only complaint my wife ever has is that she can taste the salt... more like, "did you put too much salt in... i think there's too much salt"..... and I'm like no, honey... its just right. and she'll say that whether its 2800ppm or 3400ppm..... i don't think she tastes anything I think it's the fact she knows it's in there and looks for it.
do all couples fight about pool maintenance?
- Thread starter overit
- Start date
ok, so I got the photos to the bucket,
here is one
http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm31 ... t=step.jpg
will this get you there?
check levels today
Fc 1
cc .5
ph 150
hardness 800
I'm not real good at these test, will get better I hope.
now what?
here is one
http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm31 ... t=step.jpg
will this get you there?
check levels today
Fc 1
cc .5
ph 150
hardness 800
I'm not real good at these test, will get better I hope.
now what?
I'm not one of the experts, but you need to shock your pool, to kill the algae.
The shock level depends on how much CYA is in your pool now, which is the last test in the kit.
See this link for the shock levels
http://www.troublefreepools.com/sticky.php?s=2346
But, for example, if your CYA is down to 50, you need a shock level of 20 FC.
And, you have a big pool, so that's a lot of bleach.
The pool calculator is a great tool to figure out how much bleach you need to add.
Good luck
Randy
The shock level depends on how much CYA is in your pool now, which is the last test in the kit.
See this link for the shock levels
http://www.troublefreepools.com/sticky.php?s=2346
But, for example, if your CYA is down to 50, you need a shock level of 20 FC.
And, you have a big pool, so that's a lot of bleach.
The pool calculator is a great tool to figure out how much bleach you need to add.
Good luck
Randy
I'm gonna' suggest you re-do your test and post the numbers 
If you have just shocked your pool, wait until the FC is below 10 to re-test for pH.
Use Jason's Pool Calculator to determine shock levels for your pool. Link in my sig.
btw, your pool and grounds are beautiful (except for the water!) :lol:
If you have just shocked your pool, wait until the FC is below 10 to re-test for pH.
Use Jason's Pool Calculator to determine shock levels for your pool. Link in my sig.
btw, your pool and grounds are beautiful (except for the water!) :lol:
I don't know if anyone's answered your pool temp/algae question or not, but just in case they haven't...
As long as you maintain the proper level of chlorine for your CYA level, you should be OK with higher pool temps. My pool routinely stays around 86 - 90 degrees in the summer, and I never have a problem. The chlorine (which is the sanitizing agent for your water, btw) will kill off any organics in your water (algae and bacteria).
I know at first it seems like a lot of work, what with draining the water, adding bleach, brushing the walls and floor, and all the testing you'll do, but after you and the Farmer get the water chemistry right, your pool will become rather easy to maintain. You'll learn your pool's tendencies and adjust your testing schedule as necessary. Keep the faith. :-D
As long as you maintain the proper level of chlorine for your CYA level, you should be OK with higher pool temps. My pool routinely stays around 86 - 90 degrees in the summer, and I never have a problem. The chlorine (which is the sanitizing agent for your water, btw) will kill off any organics in your water (algae and bacteria).
I know at first it seems like a lot of work, what with draining the water, adding bleach, brushing the walls and floor, and all the testing you'll do, but after you and the Farmer get the water chemistry right, your pool will become rather easy to maintain. You'll learn your pool's tendencies and adjust your testing schedule as necessary. Keep the faith. :-D
OK, off of work today so retested.
Tuesday, May 13 I tried to test and was getting zero so I put in 8.5 gallons of Clorox Regular Bleach and have been filtering.
Test results taken this morning. May 16
FC .5
CC 1
TC 1.5
T/A 1.75
CH 800
CYA 100+
The CH test asked if i have copper in my water. Would that copper come from the Algaetrine algaecide we have been using years past? Should I have done that test as if I had copper?
Tuesday, May 13 I tried to test and was getting zero so I put in 8.5 gallons of Clorox Regular Bleach and have been filtering.
Test results taken this morning. May 16
FC .5
CC 1
TC 1.5
T/A 1.75
CH 800
CYA 100+
The CH test asked if i have copper in my water. Would that copper come from the Algaetrine algaecide we have been using years past? Should I have done that test as if I had copper?
Forgot to add the PH test.
Today it is 7.8
last Tuesday before bleach was added it was 7.5
Today it is 7.8
last Tuesday before bleach was added it was 7.5
Are you in the process of slowly changing out your water to reduce your CYA? Seems that early on CYA was 150 and today it's 100+....? ..or, what does the 'water soon to be changed' mean in your sig??
Be sure to test for pH when your CL level is below 10. I would reduce my pH to between 7.4 to 7.6 range....just knock it down a little.
Continue to use Jason's Pool Calculator to reach shock levels until your FC holds overnight and your water is sparkling.
Someone will be along to talk about the copper and algaecide.
You're doing a great job :lol: Keep the faith!
Be sure to test for pH when your CL level is below 10. I would reduce my pH to between 7.4 to 7.6 range....just knock it down a little.
Continue to use Jason's Pool Calculator to reach shock levels until your FC holds overnight and your water is sparkling.
Someone will be along to talk about the copper and algaecide.
You're doing a great job :lol: Keep the faith!
overit said:
According to their MSDS sheet, Algaetrine does have copper in it, so yes, you have been introducing copper to your pool. I don't know how that affects the CH test in your test kit. If you bought the TF100, then Dave aka duraleigh should be able to answer that.
Used the pool calculator, it is telling me to add 254 oz of bleach + 4.2 oz of m. acid + 806 oz of baking soda. Maybe this is a dumb question but do I just dump it all in at one time? Or will I be building a bomb? The calculator also said to dump 64% of my pool water and refill (I better not tell the "Farmer" that). Can that be right? Also, Borate was on your calculator, how do I test for that? and is that important?
Both your CYA level and your CH level strongly suggest that it is time to replace some water. You really should get your CYA level below 100.
The T/A level can't be 1.75. The test measures in multiples of 10 and given your other numbers CYA can't be below 30. Don't add any baking soda until you have a new T/A measurement.
Given your CYA level you need FC to be at least 9, preferably much more. If FC is really 0.5 then you need way more bleach than you listed. I would try 5 or 6 gallons of 6% bleach.
I didn't see you post a PH number. If it is between 7.4 and 7.6 I would leave it alone.
The T/A level can't be 1.75. The test measures in multiples of 10 and given your other numbers CYA can't be below 30. Don't add any baking soda until you have a new T/A measurement.
Given your CYA level you need FC to be at least 9, preferably much more. If FC is really 0.5 then you need way more bleach than you listed. I would try 5 or 6 gallons of 6% bleach.
I didn't see you post a PH number. If it is between 7.4 and 7.6 I would leave it alone.
Overit, I am also a newbie but I'll stay up all night to make this pool sparkling.
Tell your "farmer" I envy "yours&his" pool.
Vincent
Tell your "farmer" I envy "yours&his" pool.
Vincent
Jason,
The reason I got the 1.75 is because it was almost good enough with the one drop and I felt the second drop should have been half a drop. Soooo....I figured 1.5 drops! Sounds to me that maybe that was not the right thing to do. But two drops was over kill. Sorry, from now on I will count whole drops.
I just replaced half the water last week. I hope I don't have to do it again. I will run the filter all night and do the test again in the morning. Thanks again for your help.
Vincent,
Thanks for putting the picture up. It really is a nice yard (when it's cleaned up) and the pool is nice to look at but I have 12 grandkids that live right around me (you can see one of there houses in that picture in the distance) and no one goes in the pool because "IT'S YUCKIE GRANDMA!"
Farmer just walked in and said "Oh yeah when I stopped by earlier I put a gallon of acid in" because the PH was high. I think that was to much but oh well.
The reason I got the 1.75 is because it was almost good enough with the one drop and I felt the second drop should have been half a drop. Soooo....I figured 1.5 drops! Sounds to me that maybe that was not the right thing to do. But two drops was over kill. Sorry, from now on I will count whole drops.
I just replaced half the water last week. I hope I don't have to do it again. I will run the filter all night and do the test again in the morning. Thanks again for your help.
Vincent,
Thanks for putting the picture up. It really is a nice yard (when it's cleaned up) and the pool is nice to look at but I have 12 grandkids that live right around me (you can see one of there houses in that picture in the distance) and no one goes in the pool because "IT'S YUCKIE GRANDMA!"
Farmer just walked in and said "Oh yeah when I stopped by earlier I put a gallon of acid in" because the PH was high. I think that was to much but oh well.
1.5 drops would have been a TA level of 20, because it is 10 for each drop and you count "fractional" drops as a whole drop. The fractional drop business is not a big deal, but you do need to remember to multiply by 10. Still, something else needs to be going wrong as well, because TA can't be that low when CYA is over 100.
Ok, so, I do think before, I told you what the color of my hair was. Nothing bad about blondes but I sure seem to be living up to the dumb blonde thing. Looking back at my test notes for the previous posting I see that the T/A was 120 not 1.75.
Tested last night and the CL was 1.2, re-tested today and it is now zero? When I put the R-0870 powder in the water turned cloudy with just barely a blush.
The ph is 7.2
On the CH level the bottom of the cylinder starts to turn blue at 70 drops, the top half does not turn all blue, but mostly blue at 85 drops which would equal a hardness of 700 (or would you say 850)? Do you keep going till every drop of pink is gone?
On the last test CYA, the black dot is not visiable before the water level reached 100 so I'm saying 100+.
I guess I need help with these test and how to judge before I run out of chemicals?
Tested last night and the CL was 1.2, re-tested today and it is now zero? When I put the R-0870 powder in the water turned cloudy with just barely a blush.
The ph is 7.2
On the CH level the bottom of the cylinder starts to turn blue at 70 drops, the top half does not turn all blue, but mostly blue at 85 drops which would equal a hardness of 700 (or would you say 850)? Do you keep going till every drop of pink is gone?
On the last test CYA, the black dot is not visiable before the water level reached 100 so I'm saying 100+.
I guess I need help with these test and how to judge before I run out of chemicals?
You should read my writeup on an alternate way to do the CH test so that each drop counts as 25 instead of as 10. That will simplify the sometimes tedious process of measuring high CH levels.
For most of the tests you want to keep adding drops until the color stops changing. On the CH test in particular you need to be sure you are mixing throughly enough between drops, which often takes 10, 20, or even 30 seconds. The solution should turn one solid color when it is well mixed.
As I said before your CYA and CH levels are very very high and need to be lowered. The only practical way to do that is to replace water.
Chlorine levels fall over time, chlorine is consumed by sunlight, algae, pollen, people swimming, etc. You need to be adding chlorine regularly.
Because of your high CYA level, and if the pool isn't already green, you need to get a huge amount of chlorine into the pool soon or you are going to have a very difficult to solve algae problem. If the pool is already green there is very little you can do given your high CYA level until you get the CYA level down.
For most of the tests you want to keep adding drops until the color stops changing. On the CH test in particular you need to be sure you are mixing throughly enough between drops, which often takes 10, 20, or even 30 seconds. The solution should turn one solid color when it is well mixed.
As I said before your CYA and CH levels are very very high and need to be lowered. The only practical way to do that is to replace water.
Chlorine levels fall over time, chlorine is consumed by sunlight, algae, pollen, people swimming, etc. You need to be adding chlorine regularly.
Because of your high CYA level, and if the pool isn't already green, you need to get a huge amount of chlorine into the pool soon or you are going to have a very difficult to solve algae problem. If the pool is already green there is very little you can do given your high CYA level until you get the CYA level down.
I was wondering about the mix or swirling part on the CYA test, in the directions in step 3, it does not say mix or swirl so I just assumed that I was to do neither. I will read your post and add more bleach. We will also consider dumping more water. Our last water bill was $400 (because we have 4 families sharing one meter) so my husband is a little hesitant to refill until we can get our water truck back from a job site. The pool is looking better each day and the algae is disappearing little by little but from what I am understanding, we need to keep the TC high for ?? a few days in order to kill ALL THE algae. Would shock or Algaetrine just be a better way?
If you already have algae, your CYA level is going to make things problematic. It is much simpler to lower the CYA level and then fight the algae than trying to fight the algae right now. With CYA around 150 it would take 18 1/2 gallons of 6% bleach just to get started, and could easily require two to four times that much bleach to actually kill all the algae. If you don't keep adding chlorine till all the algae is killed you are just wasting your time because the algae will grow back.
Your only alternative with very high CYA levels is something like a bromine based chlorine enhancer like Green Treat, which can be effective if used carefully. But even that is going to require large amounts of chlorine and quite a bit of care and attention. It is far simpler to wait till you can lower the CYA level and then deal with it with straight bleach.
Your only alternative with very high CYA levels is something like a bromine based chlorine enhancer like Green Treat, which can be effective if used carefully. But even that is going to require large amounts of chlorine and quite a bit of care and attention. It is far simpler to wait till you can lower the CYA level and then deal with it with straight bleach.
At this point I can not get him to dump anymore water. Money wise that would make more sense to me but having been married for 30 years I am going to work with what I got (you know you have to pick you battles, not all are worth a fight). I have read most of the stickes and everyone keeps repeating " bring it up to Shock Level" but I don't know what level of chlorine is "shock level". We swam all week end, justed tested and CL is at 1.2. I added four gallons of bleach but don't know what level I am trying to reach. I will go looking for the Green Treat you mentioned. HELP
My advice, having been there done that with a skeptical hubby, is have him come on here and read the advice. He will convert. The experts here have a way with people 
I live in an area where water is very expensive. I hesitated draining, my CYA was 120+. But honestly you are fighting a losing battle if you don't get your CYA down, and a partial drain is the only way to do it.
I did 2 partial drains last May, got my CYA down to 60+ and my pool has been fine since. Once I got that under control I probably spent less than $35 the remainder of the season.
That is your best place to start and my only advice. Lower your CYA.
Hubby and I do not fight about the pool, once I took over and found TFP and converted BBB, he trusts me to handle it. Only time he gets involved is heavy equipment issues or putting on the winter cover.
Good luck, its a beautiful pool and once you get the algea under control you'll be a happy camper.
I live in an area where water is very expensive. I hesitated draining, my CYA was 120+. But honestly you are fighting a losing battle if you don't get your CYA down, and a partial drain is the only way to do it.
I did 2 partial drains last May, got my CYA down to 60+ and my pool has been fine since. Once I got that under control I probably spent less than $35 the remainder of the season.
That is your best place to start and my only advice. Lower your CYA.
Hubby and I do not fight about the pool, once I took over and found TFP and converted BBB, he trusts me to handle it. Only time he gets involved is heavy equipment issues or putting on the winter cover.
Good luck, its a beautiful pool and once you get the algea under control you'll be a happy camper.