pool levels

[frustratedpoolmom]

Last night after you added the bleach did you wait 1 hour and retest? Or did you only test the chlorine this morning? You should test it after adding (wait an hour) cause you might need to add additional bleach to reach the right level - see above post. Then in the morning, if the chlorine dropped more than 1ppm in the darkness, you know it's NOT from the zero CYA, it's from algae or something in your pool, and you need to keep adding bleach to 10ppm to kill it, does that make sense?

 

[luvmypool]

Frustratedpoolmom,

After adding the chlorine last evening and the muratic acid & stabalizer yesterday, these are my pool levels this morning.

FC 5/10

PH 7.8

TA 110

TH When I added the Total Hardness indicator, the water only turned a pale yellow.

My water is very clear but it does have a chlorine smell in the air to it. Never had that problem before.

Kate

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Morning Kate,

I suspect you have CC's in your water. With your HTH test kit, you can only test as high as 5ppm on chlorine, and for your situation that just isn't good enough.

You need the FAS-DPD test, that can test for chlorine up to 50ppm and also tests for CC's. I would highly recommend you order a TF-100 test kit from Duraleigh at TFtestkits.com or a Taylor K2006.

Usually when there is a "smell" like that it means you have CC's. You'll need to shock your pool to 10ppm until your water is clear and your FC is holding overnight and you have no CC's.

When I advised adding the bleach up to 10ppm, is that how much you added 1 1/3 jugs? That should have raised your FC to 10ppm, but you needed to test right away to know if you reached it. Did you test last night after adding it? Sometimes it doesn't hit the mark, without testing you won't know that.

You need to test after adding, just in case you need to add more. Where is the bleach from (Clorox, Wal-mart)? Just curious about the strength/percentage % on the bottle.

After testing in the evening, and ensuring that you reached your target, then compare that test to the test in the morning. If your FC drops significantly then you know it's not from loss to sun exposure - its algae consuming it.

All of this is going to be very difficult without the FAS-DPD test. At this point you are guessing about what your numbers are and that's not going to help you.

In the meantime I would add a nother jug of bleach this morning. Check it again tonight after sunset and repeat the process. Test, Bleach, test, add more bleach if necessary, test again in the morning.

Does this all make sense? I hope I'm explaining it ok.

 

[luvmypool]

Hi troublefreepoolmom,

4:00pm EST pool results.

FC 5.1

TA 150

TH 30 it turned blue this time w/ 5 drops and 3 drops of the tirant.

PH 7.8

It's getting better. We've had very hot days here this past week, sunny & humid. The smell isn't as bad as it was this morning, it's more on the faint side this afternoon.

I've been running the pump since yesterday since I put the chlorine, MA & stabalizer in; I figured it's something I should be doing to circulate all the chemicals.

I will be purchasing one of the TFP test kits this evening. I believe it will be a wise investment.

What do you think? I'll bet the "boys" are happy that you took me on. I'm really not this stupid in real life. I've never had a pool before, noone I know has a pool so I'm kinda "winging it". I never realized how serious the chemical work was for a pool.

All you guys ( general term) at TFP are fantastic!

Thanks, Kate luvmypool

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

The kit is the best investment, next to the pool itself!

No worries, and it will come together for you. I was so overwhelmed at first, let me tell you.

Today, I cleaned the filter myself, and fixed a slow drip in the hoses....usually I leave the equipment to hubby but I thought to myself, I can handle this....

My back will regret it later I'm sure.

P.S. can I just say cleaning cartridge filters.....EEEEWEEEEEWWWWW!

 

[luvmypool]

Hi There Frustratedpoolmom,

It's me luvmypool (s/b frustratedluvmypool),

Okay. so the last few days here have been sunny and hot. Just rained yesterday buckets! These are my levels @ 5:30 pm today....

FC 2.4

PH 7.5

TA 140

TH (TOTAL HARDNESS) It turned a pale green/yellow so I couldn't get a reading.

what does the TH do anyways? And what brings that one up?

Kate

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi Kate!

the TH is Total Hardness and includes a calcium indicator. Calcium isn't "essential" in a vinyl pool but they do recommend you have 150ppm or so. Nothing you need to worry about right now, it reduces "foaming" or something so if youre not experiencing problems with it, leave it for later.

When is the last time you added chlorine? I'll tell you why later....

You added stabilizer on Tuesday, yes? PH looks perfect, TA is managable (assuming no problems develop) they recommend lower, mines around 110-120 and I have no issues.

Is the "smell" you reported earlier gone? How does your water look (cloudy?)?

 

[luvmypool]

Hi TFPM,

Added chlorine Tuesday, yes. My water is crystal clear and there is no more smell.

I haven't been able to find out what cya stands for or what the total hardness is all about.

Like I said before, I want to use the BBB meathod, but I'm not sure what the baking soda does or the borax does??? Can you tell me that?

I'm feeling more comfortable with the measuring of the test kit and the numbers. I haven't ordered the TFP test kit but plan on it in the next day or so, just haven't had a chance to really sit down in the past few days.

Thanks for checking on me everyday and for all your help. Hope someday I can pass it forward to some
pool "newbie".

Kate

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi TFPM,

Added chlorine Tuesday, yes. My water is crystal clear and there is no more smell.

I haven't been able to find out what cya stands for or what the total hardness is all about.

Like I said before, I want to use the BBB meathod, but I'm not sure what the baking soda does or the borax does??? Can you tell me that?

I'm feeling more comfortable with the measuring of the test kit and the numbers. I haven't ordered the TFP test kit but plan on it in the next day or so, just haven't had a chance to really sit down in the past few days.

Thanks for checking on me everyday and for all your help. Hope someday I can pass it forward to some
pool "newbie".

Kate

Hi there... if your FC is still 2.4 since Tuesday then that's a GOOD THING! That equates to a 1ppm drop each day....excellent! That means your clorine is starting to hold and perhaps even the Stabilizer (also know as CYA!) is starting to work. (YOu said in your Tuesday post that you added stabilizer and muratic acid). So Saturday or Sunday do the CYA test, but see this link first....so you know you are doing it right (it can be confusing and intimidating).

http://www.taylortechnologies.com/Chemi ... ntentID=44

I explained the Total Hardness - that's your calcium reading. YOu add calcium to raise it to 150 but you really don't need to worry about that for now.

Borax and baking soda do similar things....

Here's how JasonLion described it in an earlier post:

"When raising PH and/or TA:

baking soda - raises TA lots and PH a little
borax - raises PH lots and TA a little
washing soda/soda ash -raises PH lots and TA some
aeration when TA is high - raises PH without changing TA"

YOur PH is perfect, so no need to raise it. Your TA is a little high, but unless it causes you problems you can leave it alone. What kind of problems? High TA can cause the PH to drift up. But since you have the Muratic Acid and already lowered it once, you know how to handle PH drift. At a later date you can read the article about "lowering total alkalinity" in Pool School if you feel like you want to deal with that. Otherwise, just wait and see what happens, you can always deal with it later.

Okay, I think that covers it....youre in good shape! (but I'll be around if you have q's.... )