Need advice on what to ask the pool company

[Syvman]

Our pool was recently re-plastered. It has only had water in it for two weeks and a day now. The company that did the work sent a tech out to do the chemical startup and a couple of times and I haven't touched it since other than to test the water and brush the plaster. The last time the tech was here was last Tuesday (8 days ago). I have been keeping an eye on the chlorine level of the pool using my simple OTO kit and the levels appear to be INCREDIBLY high (the test sample turns a blood orange instead of yellow, so I can't even use the OTO to accurately test the amount of chlorine) - so I used my FAS-DPD kit today and I got to 40 drops of the R-0871 using the .5 ppm per drop test (10 ml sample) and stopped. Sample was still dark pink and didn't appear to want to change color anytime soon, so I know that my FC is over 20 ppm, which I think is way overkill, especially for a pool that hasn't had any chemicals added since last week. I decided to go ahead and call the pool company and ask if they'd be willing to check - they said the level obviously is way too high so they're sending someone out tomorrow to check. I'm concerned that they're going to attempt to use some sort of chlorine neutralizing chemical that may cause havoc with my water balance in the future - I'd like some advice on what I might want to ask and what I might want to AVOID (if they recommend/attempt a certain course of action) - any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
-Terry

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to the forum!

If it were me, I would run a full set for all parameters, and find out how high that Fc really is. The summer sun will bring it down pretty fast, and I would rather do that, than put in a chlorine scavenger. It won't likely cause any balance issues, but if they can't be trusted with FC why trust them with a Sulfite scavenger?

I would raise cane with them and take control of my pool. Be aware, you may need to keep a certain balance for finish warranties, but that's fine. They already messed that up, so make sure you are documented on that with them. Record your results, and email someone there with them, and outline the phone call in there as well for your documentation.

 

[PAGirl]

Can you do a dilution test to see what the number actually is?

 

[Isaac-1]

Also remember the pH test is useless at high FC levels (over about 10 ppm)

 

[Syvman]

Thanks for all the replies - I'll attempt a dilution test tonight to determine what the level is at (I need to pick up some distilled water for our steam cleaner anyway). As for the summer sun bringing it down, I wish it could, but unfortunately the pool is indoors, so the sun isn't much help.
As we feared, the pool company would like to try a chlorine reducing agent, but luckily they aren't able to find any at any local pool stores. So in the meantime, I think I'll drain as much as I can (a backwash is due to flush the plaster dust from the filter anyway), and then replenish and see if that brings it down at all. I will say that they have been responsive and courteous - and they definitely didn't try to feed me a line of "well, we always do that on a new startup" etc... They admitted the level is WAY too high, which is a good start in and of itself.
As for the ph, I didn't test that - to be honest, once I surpassed 20 drops of reagent on the fc test, I gave up and called them immediately. But the dilution test is still a good idea - I'm actually curious to know exactly where it's at - I wonder if I'm close to some local record, haha.
I'll keep you all posted - thanks again for the replies - and documenting everything is definitely a good idea for warranty concerns - I'll definitely make sure that if they do introduce another chemical to the pool, that all of this is written on a work order so they can't claim that I was responsible for these chlorine levels.
Thanks eveyrone!
-Terry

 

[Syvman]

UPDATE: The pool company told me they wanted to correct my levels and used a chlorine neutralizer product to accomplish this. Not exactly sure how much they used, I just know it was more than 3 lbs. because one container was completely empty. Our levels are decent now, and my complete workups have been consistently good (water a smidgen on the hard side, so that will be my one goal to correct - our water is incredibly hard here in AZ to start with). Thanks again everyone for your help. I'm taking control of it from here and ensuring the water is balanced. If I encounter any issues, I know where to do my research! Have a great day!