Fired the Pool Service Company

[plumin]

I was at home on Monday when the pool man showed up. I asked him to leave the SWG alone. (I have it turned off because my FC has been around 22). He wanted to know why so I told him and he proceeded to test the chlorine. He filled a test cylinder with pool water and put in something pink - I thought to test for Chlorine the water would be yellow -and he told me my chlorine level was just right at 1.5. I have no idea what he was talking about but I mentioned again to him about my FC being so high and he then told me he didn't have any idea what FC was "but my chlorine level was perfect".

Anyway, he's gone.

This is where I was 10 days ago:

FC 22
pH 7.2
T/A 80
CH 410
CYA 40 (was down to 30 within few days)

Here are my new test numbers as of today.

FC 6
pH 7.5
T/A 60
CH did not test
CYA 70

I put in stablizier last Friday and added acid on Monday, other than that all I've done is leave the SWG off.

Oh, and I added about 8oz of baking soda (all I had) because I thought my T/A was dropping too low.

It rained A LOT here last night, I've read that this effects the water but how?

 

[lulupalooza]

Good for you for firing the pool company! I haven't a clue what he was testing for if it was pink- other than the stuff we use to test the TA

Everything looks pretty good, but the TA you want to bring up a tad to about 80-110ppm. To low of a TA then you risk corrison, to high and you get that cloudy water.

If your TA is at the proper level, then your pH is less likely to bounce all over the place as well.

And likewise, If you have acid rain or a lot of rain in general that is usually what will affect your TA the most, which in turn affects your pH. So it's better to have mild flucuations by testing at least CL and pH daily than having something sneak up on you.

 

[dbrown199]

It is passable that he was testing for Cl2. I work in the drinking water industry and the HACH test kits we use to test for free and total does turn the samples pink. But I can't understand how he did not know what free Cl2 is.

 

[plumin]

Thanks Lulu.

The Pool Calculator says to at 136 oz of baking soda to raise my T/A. Should I add this all at once?

 

[lulupalooza]

Thanks Lulu.

The Pool Calculator says to at 136 oz of baking soda to raise my T/A. Should I add this all at once?

I would add about half, wait a few hours and retest to make sure you don't send your pH soaring above 7.8 (adjusting TA also raises your pH)

 

[JasonLion]

TA around 70 or 80 is fine. There isn't any need to raise it above that with a SWG. You need much higher TA when you are using trichlor tablets.

 

[MikeInTN]

The OTO chlorine test uses varying shades of yellow to brown to indicate the level of chlorine, and the DPD Colorimetic test uses varying shades of pink to indicate the level of chlorine.

Here's a link that describes OTO, DPD, and FAS-DPD tests pretty well. linky

 

[Butterfly]

Hi plumin and welcome to the forum.

Here is a sticky on "Water balance tips for a swg" by waterbear: http://www.troublefreepool.com/sticky.php?s=3663

And, as Jason said, your TA around 70 or 80 is fine, in fact preferable.

 

[Ohm_Boy]

If you don't mind me asking, what test kit are you using for your readings?

 

[plumin]

ohmboy - I'm using the TF Test Kit.