Pool Opening Chemestry Question

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pixpicker

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Aug 21, 2011
39
Ct
I'm a newbie so please bear with me. I purchased the TFT test kit that was recommended and had the grand opening a few days ago. The water looked pretty good, better than in previous years. Did my first test and these were the results:

Alkalinity - 110
Calcium Hardness - 100
CYA - 50
Chlorine Drop Test - FC 1.75 and had no Combined Chloramines

I've read through all the information but I'm still unsure of what to do next. The only thing I did after the test was add five large bottles of simple bleach and I plan to retest in a day or two. What should I be prepared to add? As I mentioned, the water looks pretty good from the start.

IG - vinyl liner
16' x 32'
24000 gal
Mineral Springs SWG
 
I am not an expert, but I seriously doubt that if your pool is 16x32 that it holds 23K or 24K gallons! I would expect it to be closer to 4K gallons. With a CYA of 50, you should be aiming for a FC level of 4 to 6 ppm. There is a chlorine / CYA chart here. What is the concentration of sodium hypochlorite in your bleach? How did you determine that you needed to add five large bottles? Five large bottles (if you are referring to 121 oz bottles) is 605 oz of bleach - assuming a 6% sodium hypochlorite level, that would raise FC by ~12 ppm in a 24K pool. I will defer to the experts here, but it seems like something is wrong with the math.
 
You can test again now for chlorine and also you need to check the PH. Use the chlorine test with the powder to check for FC and CC and post again. Be sure to use poolmath at troublefeepool.com/calc.html before you add chemicals to see what the effect will be.
Mark
 
I would like to see your pH result as well. Post that up.

Next, Did you use poolmath when you put in the five bottles or was that random?

A 16 x 32 pool with and average depth of 4 feet will be around 16k. Tell us if you have a deep end or not.

I'll reply again after you post back.
 
Thanks for the quick responses. I did add the 5 bottles of bleach randomly and I probably shouldn't have? You are also correct about the miscalculation of the pool size. It is a 16 x 32 rectangular with a deep end so it's probably just under 30,000 gallons. I'll try and do another test tomorrow but it may have to wait for the weekend.
 
Hold on, everyone, we are losing control on the gallonage. Let's get in agreement. A 16 x 32 x (use 5.5 for a deepend pool) 5.5 = about 21k.

Let's not go further until we all agree and we all know how to figure it. (16 x 32 x 5.5 = 2816 cu feet x 7.5 gallons/cu ft = 21,120 gallons)

I don't mean to sound the least condescending but we really need to be thinking the same thing. Post back.
 

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Ok, were are all lined up now! Since your pool looks pretty good and your other numbers all look good, about all you need to do is bring your chlorine up to around 6 ppm and then keep it there by replenishing it each time it drops as low as 4 ppm.

Since you report FC as 1.75, let's get that right. Recall how many drops it took to get the solution from pink to clear and then multiply those drops times .5. The result cannot be 1.75 so rethink or redo that test and I'll help you with what to do next. This gets easier and easier. :D
 
I plan on doing a complete retest this Sunday and will let you know the results. According to my notes, I added 35 drops to change the solution from pink to clear. Probably user error but the retest will confirm.
 
Your TC level is somewhere around 8 to 12, which is high but not really a problem. However, your PH looks to be quite low. I would raise PH to around 7.5 (or a little higher) as soon as practical.

Does the water still look good?
 
The water looks relatively clear but not sparkling. I have the Aquabot running now to clean the debris from the winter although the debris is modest compared to other years. Any suggestions about amounts to raise the pH would be helpful. I do not have the SWG running. When do you think that would be appropriate?
 

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