Newbie here.
My Taylor K-2006 arrives today. I have pool store test numbers now.
Pool is yellow-green and cloudy with yellow powdery stuff on bottom. I won't go into how it got this way, but it's been like this for more than a week. Thank goodness for this website, which I found over the weekend.
In an effort to kill the algae, pool was shocked several times with powdery-shock stuff, then Clorox. Totally unaware of the contrution this and the chlorine tablets we were using made to the CYA levels, we've been using them for some time. They've been returned to Costco. Just prior to finding your website, I read something online about the Taylor test kit and ordered it; we've been using strips which have been less than helpful. Pool pump has been running constantly for a few days. Backwashing filter reults in no appreciable difference in the look of the sight glass. Planning to add DE (Sparkle?) to pump, since sand is apparently not catching the fines going through.
The pool store attendant tried to test the water yesterday and said it couldn't be tested because the chlorine level was too high. I suggested he dilute it by half with distilled water and run it, which he did.
the following are numbers from the 1:1 diluted test:
CYA 56
Total Chlorine 10.9
Free Chlorine 10.3
pH 8.2
Tot. alkalinity 63
Adj. Total Alkalinity 46
Tot. hardness 45
Copper .1
Copper from Products Yes
He ran the numbers telling the machine there was no algae, black, green, or mustard.
The high pH prompted me to add muriatic acid to the water in the amount suggested by the PoolMath Calculator, so I'm reasonably certain it is probably now more in the 7.5-7.6 range. I haven't attempted to deal with anything else.
MY MAIN QUESTION: Once the test kit arrives, is there any point to running tests other than the CYA test, since from what I've read here, if the high CYA level is confirmed, I'll need to replace a significant amount of the water?
Second question: Would it be correct to brush and backwash the pool before draining? Rinse walls with hose as it drains?
Third question(s): Since there appears to be an algae issue, should we drain the whole thing instead of the 73% (or whatever) the PoolMath calculator suggests? How full does the tanker need to fiil it to have it out of danger from the surrounding groundwater? Just below the skimmer?
Thank you all for all of the advice on this site!!
My Taylor K-2006 arrives today. I have pool store test numbers now.
Pool is yellow-green and cloudy with yellow powdery stuff on bottom. I won't go into how it got this way, but it's been like this for more than a week. Thank goodness for this website, which I found over the weekend.
In an effort to kill the algae, pool was shocked several times with powdery-shock stuff, then Clorox. Totally unaware of the contrution this and the chlorine tablets we were using made to the CYA levels, we've been using them for some time. They've been returned to Costco. Just prior to finding your website, I read something online about the Taylor test kit and ordered it; we've been using strips which have been less than helpful. Pool pump has been running constantly for a few days. Backwashing filter reults in no appreciable difference in the look of the sight glass. Planning to add DE (Sparkle?) to pump, since sand is apparently not catching the fines going through.
The pool store attendant tried to test the water yesterday and said it couldn't be tested because the chlorine level was too high. I suggested he dilute it by half with distilled water and run it, which he did.
the following are numbers from the 1:1 diluted test:
CYA 56
Total Chlorine 10.9
Free Chlorine 10.3
pH 8.2
Tot. alkalinity 63
Adj. Total Alkalinity 46
Tot. hardness 45
Copper .1
Copper from Products Yes
He ran the numbers telling the machine there was no algae, black, green, or mustard.
The high pH prompted me to add muriatic acid to the water in the amount suggested by the PoolMath Calculator, so I'm reasonably certain it is probably now more in the 7.5-7.6 range. I haven't attempted to deal with anything else.
MY MAIN QUESTION: Once the test kit arrives, is there any point to running tests other than the CYA test, since from what I've read here, if the high CYA level is confirmed, I'll need to replace a significant amount of the water?
Second question: Would it be correct to brush and backwash the pool before draining? Rinse walls with hose as it drains?
Third question(s): Since there appears to be an algae issue, should we drain the whole thing instead of the 73% (or whatever) the PoolMath calculator suggests? How full does the tanker need to fiil it to have it out of danger from the surrounding groundwater? Just below the skimmer?
Thank you all for all of the advice on this site!!