First Official Test Results In!

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funkerama

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Feb 6, 2014
33
Leander, TX
I took a sample of water in to Leslie's Pool Supply this evening. Here are the results...

results4-4-2014.jpg

A little concerned about the Phosphates and CYA. We just inherited this pool and I haven't done much yet. Any suggestions based on these readings?? No idea where to begin. Store people suggested a bunch of Phos-free and the like for the Phosphates. And to drain some water for the CYA.

When I mentioned that I'd like to transition to liquid bleach and not tablets, he balked and said, "that's not the best route...". Probably to be expected from the store...

Thanks in advance
 
Don't worry about phosphates. My phosphate level has been several thousand for years without any problems.

The high CYA level is more of a problem, especially since the common CYA test reads levels higher than 100 as 100. So your actual level might be much higher. Unfortunately, replacing water is usually the only practical way to lower the CYA level. However you do it, you need to get CYA down below 100, and preferably down to around 50 or 60.
 
Does it make sense to bump up the FC level until the CYA can be brought in range ? PoolMath suggests 8-13 ppm of FC for a CYA level of 100, and as you say the CYA level could be even higher than 100. A couple of 121 oz jugs of bleach seems like cheap insurance... that would raise FC to ~10 ppm...
 
These results are a good baseline to get started with. Going forward, I would suggest investing in one of the Recommended Test Kits and take control of your testing. Your test results will very likely be more accurate than any test done by a 3rd party, plus you will begin to learn more about managing your pool water chemistry. A good test kit is a bargain compared to the cost (expense and time) of dealing with a problem that could have been avoided with proper testing.
 
bridgman said:
Does it make sense to bump up the FC level until the CYA can be brought in range ? PoolMath suggests 8-13 ppm of FC for a CYA level of 100, and as you say the CYA level could be even higher than 100.
Click to expand...
There is a conundrum here. As Jason stated, most CYA tests cannot read levels greater than 100. The other part of the conundrum is that Pool Store test results for CYA tend to be higher than the actual level due to the lighting (see next paragraph). Since we do not know which of these is true yet, I would aim to keep FC at the high end of the target range (13 ppm) for a CYA of 100 until you get a definitive CYA reading below 100. I would make it a top priority to take steps to get the CYA below 100.

Proper lighting is crucial for the CYA test. This test should be done outdoors in bright sunlight while standing with your back to the sun and holding the view tube at about waist level. The amount of light in a pool store will be considerably less bright than it is outside on a bright sunny day. Less light will result in the dot at the bottom of the CYA view tube to disappear sooner, leading to a higher CYA reading. You can read more about this here: Extended Test Kit Directions. The CYA test is described about half-way down the page.
 
Agreed... I guess I should clarify that when I ask that question the implied context is "for the next few days or until the weekend when one has time to do stuff like that". I can check levels & adjust daily but even draining/refilling the hot tub usually has to wait for a weekend, which all too often seems to be a whole week away ;)
 
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