First post... ??? about TA and PH

[Elle]

Hello,
I just found this forum. I am a member of the other one and didn't know until today that it wasn't doing well. I couldn't figure out why no one was hardly responding to my posts.
Anyway we opened our pool last week even though it's still really cold out. Our goal is to have it clean and warm by the time it's actually nice out to swim. I was dealing with an algea problem but i've been bleaching like crazy and that's finally mostly gone. Just some gunk on the bottom. So anyway to the point. my levels are as follows....

Chlorine- at least 5 (very bright yellow but I don't have a way to test higher)
PH- betwn 6.8 and 7 ( I added some borax this afternoon and will test again tomorrow)
TA- 40
CYA <30 ( I added a chlorine tab to help keep the ch up and also to add cya, will test again for cya in a few days)

Did I miss anything?? I know I need to raise my TA but I'm not sure which to do first PH or TA. I know they work together but I guess I'm just not sure which is the best approach to get these 2 things where they should be. I'm also not really sure where the TA should be either.
If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it.
Thanks
Elle

 

[JohnT]

Be careful about making changes to pH while you have high chlorine levels. Some test methods don't give good results for pH when the chlorine is high. How are you testing?

 

[Elle]

Thanks for responding :-D I just have a test from walmart. The better tests just aren't in the budget this year. I should get one though b/c i can't always acurately test my Chlorine when the test only goes to 5.
Thanks
Elle

 

[JohnT]

Thanks for responding :-D I just have a test from walmart. The better tests just aren't in the budget this year. I should get one though b/c i can't always acurately test my Chlorine when the test only goes to 5.
Thanks
Elle

You can test higher with the Walmart kit. Get a small container like a shot glass or even a tablespoon. Measure 1 part pool water into a clean container, and add three parts distilled water and mix. Now run your chlorine test on the mixture. Multiply the reading by 4 and you have your chlorine reading. This is not as accurate as better tests, but is plenty good enough for shocking and fighting algae.

 

[Elle]

That's good to know, I'll just have to get some distilled water now.

So do you know anything about the TA and PH. I'm going to go out and check my results right now. BRB

 

[Elle]

My results this morning...

PH- about 6.9
Cl - around 4 I'm so bad at measuring according to colors.

I need to raise my ph and my ta should I get some washing soda and use that?? I'm still fairly new at this so I'm working on getting all this figured out. Oh and when I lifted my cover the pool smelled like Chlorine. The cover has been on steady for about a week now so maybe that was it.

Thanks for any and all input.
E

 

[JohnT]

I need to raise my ph and my ta should I get some washing soda and use that?? I'm still fairly new at this so I'm working on getting all this figured out. Oh and when I lifted my cover the pool smelled like Chlorine. The cover has been on steady for about a week now so maybe that was it.

Thanks for any and all input.
E

That'll be good for a start. Just don't get carried away adding too much. You don't say how much water your pool holds, but I'd add 8oz per 10,000 gallons, wait several hours then retest. Repeat until you get to 7.2 pH. At that point, recheck your alkalinity and then you might want to switch to baking soda (you might just want to watch and see what happens for a few days before proceeding here), 2lbs at a time to raise your alkalinity if it still needs it. Go slowly and be patient.

 

[chem geek]

By the way, in addition to distilled water, regular plain bottled water (not carbonated) and filtered water (i.e. tap water through a known good water filter) will also work for diluting pool water for chlorine tests. In fact, you can actually use your chlorine test on filtered water to ensure that the water filter is still working since it should remove chlorine and monochloramine from the tap water.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

By the way, in addition to distilled water, regular plain bottled water (not carbonated) and filtered water (i.e. tap water through a known good water filter) will also work for diluting pool water for chlorine tests. In fact, you can actually use your chlorine test on filtered water to ensure that the water filter is still working since it should remove chlorine and monochloramine from the tap water.

Good to know! Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for responding :-D I just have a test from walmart. The better tests just aren't in the budget this year. I should get one though b/c i can't always acurately test my Chlorine when the test only goes to 5.
Thanks
Elle

A better test kit is not THAT much more expensive than the walmart kit. When you consider how much the pool cost, the ease of testing and more accurate results a better kit would give you, and the money you will save on chemicals by having more accurate testing and water balancing results it really becomes a bargain! You might want to check out the test kit that is offered to forum members in the TF test kit section. It will test everything that you need to be concerned with and can test chlorine levels above 25 ppm with an accuracy of as great as .2 ppm! The walmart kit is a good value for the money but the difference between it and a kit that can test for both FC and CC and is of professional grade on all the tests will amaze you the first time you try it!