just returned home from a trip to find a green pool. I'm perplexed b/c I have conflicting test results - after putting in about 5 lb. of shock (some dichlor and some cal-hypo 65%) and running the pump for several hours, I took a sample to the local supply shop and got these results:
FC - 5.0
TAC - 5.0 (means CC is 0, right?)
pH - 7.6
TA - 90
CH - 180
CYA - 50
(phosphates - 300)
however, I bought a Taylor test kit on the advice I read here, and running the test a couple of times exactly by instructions, I get:
FC of around 20
CC - 0
pH - 7.4
CYA - ~40
Normally I'd trust the professionals, but the test strips I have seem to confirm the 20+ rating on the FC.
So, my questions are several:
1) anybody have any guesses why the FC results would be so different, or how to verify which is right? (I sampled the same way from the same spot and took the sample straight to the store, both tests run within an hour)
2) from reading this site, seems like the advice is to use plain liquid chlorine bleach to keep FC up around 20 until the water clears, and test and scrub the pool each day - do I have that right? Liquid is better than shock?
3) store said phosphates at 300 so I should get a treatment for that, but sounds like the advice here is just fight with chlorine?
4) when is it safe to swim - does water have to be completely clear, or is it good when the algae starts to clear out?
5) keep reading about using borax here, would it help to introduce that now while fighting algae, or wait until it's cleared up?
Back story is, I bought this foreclosure in February and had a complete swamp back there, hired a local guy to get it all clean - which he did a great job of - but now trying to learn and manage on my own. Great site, thanks for keeping this up!
FC - 5.0
TAC - 5.0 (means CC is 0, right?)
pH - 7.6
TA - 90
CH - 180
CYA - 50
(phosphates - 300)
however, I bought a Taylor test kit on the advice I read here, and running the test a couple of times exactly by instructions, I get:
FC of around 20
CC - 0
pH - 7.4
CYA - ~40
Normally I'd trust the professionals, but the test strips I have seem to confirm the 20+ rating on the FC.
So, my questions are several:
1) anybody have any guesses why the FC results would be so different, or how to verify which is right? (I sampled the same way from the same spot and took the sample straight to the store, both tests run within an hour)
2) from reading this site, seems like the advice is to use plain liquid chlorine bleach to keep FC up around 20 until the water clears, and test and scrub the pool each day - do I have that right? Liquid is better than shock?
3) store said phosphates at 300 so I should get a treatment for that, but sounds like the advice here is just fight with chlorine?
4) when is it safe to swim - does water have to be completely clear, or is it good when the algae starts to clear out?
5) keep reading about using borax here, would it help to introduce that now while fighting algae, or wait until it's cleared up?
Back story is, I bought this foreclosure in February and had a complete swamp back there, hired a local guy to get it all clean - which he did a great job of - but now trying to learn and manage on my own. Great site, thanks for keeping this up!
