Bad Taste

[thewayne]

What could be causing the water to taste bad?

I started this season with an uncovered swamp. But have a crystal clear pool now with good chemical levels. My TA is high at around 200, but everything else is in range. I use bleach for chlorine. The only thing I have down differently this year is, I used 1 bottle of sodium bromide under bad advice from the pool store, and I occasionally put in a calcium hydrochloride puck when I am away for a few days.

 

[JasonLion]

The sodium bromide might caused a "chemical" smell, which might affect the taste, but the sodium bromide will have dissipated after a couple of days.

You should post a full set of water test results. That might give us a hint about what is going on.

 

[thewayne]

FC 3.5
CC 0
Ph 7.8 - 8.5
TA 310
Cal 71
CYA 50


The Ph and TA are much much higher then the last test done about a week ago. These tests were taken about 30min after a rain though, if that makes a difference. A week ago the Ph was 7.5 ans TA was about 220. The bad taste has been there since the first swim of the season, first week of June. The taste is a bit salty but not quite like salt water, and I have not put any salt in this water.

 

[JasonLion]

Your TA is way too high and you should keep PH at 7.8 or below at all times (that will be easier if you bring down the TA). See this Pool School article for directions on lowering TA.

Your FC level is right at the lower limit for that CYA level, and combined with the high PH reading, your FC level is really too low. You need to get PH down and FC up.

But none of those things really explain the bad taste. That has me stumped.

 

[thewayne]

After doing some searching online, I have found some talk about TDS, or Total Dissolved Solids. Apparently if this is too high it can cause a bad taste. Do you know of a way to test for TDS?