What to Adjust First?

[rsfan14]

Hello Everyone,

Well, just got a new liner installed, thanks to a leak over the winter which resulted in my vinyl liner shrinking. The pool company "balanced" the water. In hindsight I should have told them I'd do it myself. But, I was thinking the "free chemicals" would be good. Oh well, here are the results of my first test with the TF100 kit.

FC over 40... They must have decided to shock the pool, I don't know how much chlorine they added, but I added 80 drops and still pink. one drop in the K-1000 kit gave a high reading!
CC ?
TC ? unable to read do to above
PH Way high, K-1000, added only two drops of red and color was about right.
TA 230
CH 70
CYA <20

So, based on above I'm going to let it settle for a day, since they just added chemicals today. But, if PH and TA stay the same, what would you do suggest?

Thank you

 

[duraleigh]

The pH test will never be accurate in the presence of chlorine that high. Please examine your liner carefully....that much FC without the buffering of CYA may have done some damage (bleaching) to it. I would never let them touch the pool again....that is careless.

I don't think ther is anything you can do until FC drops back down to around 10ppm then test pHagain and post.

 

[rsfan14]

Thanks for the quick response. Do you think I should add some Chlor out tonight, or ride it out until tomorrow. I'm hoping to see it drop significantly, but don't want to chance the liner being damaged. I'm going to call them tomorrow morning to figure out exactly what they added.

 

[jblizzle]

Let the FC drop below 10ppm and verify the pH (not valid at high FC levels) ... that is so typical of pool companies to drop a chlorine nuke ... for absolutely no reason if it was a clean fill.

Any idea how much CYA they added? What did they raise the FC with as that may have also added CYA?
Test that after a week and see where you are at and adjust to 30-50ppm.

Then maintain appropriate FC and start the Lowering TA process in Pool School.

 

[rsfan14]

It was a clean fill. Water is crystal clear. I'm kicking myself for not telling them to just leave it alone. I'm going to find out what product they used tomorrow, but my CYA is reading very low. I basically used the entire CYA test bottle in the tube and could barely see the black dot. That's why I posted < 15 above. I guess I'll just retest everything tomorrow.

Thanks

 

[mpacheco72]

How long ago did they add chlorine? Did they use powdered shock? It can take at least a week to get an accurate CYA reading. I would wait and retest CYA at least a week after their last addition.

 

[rsfan14]

The pool was filled overnight and they added chemicals today. I didn't see them add it, so I have no idea if it was powder or liquid. I guess I'll just ride out the chlorine coming down and retest all levels.

 

[rsfan14]

OK, so I'm much better today... Need to do a full test after work to see where I stand, but this morning my FC is down to 8 and my PH is 7.6.

Talked to a woman at the pool company and she said the adjusted Alkalinity, put it 8 lbs of stabilizer and added only two gallons of shock. I find it hard to believe that they only added two gallons. There was no sense arguing with her, as she was only reading what was on the slip the workers handed to her. But two gallons of shock in 13,000 gallons giving me a reading or over 40 FC? I doubt it.

 

[RobbieH]

Nope, if they used 10% liquid, it would have put you at 15 ppm.

 

[Bama Rambler]

2 gallons of 12.5% would have barely got you half way there. They probably dumped 5 gallons in there and just wrote down 2.

 

[rsfan14]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking 5 or 6 gallons.. I'm very interested to see what the CYA level will be based on the stabilyzer they added. I know I have to wait a week to ensure that's accurate. But, if it's low, say under 20, what are the board's thoughts on using the chlorine pucks to gradually raise the CYA? And then switch back to just liquid chlorine when it's at a good level? I already have the chlorinator hooked up, which I haven't used for the past two years, since discovering this site.

Thank you

 

[Bama Rambler]

AS long as you know what it's doing, it's fine to use the pucks, especially if you already have them.

 

[RobbieH]

If you are truly at 20, there's no reason you can't use pucks, it'll just take longer. But, if you already have the pucks, and they can maintain your FC level even at low CYA, then by all means use them!

 

[DCAG]

Talked to a woman at the pool company and she said the adjusted Alkalinity, put it 8 lbs of stabilizer and added only two gallons of shock.

I hope that 8 lbs of stabilizer was a mis-print. For that size pool you'll be up around 75 for CYA. You may want to verify that amount with them.
Dan

Edit: unless you have a SWG, then it ok.

 

[rsfan14]

Thanks guys, I only know what they told me, I'm not trusting anything. I know I'm going to give the CYA some time before trusting the reading. Will use liquid Chlorine for daily maintenance and use up the old pucks if the CYA is low.