question on chemicals

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J

jademoon

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Apr 30, 2012
41
Illinois
Hello, I just got finished reading pool school but Im not sure Im using the calculator correctly. I emptyed the pool and refilled it today with tap water. I have the HTH 6 way test kit. Heres my tests so far:

Tap water:
Total CL less then 1
PH 7.5
Alkalinity- took 13 drops of titrant to turn red
Hardness- Took 18 drops of titarant to turn blue

Put in a shock treatment 5 or so hours ago. Just tested pool water (Total CL and PH only)
Total CL around .5 and PH is 8.2

I havent added any stabalizer yet heading to get that after hubby is off. Trying to get the CL to the right level Should I add the 76 oz of reg bleach. I just add a bit at a time and retest? I know it will go away with out the stabalizer. Should I wait to add bleach until I get the stab in?
 
In order to establish the right Cl level you need to first determine the CYA level. If your tester does not check this, then your local pool store can probably get this test close for free.

I would hold off on the extra bleach until you know where the CYA is just so you know you arent tossing chemicals in. Once you know this # it is much easier to maintain the correct shock level, and you will have a sanitized pool much faster!
 
jademoon said:
Hello, I just got finished reading pool school but Im not sure Im using the calculator correctly. I emptyed the pool and refilled it today with tap water. I have the HTH 6 way test kit. Heres my tests so far:

Tap water:
Total CL less then 1
PH 7.5
Alkalinity- took 13 drops of titrant to turn red
Hardness- Took 18 drops of titarant to turn blue

Put in a shock treatment 5 or so hours ago. Just tested pool water (Total CL and PH only)
Total CL around .5 and PH is 8.2

I havent added any stabalizer yet heading to get that after hubby is off. Trying to get the CL to the right level Should I add the 76 oz of reg bleach. I just add a bit at a time and retest? I know it will go away with out the stabalizer. Should I wait to add bleach until I get the stab in?
Click to expand...
If you re-filled the entire pool, then you will not have any CYA in there. What 'shock treatment' did you put in your pool? Depending on the type of CYA you add to your pool, it might not show up on your test right away. In fact, granular CYA can take up to one week to register on your test results. I would suggest following pool calculator to determine how much stabilizer to add (based on a target level around 30ppm). Also, it would likely benefit you to get a more complete test kit (like TF-100 or Taylor K-2006).
 
Just to follow up on that, if you used a dry chlorine based shock treatment it may also add CYA Stabilizer depending on type of "shock" if it was dichlor or trichlor based it will also add CYA, if it was Cal-Hypo or Lithium-Hypo it will not add CYA
 
jademoon,

Before you do ANYTHING, please lower the pH in your pool. Get it down around 7.2 - 7.5 or so.

Next, you must spend some more time up in Pool School. Why did you attempt to Shock the Pool? Did your testing indicate that is what you should do?

Get your pH down and post back.
 
posted this already but not showing on my side::::

I used HTH super shock n swim---ingredients:
Calcium Hypocholrite 52%--Other Ingredents 48% Minimum Available clorine 49%

We bought the house over the winter months and I didnt (and refused) to swim in others owners water. The pool was coated in like 2 or 3 inches of leafs and filth. We aren't sure how long it sat un-used. Attempted to clean and decided to drain and refill. Wanted a good scrub down and try to get wrinkles out of liner. Well didnt get the wrinkles but we know its clean. :) I shocked since before I scrubbed the pool it was full of algae. I wanted to make sure it was clear in my sand filter. (Didnt add or remove old sand since it wasnt recommended here)
 
jademoon said:
posted this already but not showing on my side::::

I used HTH super shock n swim---ingredients:
Calcium Hypocholrite 52%--Other Ingredents 48% Minimum Available clorine 49%

We bought the house over the winter months and I didnt (and refused) to swim in others owners water. The pool was coated in like 2 or 3 inches of leafs and filth. We aren't sure how long it sat un-used. Attempted to clean and decided to drain and refill. Wanted a good scrub down and try to get wrinkles out of liner. Well didnt get the wrinkles but we know its clean. :) I shocked since before I scrubbed the pool it was full of algae. I wanted to make sure it was clear in my sand filter. (Didnt add or remove old sand since it wasnt recommended here)
Click to expand...

Just FYI it wasnt necessary to drain and refill. It might make you feel better but from a chemistry point of view it was probably irrelevant.

My wife wouldnt sleep on a used mattress, but is fine to sleep on a hotel mattress :)
 
Yeah, the reason we drained was to try and get some crinkles out of the liner as well. But they were indented in there.

I added a chlorine tab with the stabalizer in it today to the skimmer. Is it ok for it to sit in the skimmer basket or get a floater for it?
 
You can add trichlor pucks in the skimmer basket, just be aware they will tend to disolve much faster due to the water flow there. Also keep count of how many you use and how much they weigh so you can keep count of what they are doing to your CYA level
 
Starting BBB Got water test done at pool store

Ok. After learning what normal household Items to use. I went to get the water tested heres my results. (although he used a scan test strip tester 0-o )
Mine His recommendation
Chlor 1.6 1-3
FC .6 1-3
PH 8.1 7.4-7.6
ALK 107 125-150

His recommendation:
1. Add 2.5 lbs Lo - n-Slo
2. add 3 lbs shock
3. Add 3 lbs Stabalizer

How much Mur Acid would I add instead of the low n slo? The acid I bought was in the paint section and the only bottle I could find. Its safer muriatic acid. I dont see a precentage on the bottle for the strength
 

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Re: Starting BBB Got water test done at pool store

BBB is not about using household items but understanding what the test results mean. The results from test strips are virtually worthless......even from a pool store.

I would suggest you read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School and understand what you are testing for and what each one does. Please consider getting a good kit and doing your own testing

The pool store should never have suggested that you add stabilizer because he apparently didn't test for it (or did you overlook it?)
 
Re: Starting BBB Got water test done at pool store

Its a fresh full refill. I knew I needed it. He suggested the amount to use for my pool size. Im working on getting a test kit of my own. Im in a little country town and its the only pool store within a hour driving distance.
 
Re: Starting BBB Got water test done at pool store

Buy a test kit (TFTestkits.net) and use the information here, no need to ever ask the pool store for advice (or to test your water)!

It might take a few weeks to get the hang of things, but with a good kit and reading Pool School you can't go wrong.
 
Ok. After learning what normal Chemicals to use. I went to get the water tested heres my results. (although he used a scan test strip tester 0-o )
Mine ------His recommendation
Chlor 1.6 ---------1-3
FC .6 -------------1-3
PH 8.1 ----------7.4-7.6
ALK 107 -------125-150

His recommendation:
1. Add 2.5 lbs Lo - n-Slo
2. add 3 lbs shock
3. Add 3 lbs Stabalizer

I got the PH down already. Why would he recommend 3 lbs of shock? My water is crystal clear. For FC maybe? Couldnt I just add some bleach?
 
When you say Chlor, is that total chlorine, meaning FC + CC?
If so then then based on your #s your CC would be 1. So based on that, yes, you would still want to be shocking your pool as the FC is being consumed by killing stuff.

However I don't think you would need to buy a shock product, you can just use the pool calculator based on your CYA and add chlorine to bring to the right level.

As for the other numbers, I would also look at the calculator for those as well, can save a bunch of money following the BBB method using the alternatives.
 
jademoon said:
He wrote down Chlor 1.6 and then Free Clor is .6 So Im assuming the Clor is combined
Click to expand...

not necessarily, some tests calculate total chlorine and free, so combined is total - free. In this case your combined is probably 1.

You need to get your chlorine levels to shock levels and keep them there until you dont lose more than 1ppm of chlorine overnight, you have less than .5 combined chlorine and your pool is clear. You cant know what the correct shock level is until you know CYA

Your pool is 11225 gallons (add to your signature)..

You didnt post CYA levels, you really need to know that before you know what to shock with.
 
jademoon said:
Ok. After learning what normal Chemicals to use. I went to get the water tested heres my results. (although he used a scan test strip tester 0-o )
Mine ------His recommendation
Chlor 1.6 ---------1-3
FC .6 -------------1-3
PH 8.1 ----------7.4-7.6
ALK 107 -------125-150

His recommendation:
1. Add 2.5 lbs Lo - n-Slo
2. add 3 lbs shock
3. Add 3 lbs Stabalizer

I got the PH down already. Why would he recommend 3 lbs of shock? My water is crystal clear. For FC maybe? Couldnt I just add some bleach?
Click to expand...

Your pool is growing stuff, you just cant see it yet. You dont need shock per se, but you do need elevated chlorine.

The 3lbs of CYA is equal to 30ppm for your pool. Your target CYA for shock should be 30ppm so it sounds like he is implying you have zero CYA which could be reasonable.

You cant properly shock until you can measure your FC and CC
 
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