First Pool, First Time Test Results

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marcellus7

marcellus7

0
Nov 25, 2013
15
San Antonio, TX
Hi guys, I just bought my first house last November, and am a first time pool owner. I've been lurking around here for a while, and have been putting off getting started as we've moved in, but I finally got my kit this week and have my first test results. Doesnt look good! I've had a pool guy taking care of the pool for the last few months and I wasn't really expecting it to be up to par but man! He's been using the pool pills and the guy I bought the house from also did. Im also in an area with very hard water down in south texas. So here are my results! Any tips or should I fill it with concrete? lol. This is my first test, I also haven't bought any chlorine, acid, etc. yet.

FC = 15.5
CC = 0.5
pH = 7.8
TA = 170
CH = 550
CYA < 100

The pool is an inground, oval pool, 15 x 30, 5 ft deep. Pool calc estimates 15k gallons. I think its plaster? Older home built in late 70s.
 
It's not all that bad. We've seen worse. You can get a better idea on your CYA level by using half tap water, half pool water, then double your reading. I would lower that CYA level down to 40 ppm to 50 ppm level. So you'll need to replace some water. Pool math will tell you how much. Just don't do it all at once. Don't want to risk damage to your pool.
Your FC would be good if your CYA level was 100 but we don't know your true CYA level so it's probably a bit low.
Your going to have to keep an eye on the PH with higher CH level to prevent scaling. Also the PH test is skewed with an FC level of 10 or more. Use acid to keep that level into the lower 7's. If your having fairly quick increases in PH then you could lower the TA. The TA will also drop slowly on its own when you keep adjusting the PH. There's people here with higher CH levels than yours. What's the CH of your fill water ?
You are planning to switch over to liquid chlorine (bleach) if you don't have an SWG right ? I hope so !
If you could add all your pool and equipment info to your sig that will help us help you better. ?
 
Thanks so much for the advice. How often should I test for CYA? I noticed the first test took 7 ml of my 22ml bottle of reagent. Is there a way to test without using so much?

Also, yes I do plan on switching to liquid bleach and making the dreaded call to my pool guy. Should I be able to find the muriatic acid at like a home depot? I'll test the CH of my fill water when I get home. Also, as far as steps should I first get the CYA in line, then add acid to get pH down?
 
You may want to tackle the CYA first due to your high FC level and that throwing off your PH test. PH test is skewed with FC levels of 10 or higher.
Use the dilution method I described above to get a more accurate test of where your CYA level is and then use pool math to determine how much water needs to be replaced. While your doing that your FC levels should be drifting down and then retest PH and adjust if need be with acid to the lower 7's. ?
 
Welcome to TFP Marcellus! :wave: Just curious, how far South are ya?

Once you get a good Cya number, you don't want to re-test until there has been a major water replacement.
You say the Cya is <100, but re-test with dilution as Jeff suggested and report back on number if you would please.

Your CH is a little high, but it can be manageable at that level, and maybe your fill water can lower it by replacement. If you really want to know that, simply run a CH on the fill water and see what it says.
 
Thanks so much for the advice guys. Brush I'm down here in good ol San Antonio! I retested the CYA today using half tap water and it is apparently still a bit over 200. Also the CH of my tap water I believe is about 240, but its kind of tough to tell the difference between purple and blue. According to pool math with an estimate of 220 CYA its saying replace 82 % =/. But the water is soo clear, lol.

Also, here's a pic of the beast herself. Don't mind the plants, they're a project for another day.

GFmVuaY.jpg
 
Yes in thirds would be a good idea if your water table is high. You don't want to risk damage to the pool by floating it.
This will be a good decision on your part to replace the water and lower that CYA level ? It's a win win situation. You'll be able to manage your pool a lot easier. With that high of a CYA level the only outlook to me would have been green. ?
 
There should be some kind of network set up where people with a too-high CYA level can send their nice clean water to someone filling up a new pool and starting with zero CYA, in exchange for fill water sent back from the person with the new pool.

New pool owner doesn't need to pay for CYA, existing pool owner doesn't need to pay for fill water, everybody wins :D
 

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lol yea, you can definitely come pick some up if you need it!

I'm almost done draining this thing guys! My neighbor had a sub pump and drains his pool sometimes, and said it should be ok to drain that much at once.

Are there any other chemicals I need on hand to bring her up to snuff? I'll have some bleach, muriatic acid, and baking soda. I plan on hopefully having her back full by tomorrow, and testing the water tomorrow night to get her back started.

PH6xm8o.jpg
 
Pool School is your friend. You should be reading "ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" to find out what, if anything, you will need for your pool and you must get some valid test results. Read the "SLAM" article as well because you may be required to do that to get things in line.

A word of caution.......your neighbors' advice and ours may not be the same. Make a choice.....do not try to blend the two as you will end up caught in the middle.

What we teach work 99+% of the time.....promise. If you are absolutely faithful to the advice, you can change that to 100%.
 
duraleigh said:
Pool School is your friend. You should be reading "ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" to find out what, if anything, you will need for your pool and you must get some valid test results. Read the "SLAM" article as well because you may be required to do that to get things in line.

A word of caution.......your neighbors' advice and ours may not be the same. Make a choice.....do not try to blend the two as you will end up caught in the middle.

What we teach work 99+% of the time.....promise. If you are absolutely faithful to the advice, you can change that to 100%.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll definitely give it another refresh. I've been there and lurking the forums since I bought the house, I just wanted to make sure I have all my ducks in a row now that its the real thing. My neighbors pool was also green yesterday, so I'm definitely going to stick with the TFPC Method, he just knows the soil in the area better than I do. I was able to finish draining and refilling the pool yesterday/this morning, so I'll be testing again this afternoon starting fresh! Definitely have been looking forward to getting started, Thanks again for all the help!
 
Just finished my first test since finishing the refill, test results are:

FC 2
CC 0
pH 7.2
TA 240
CH 230
CYA about 25?


So should I add bleach to target a FC of 4, let the pump run to bring down TA and keep the pH where it is for now? I just started the pump about 30 mins ago since filling it back up
 
pwrstrk said:
Yes raise your Fc with bleach to at least 4 ppm. You can go to 6 ppm. That will give you some wiggle room so you don't fall below your min FC level.
If you need to lower your TA take a look at this. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/129-how-to-lower-lowering-total-alkalinity. If your PH is increasing quickly lower the TA until your PH stabilize's using the link I gave you. &#55357;&#56846;
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, I think I will go ahead and raise the FC to 6, and also aerate to get started on lowering the TA.
 
The TA doesn't have to be In a certain range. It all depends on where your PH is pretty stable. Then your TA will be in a good spot.
Are you pretty confident on the CYA level ? The test can be tricky. Use the number the reading was closest to.
 

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