Newbie very confused,please help

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mattk22

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Feb 24, 2014
34
Delaware, OH
so i have had my pool up for about 10 days, I filled it with tap water over two days. i have been just guessing on the chlorine, putting about 60-80oz of bleach in a day. My K-2006 kit just came and I tested it this morning. Here is what I did and the results I got, please let me know what I did wrong or what I should do next.

First test was the chlorine, i filled the large tube up to 25mL. Added 2 dippers of R-0870 and swirled to mix. I only needed two drops of R-0871 to clear up the sample so that means it is .4ppm of free correct?
Then I added 5 drops of R-0003 and swirled. It took two drops of R-0871 to clear that, so that is also .4ppm of combined chlorine.
I know those are really low.

PH, it was at or just below 7.0, it took two drops of R-0006 to get it to 7.4, but after a 20 seconds or so it appeared to lighten up and almost get back to 7.0.

my CYA was were I was really baffled, but i guess i may not have any CYA in my pool because of filling it with tap water??? I filled the bottle up to the 7mL mark, then added R-0013 to 14mL mark, the solution never turned cloudy, it was as clear as can be.

Alkalinity was 50

Calcium was 80


What should i do? Thank you so much for any help.
 
You need to buy some CYA/stabilizer and start adding it to your water. I would aim for an initial CYA level of 30 or 40, and then raise it some more next week if needed.

For now add 2 ppm of chlorine in the evening. After it has been 24 hours since you added CYA switch to targeting the appropriate FC level based on your CYA level.

When you have a moment, do some reading in Pool School.
 
Good testing report. Now you need to start using the pool math page at http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html along with the recommended Chlorine/CYA levels found at http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock

You need to get the chlorine up fast and get a good target set up for daily dosing. You can figure out the other additions over the next few days.

You are correct that tap water has no CYA and your test confirmed that. The pool math page will give you the amount of stabilizer to add, granules in a sock, in front of a return to dissolve over time, or use the more expensive liquid versions. Don't test for CYA for seven days as it wont show up initially, just treat the pool as if it is there.
 
You need to get your FC, ph and CYA up to normal levels.

Add 20 mule team borax to move your pH to around 7.4 (TA will come up as well.)

Add enough CYA to get to around 40 ppm. As soon as that's done, add enough FC to get to 5 ppm or so.

That should bring your parameters to within normal rangews. Retest everything (except CYA which won't show up on the test) and post the results back up. That should have everything within the normal ranges we suggest.
 
mattk22 said:
so i have had my pool up for about 10 days, I filled it with tap water over two days. i have been just guessing on the chlorine, putting about 60-80oz of bleach in a day. My K-2006 kit just came and I tested it this morning. Here is what I did and the results I got, please let me know what I did wrong or what I should do next.

First test was the chlorine, i filled the large tube up to 25mL. Added 2 dippers of R-0870 and swirled to mix. I only needed two drops of R-0871 to clear up the sample so that means it is .4ppm of free correct?
Then I added 5 drops of R-0003 and swirled. It took two drops of R-0871 to clear that, so that is also .4ppm of combined chlorine.
I know those are really low.

PH, it was at or just below 7.0, it took two drops of R-0006 to get it to 7.4, but after a 20 seconds or so it appeared to lighten up and almost get back to 7.0.

my CYA was were I was really baffled, but i guess i may not have any CYA in my pool because of filling it with tap water??? I filled the bottle up to the 7mL mark, then added R-0013 to 14mL mark, the solution never turned cloudy, it was as clear as can be.

Alkalinity was 50

Calcium was 80


What should i do? Thank you so much for any help.
Click to expand...
Your water volume is 19,300 gals unless you don't fill it to the top if the top is 54" You can do those calculations in PoolMath too. BTW, my pH test calls for 5 drops though some here suggest 4 to get a better color to compare- I've also read 6 drops somewhere too. FOR CYA, I've found this to be the best price for it: I sent my wife to walmart a while ago to pick up a 6.5 lb jug, cost just over $20 including tax. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ndmcbhx7vmah657/2014-05-13 11.52.39.jpg
 
You've got the testing down pat! :goodjob:

When you add CYA, don't pour it in the skimmer, and don't scatter it in the pool unless you want freckles on your liner. Here's what we mean by "the sock method":
attachment.php


Alternately, you could tie the sock to a floating toy or even an empty bleach jug and just let it bob around. It will take a few days to dissolve completely, and a few days more to show up on the test. So save your CYA reagent and wait at least a week to test it.
 

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