I need help

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pooldog

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Sep 20, 2007
38
middle tennessee
Here is my situation... Last fall I killed off all the baquacil in my pool with bleach and raised it up to the correct chlorine level. I got it to clear blue water and covered it. Now... I uncovered it and water was still clear and blue and then I changed the sand out in my filter. I also hooked a SWG in line in my system, but have not turned on or added salt yet.
I am trying to switch over to the BBB Method.
I purchased a Taylor Testing Kit, but,,,, but I am not sure if I understand it. Here, I think, are my readings:

chlorine-0
PH- 7.7
Total Alkalenity- 70
CYA- 0..?... View tube was full. I can still see the dot in the bottom of the test tube..

I am wanting to get all my chemical settings to where they need to be before I add my salt and turn the SWG system on.
I have tryed using the pool calculator, but I could not understand it.
I have some Bleach-Borax-Baking Soda ready to use.
I have read the directions on the testing kit and I think.......?...... I understand how to use it..
I could really use some help to continue on from here...
Sorry if I sound confusing,,, I am new to the BBB Method and SWG Method...
I would really appreciate some help,,,
 
The first step is to add some chlorine every day in the evening. I suggest starting with 2 quarts of 6% bleach. You will need to adjust this later when the CYA level comes up, but for now 2 quarts each evening is a good place to start. Pour bleach slowly in front of a return with the pump running.

Secondly, you need to get some CYA into the water. CYA is usually sold as stabilizer at pool stores and places like Home Depot, Lowes, and WalMart. You should target a level of 60-80 ppm of CYA, but don't add it all at once, since it is easy to add too much and hard to lower the level. Try starting with about 5 lbs of stabilizer. Put it in an old sock and either hang that in front of a return or toss it in a skimmer basket. Allow a week before testing the CYA level again, as it sometimes takes CYA a long time to dissolve. Then adjust it again to get to 60-80.

After the CYA has been dissolving for 24 hours start testing the chlorine level each evening and adding enough bleach to bring the FC level up to 6, instead of adding a fixed amount as you should at first.

Meanwhile, you can start working on adding salt. Look up the ideal salt level in your SWG manual and test the current salt level in your pool. Then add the right amount of salt to bring it up to the correct level. If you don't know how to calculate that give us your current and goal numbers and we will calculate it for you.

At first, you should test the PH once a day and adjust as needed to keep it between 7.2 and 7.8. Once the SWG has been running for a few weeks and you see how the PH behaves in your pool you may be able to test less frequently. Muriatic acid lowers PH. Borax raises PH.

Once salt and CYA are at the correct levels you can turn on the SWG and stop adding bleach. Adjust the SWG percentage as needed so that the FC level is between 4 and 5 in the evening.
 
Just a quick question, if he can still see the dot at the bottom of the tube when checking CYA doesn't that indicate that his levels are high and should dilute the test water with distilled water? Don't you figure your CYA once the dot disappears from view?
 
Mona, yes you figure CYA when the dot disappears, but if it never disappears, you have a very low level, or 0.

He changed over from baqua, and never added any CYA (or at least does not say he added any), thus it would be expected to be 0.
 
Hi, Mona,

No, he read it right. It's easily confused that the CYA view tube is a little "backwards" from what you might think.

The more CYA in your pool, the less solution you will have to put in the view tube to make the dot disappear. Put another way, CYA makes the water cloudier as it increases in ppm. therefore, the cloudier water makes the dot disappear with very little added to the view tube. If there is no CYA in the pool, the dot will never disappear.

As an aside, diluting a CYA test is not very helpful. It seems like it might work to test for EXTEMELY high levels of CYA but those test are unreliable to begin with so, at best, dilution is only good for an approximation.
 
Hello,, need help again,,Tested my water today with my Taylor test kit..hope i did it right
here are my readings,,,,I THINK,,
CYA-42
Chlorine-21
combined clorine-0
Total alkalinity-30
salt-3000

used the square small plastic tester for PH and CL-BR
pink side-7.3
yellow side-------orange color,no yellow?..

salt system not turned on yet..

Look like i need to raise my levals to--
cya-60-80
total alkalinity-80-120

salt-ok
PH-ok

????????????'s
My chlorine seems high--how or do i need to lower it?
what do i need to do to get my combined chlorine correct and to what reading?
what about my orange not yellow test results?

ANY suggestions welcomed...THANKS,,,just learning this stuff :?
 
I am surprised your TA went down so much since April 4. You might want to retest TA just to be sure. In any case you want TA between 60 and 90. TA can be raised with baking soda.

Your salt level looks good.

CYA is acceptable, but ideally should be between 60 and 80. I don't think it has been a full week since you added CYA. Wait the full week and then test again and adjust to between 60 and 80.

Your FC level is quite high. Don't add any more chlorine until it comes down below 7. The level will come down by it's self, sunlight uses up chlorine. Probably you will be able to turn on the SWG by then. When the FC level gets down to 15 or lower test the PH again.

You can turn on the SWG as soon as the TA is between 60 and 90 and FC is below 10.
 
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