to retest the TA tomorrow with your suggestion.

I'm in the Central Valley of California. The pool does have really bad buildup on the tiles from the last owner. It's on my list of things to find a local tile cleaner to bead/soda blast them.

Think I might just drain 50% of the pool and refill so I can start on the right foot and not chasing my tail.

 

[zea3]

You may want to see if there is a pool service in your area that offers reverse osmosis pool treatment. It will lower CYA and CH (along with every other chemical). If you live in an area with hard water it is a good option. You can run a CH test on your fill water to see if the pool guy added CH or if you have high CH naturally.

 

[Richard320]

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Oooh! First test! How exciting! Enjoy the thrill of playing junior scientist while it lasts, in a few months it will be as routine as pouring a cup of coffee. :-D

How many times did you read the CYA test? I usually pour it back and mix it a bit then take another reading. Usually I'm getting close readings, within 10 ppm, and when I get three that match, that's my number. So don't freak about the CYA yet. It may not be that high. It's the hardest test to do consistently. Lighting plays a huge part in that.

I'd consider 400 CH low in my pool! We have hard water in California, get used to it. Additionally, if you had a lot of scale buildup on the walls, some of that may be dissolving back into the water. You can do partial drains and refills. Rainwater is great, no CH, no CYA! I diverted a downspout into my pool. On those rare occasions when it rains in Southern California, I get about 3X the rainfall added to my pool; a storm that dropped 1" will raise my pool 3". And I use pool water to water the lawn, the refill, to lower CH. Incidently, my CH reading dropped dramatically when I bought a speedstir. It takes a lot - a whole lot - of mixing to do that test with our fill water. The speedstir really helps. Use the 10ml sample procedure to save on R-0012.

Finally, your pH reading is suspect, because FC is way high. If FC is over 10, it can affect the colors.

If they left any pool toys or tools, toss 'em in the pool while FC is so high, in case there's any residual algae spores stuck on anything.

 

[b1021]

I also just did my first test!! Just purchases a new home in December and have been reading on here and learning. Would like some suggestions with my first test. I also took a sample down to Leslie's to see how close I was.

Here's my results:

FC - 5
TC - 3
PH - 8
TA - 160
CH - 140
CYA - This was off the chart on my test. Half way up to the 100 mark which my test starts measuring at.

Leslie's

FC - 3
TC - 3
PA - 8
TA - 110
CH - 370

From my results and reading on this board - thought my CYA was too high so was thinking I'd need to drain the pool and start over. The Leslie's guy said the same thing, but he said it was because the CH was super high and it would only get worse. He said I could probably get by this summer not draining but I'd be fighting with keeping all the numbers balanced.

So my question to you is a full drain needed or should I consider something else?

This is my pools info:
4,387 Gallons; Sand Triton II TR 100; IG; Pebble; WhisperFlow 1 1/2 HP Pump; Using the 3 inch pucks.

Well bought a home with a 6 year old 19,000 gallon plaster inground pool. It was a green mess with frogs and all kinds of good stuff living in it. We hired a pool guy to drain, acid wash, fill, and do the initial chemicals. This was about a week ago... and I finally got my Taylor K-2600 kit from Amazon today. So here are what my current numbers look like:

FC: 18.0
CC: 0
PH: 7.6
TA: 150
CH: 400
CYA: 70

So the FC is way high... but I assume that is fine as it will drop over time? The CH and CYA also show as a bit high via the poolcalculator with the only solution being to drain 35% and 45% respectively of the pool water. Did the pool guy jack something up with these or can I expect them to change as things get stabilized?

Thanks!

 

[Richard320]

I also just did my first test!! Just purchases a new home in December and have been reading on here and learning. Would like some suggestions with my first test. I also took a sample down to Leslie's to see how close I was.

Here's my results:

FC - 5
TC - 3
PH - 8
TA - 160
CH - 140
CYA - This was off the chart on my test. Half way up to the 100 mark which my test starts measuring at.

Leslie's

FC - 3
TC - 3
PA - 8
TA - 110
CH - 370

Try testing again. There's no way your free chlorine is greater than your total chlorine. And no matter whose results you use, FC is still too low if your CYA is off the charts!

pH needs to come down, soon. That TA number is going to push it up even higher.

Mix half pool water with half tap water and repeat the CYA test using the blend, then double it. You'll at least get a number. It won't be very accurate, but it will be something. When I started, I used to use 1:3 just to get a CYA number!

I see a partial drain in your future. How much depends on accurate readings.

 

[b1021]

Re-tested again and my FC and TC both look to be at 3

Did the CYA per your suggestion and it came to 170.

I also just did my first test!! Just purchases a new home in December and have been reading on here and learning. Would like some suggestions with my first test. I also took a sample down to Leslie's to see how close I was.

Here's my results:

FC - 5
TC - 3
PH - 8
TA - 160
CH - 140
CYA - This was off the chart on my test. Half way up to the 100 mark which my test starts measuring at.

Leslie's

FC - 3
TC - 3
PA - 8
TA - 110
CH - 370

Try testing again. There's no way your free chlorine is greater than your total chlorine. And no matter whose results you use, FC is still too low if your CYA is off the charts!

pH needs to come down, soon. That TA number is going to push it up even higher.

Mix half pool water with half tap water and repeat the CYA test using the blend, then double it. You'll at least get a number. It won't be very accurate, but it will be something. When I started, I used to use 1:3 just to get a CYA number!

I see a partial drain in your future. How much depends on accurate readings.