Whats that old radio saying..."long time listener, first time caller". Well, I found this site a few weeks ago while researching why I had low/no FC. I can't begin to describe how much I've learned in those few weeks compared to what I've picked up in the last 4 years of owning a pool! Thank you in advance to all the knowledgable people on this site! Now on to my questions.....
I've been taking care of my pool (18K IG Plaster freeform w/spa) for a couple years now with 6-way test strips and so far so good. Clear water and only slight green algea growth on and off (nooks & cranies of waterfall, ect.). I had noticed low FC/TC readings over the last couple months so I took a sample down to the pool store. They confirmed 0 FC and suggested I add more chlorine. All the other numbers were good. I then found this site and started using 6% bleach. FC numbers are good now.
After enough reading on this forum I've decided test strips are not the way to go and purchased a Taylor K-2006 kit which showed up yesterday. Here are my first readings....
FC 11
CC 1
PH 7.7
TA 150
CH 400
CYA 100+ (maybe 140-150)
The pool has been maintained with pool store chems and 3" trichlor pucks for at least 5 years now. Last night I added 3lbs of dry acid to try and lower the TA and PH. I will retest this evening to see how that worked out.
My first question is, should I do a partial drain & refill to address the CYA and the CH? ...and if so in which order do I rebalance the fresh water after the refill? Or, should I test for a few days first to make sure these readings are accurate? Leslie's tested my water 2 weeks ago and measured FC 0, PH 7.4, TA 100, CH 320, and CYA 100 (yeah, I know, they're not the most accurate either). Nothing but 6% bleach has been added since.
Thanks in advance for all your ideas and opinions!
Todd
I've been taking care of my pool (18K IG Plaster freeform w/spa) for a couple years now with 6-way test strips and so far so good. Clear water and only slight green algea growth on and off (nooks & cranies of waterfall, ect.). I had noticed low FC/TC readings over the last couple months so I took a sample down to the pool store. They confirmed 0 FC and suggested I add more chlorine. All the other numbers were good. I then found this site and started using 6% bleach. FC numbers are good now.
After enough reading on this forum I've decided test strips are not the way to go and purchased a Taylor K-2006 kit which showed up yesterday. Here are my first readings....
FC 11
CC 1
PH 7.7
TA 150
CH 400
CYA 100+ (maybe 140-150)
The pool has been maintained with pool store chems and 3" trichlor pucks for at least 5 years now. Last night I added 3lbs of dry acid to try and lower the TA and PH. I will retest this evening to see how that worked out.
My first question is, should I do a partial drain & refill to address the CYA and the CH? ...and if so in which order do I rebalance the fresh water after the refill? Or, should I test for a few days first to make sure these readings are accurate? Leslie's tested my water 2 weeks ago and measured FC 0, PH 7.4, TA 100, CH 320, and CYA 100 (yeah, I know, they're not the most accurate either). Nothing but 6% bleach has been added since.
Thanks in advance for all your ideas and opinions!
Todd