First test with the Taylor k-2006(fas-dpd chorine) kit

[JasonLion]

On TA: anything in the red/pink range counts.
On CH: dots/lines are common and can be ignored.
On CYA: you should replace water to get the CYA level down. How aggressively you work on this depends on what your CYA level actually is. You can do the CYA test again with dilution (mix equal amounts of pool water and tap water together, do the CYA test on that, multiply the result by two). This is much less precise, but will tell you if the current level is around 100 or more like 200+.

 

[Patrick_B]

Red on the TA test. Push it to the end and add one more drop. If that last drop doesn't change the color any more, don't count it. As Jason said it isn't critical, but I tend toward pushing the end point all the way.

You should be worried more about the Cya. Keep the pH in line and worry about TA later. You need to focus on getting the Cya down before summer. Dilution/water replacement is the only way.

 

[pwrstrk]

Your CYA should be a concern. It's way to high. It's going to be difficult IMO to keep FC in the proper range for your CYA level. Your not even sure where it is and the dilution test lowers the accuracy of the test. If you ever have an algae outbreak your going to need a boat load of bleach to fight it. The CYA level needs to be lowered. Do the dilution test as described here to give you a better idea where it's at. Extended Test Kit Directions. Post number 8 I believe.
A 50% water change would not surprise me at all. Maybe a bit more.
Your other test look fine.

 

[sgt173]

Jason, I forgot about the Extended test kit directions yesterday.Sorry guys.
I know it was mentioned before by a few of you guys ,My mistake, I just forgot getting old here...LOL
I'm going to go out there now and do it again.You also mentioned to get the water temp up to room temp I think.
Is the temp critical my room temp is at 68 here and pool water is at 64 now does it matter if the water sets awhile or I can just put it under my arm to warm it up in a hurry.
I think Im going to have to drain off some water anyway now can I do this a little at a time or do I have to drain it all at once? The water table here is of concern to me. Plus the cost of water.I don't want to make it push the pool out of the ground.
Looks I better order some more R-0013 regent soon too!

 

[pwrstrk]

Water temps in the 60's should be fine for the test.
With your water table concerns just do replacements in thirds. No reason to drain half at once if there are concerns. Better to error on the side of caution.
Keep us posted on your findings !

 

[sgt173]

I redid the CYA with the extended test directions. Played with it several times and I'm going to call it at 190 between 90 and 100 mark each time
I guess I will be draining off some water soon.
Thanks pwrstrk for the answer and I'll do it in 1/3 increments too,better safe than sorry!
Another question I have on my CYA tube is what are the numbers 1.8, 4.5 and 9 levels used for?

 

[pwrstrk]

Well that test told the story. You'll be way better off lowering it in the long run. Just wish there was a better way to lower it for ya.
I don't know what those numbers on the tube mean. I use the TF100 kit and the tube doesn't have those numbers. I didn't even know the Taylor kit was laid out like that.
Somebody else should have an answer on that. Sorry can't help ya there.

 

[sgt173]

The numbers Im talking about is in the plastic tube on the right side like the 10, 25 and 44 level marks on the PH tube not on the black scale.

 

[JasonLion]

Another question I have on my CYA tube is what are the numbers 1.8, 4.5 and 9 levels used for?

I believe those are there due to the same plastic mold being used to make the very similar part used in the K-2005 test kit. In the K-2005 the DPD chlorine test can be done with dilution using those markings. It was probably simpler to just leave those markings in for the K-2006 version, rather than make a new plastic mold.

 

[sgt173]

Thanks again Jason, that makes sense to me about the markings.I was just curious why they was there and no mention of them.
Now do you guys think I should stop testing anything else except maybe the PH until I get the CYA levels in line? I was going to take out at least 50% of my water maybe a little more since the pool is only a little more than 5' deep and the water here has a heavy chlorine count coming out the tap.
BTW Jason,Thanks for making the handy Pool Calculator and pool math it makes it so much easier for novices like me figuring out all of this stuff.

 

[JasonLion]

As long as the PH isn't way wildly out of range and you will be replacing water in the next few days, there isn't much point in adjusting anything until after the water replacement.

 

[Patrick_B]

Also, TF test kits puts these reagents on sale early March, so wait till then. They sell all the same reagents, and they are fresh and new.

 

[sgt173]

OK guys I'm doing my drain off a foot at a time to get my CYA levels inline.I'm going to take about a foot out at a time and I was wondering if there is any recommendation on the best way to get the I guess what you would call a calcium build up from the tile that shows up after the water drops.I was thinking maybe I could use MA and a brush before I refilled it.I just brushed it and it came back as soon as it dried.
I didn't know if I should have started a new thread or leave it here since its a different subject.
Any handy tips would be appreciated... Pic below of what it looks like.Thanks

 

[JasonLion]

You want to brush on somewhat diluted muriatic acid. In this situation you will probably want to use one part of acid added to four parts of water, assuming 31.45% muriatic acid. The acid should fizz when applied to the tile, and should be rinsed off with plenty of pool water as soon as it stops fizzing.

 

[sgt173]

Thanks Jason, I was wondering how much to dilute it.I just remembered too that since I just moved here I left my acid brush and rubber gloves so I'll have to go out tomorrow and get some so I'll just do it tomorrow when I drain it down again before I refill it.

 

[sgt173]

Now I got my CYA levels down after 2 days of draining and refilling.
Done a full test
Water temp is now 70 and rising since it turned warmer here

FC 4.5
CC 0
PH 7.4
CH 300
CYA 80 now (was 190)
CSI level I think is about 0.2 - 0.3 from what I can on my kit tell but the Pool Math says something a lot different unless I am reading it wrong.
I am also re-thinking the size of the pool is smaller than what I thought so I'm going to change the gal. size to about 7000
Its hard to tell because it kind of a bowl shape pool and not as deep as I thought.
Any further suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[pwrstrk]

Your CYA is still a tad high. FC needs to come up too. Your water temp will support algae growth now. If you would have an algae outbreak now it would take a lot of bleach to fight it at that CYA level.
If it were my pool I would lower it some more.
50-60 would be a good place to be for your CYA. I would target FC at 10 and never below 6 if you leave your CYA where it's at. Only bleach for chlorine now as there is no room for using the pucks.

 

[sgt173]

Yes I do still want to get my CYA down a tad more, but for now I'm just going to have to leave it alone for now It took me along time to drain that out and refill it the last few days.I only have a small pump and a few garden hoses to drain it down with here and I have some stuff coming up I have to do and cant stay here to to monitor the drain and refill but I'll get on that again in the next few days.I just added 96 oz of bleach to it awhile ago to get my FC back up to about a 10 level I while test it again tomorrow and adjust it if needed but the CYA will have to wait a little while.
Thanks for the advice pwrstrk Im not sure what to do about the CSI reading? is it what the pool math says or what I read on the scale I got with my K-2006 Watergram??

 

[pwrstrk]

As long as you keep all your parameters in the recommended ranges don't sweat the CSI.
That's fine to take care of the CYA later. Most important to keep your FC in range. You've done a good job so far !!

 

[sgt173]

Tested my FC today now its at a 14 is that too high?I added 2Qts of bleach after doing my refills and it was at a 4.5 before that.
Also my PH seemed to have went up overnight to 7.8-8 ?? Not sure what to think about that.
I'm still thinking they have been overestimated the actual gal.size or the pool.The pool size is funny shape too so its hard to tell,
but I just found some paperwork from the actual PB and it says approximately 6100 gals. was used to fill the pool. So I'm going to use that figure for my dimensions.
I downsized it from the owners saying it was 8505 when I first got here and after last night I added what the PoolMath guide said to get it up to 11 @ 2qts 2cups for a 7000 gal pool. I guess I got it up.
I guess my question now is can adding just bleach increase my PH that much overnight. I haven't been running the waterfall just the pump for a few hours to mix it up.Also the TA says to add 43 ozs of baking soda It was at 70 yesterday. PH says to add 8ozs to get it back down to a 7.4
I'm kind of confused as to what to do baking soda raises it and MA lowers it.
I'm going to have to leave it alone for the next few days so what would you say I should do at this point?
Thanks