Hello All,
I am newly registered to this forum and have very little to no previous pool experience. I have had a pool up for the past 2 summer seasons prior to this year but failed miserably to the point we had black water & a dead bird floating in the pool at the end of last season. I am hoping to figure our water chemistry out and what I need to do before I even set up this pool and way before running into the same problems!
I unfortunately am not able to purchase one of the more expensive testing kits at this time. I am hoping to in the future. As for right now I do have the HTH 3 way test kit with results taken from my tap water. With that said, I would like to at least purchase the HTH 6 way test kit from Walmart but my local store does not carry it. I am travelling to the city next weekend to try an track it down. My current store does carry these two options: HTH 3 way test kit (drops, I have this), HTH 3 way test (strips, I have this), HTH 6 way test (strips, do not have this). Would it be worth my while to get the 6 way test strips if I do not find the 6 way test kit (drops)? Or are the strips really a waste of time?
I really struggled with figuring out what in the world I was suppose to be adding/balancing my pool with last year. I tried to talk with HTH directly through chat and they had me purchase and use 5 large containers of Alkalinity down and a bunch of others such as Sock it, Algaecide, Granular Chlorine, Stabilizer & I can't even remember the rest. At the time I was only testing with the 3 way test strips and the levels were literally never where they needed to be. I was getting more pregnant and uncomfortable as the summer went on and eventually gave up which led to the black water & dead bird I spent loads of money and never had the dream pool for my family I so desire.
I am hoping to get a little insight, even if I can be pointed in the right direction for where I should be reading about initial set-up and testing. Does anyone have a good idea where to start?
Thank you soooo much for any help in advance. My family will so appreciate a beautiful safe pool for cooling off in during the summer.
TEST RESULTS: (adding a photo of my 3 way test kit, drops)
FC - Free Chlorine - Way darker than the highest colour 3.0 on test tube.. is this the FC, CC or TC showing on this test?
CC or TC - Combined Chlorine or Total Chlorine - answer above maybe?
pH - maybe around an 8.0? test goes up to 8.2 and I am having a hard time decifering if it is lower or higher than that (attached picture for your diagnosis) I find my test water more of the pink/orange, less darker red & therefore assuming it is lower but i really don't know what to make of it.
TA - Total Alkalinity - Unknown
CH - Calcium Hardness - Unkown
CYA - Cyanuric Acid (stabilizer/conditioner) - Unknown
I am newly registered to this forum and have very little to no previous pool experience. I have had a pool up for the past 2 summer seasons prior to this year but failed miserably to the point we had black water & a dead bird floating in the pool at the end of last season. I am hoping to figure our water chemistry out and what I need to do before I even set up this pool and way before running into the same problems!
I unfortunately am not able to purchase one of the more expensive testing kits at this time. I am hoping to in the future. As for right now I do have the HTH 3 way test kit with results taken from my tap water. With that said, I would like to at least purchase the HTH 6 way test kit from Walmart but my local store does not carry it. I am travelling to the city next weekend to try an track it down. My current store does carry these two options: HTH 3 way test kit (drops, I have this), HTH 3 way test (strips, I have this), HTH 6 way test (strips, do not have this). Would it be worth my while to get the 6 way test strips if I do not find the 6 way test kit (drops)? Or are the strips really a waste of time?
I really struggled with figuring out what in the world I was suppose to be adding/balancing my pool with last year. I tried to talk with HTH directly through chat and they had me purchase and use 5 large containers of Alkalinity down and a bunch of others such as Sock it, Algaecide, Granular Chlorine, Stabilizer & I can't even remember the rest. At the time I was only testing with the 3 way test strips and the levels were literally never where they needed to be. I was getting more pregnant and uncomfortable as the summer went on and eventually gave up which led to the black water & dead bird I spent loads of money and never had the dream pool for my family I so desire.
I am hoping to get a little insight, even if I can be pointed in the right direction for where I should be reading about initial set-up and testing. Does anyone have a good idea where to start?
Thank you soooo much for any help in advance. My family will so appreciate a beautiful safe pool for cooling off in during the summer.
TEST RESULTS: (adding a photo of my 3 way test kit, drops)
FC - Free Chlorine - Way darker than the highest colour 3.0 on test tube.. is this the FC, CC or TC showing on this test?
CC or TC - Combined Chlorine or Total Chlorine - answer above maybe?
pH - maybe around an 8.0? test goes up to 8.2 and I am having a hard time decifering if it is lower or higher than that (attached picture for your diagnosis) I find my test water more of the pink/orange, less darker red & therefore assuming it is lower but i really don't know what to make of it.
TA - Total Alkalinity - Unknown
CH - Calcium Hardness - Unkown
CYA - Cyanuric Acid (stabilizer/conditioner) - Unknown