Results of first water test...

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J

jonsimp911

0
Apr 29, 2015
22
Atlanta, GA
Hello everyone!

Long time lurker as a guest. I've learned a lot by just reading the posts here for the last month. I've had an AG Intex in the past, but didn't really know what I was doing. Lasted a couple of years, but had a few minor leaks due to rocks underneath because of my lack of prep-work, so I just bought a new Polygroup 14' round pool this year. Through the wall skimmer and 1500gph pump are nice qualities to have on a pool this small (~3500 gallons where I have it filled).

Haven't been able to swim in it yet with the temps being unusually low for ATL, but I ordered my first testkit from tftestkits.com and here are the results:

FC - 11
CC - 0
TA - 165
PH - 7.2
CYA - 40
CH - 90

The reason for the FC being so high is because I've been using some of my old trichlor tablets while the pool has been covered. Didn't realize it had gotten so high - test strips suck! I will be switching to bleach this year, but I figured I'd use them to get some CYA in the water to start off with.

TA is a bit high because went overboard on some baking soda a couple of weeks ago. Water is crystal clear, and high PH doesn't seem to be an issue, so I figured with such a low CH, I didn't have to worry about cloudy water much. Letting it go for now...

PH is a bit lower than I though it would be (again, test strips are terrible). It was 7.8 when I added the baking soda according to pool store. Just turned my return jet upside down to aerate the water while I'm running the pump. I assume that will help.

CYA may or may not be accurate - water temp was about 65F when I ran the test. I forgot to let the water warm up first.

CH is low, but I don't think it's a problem with a vinyl liner, correct?

Either way, I just pulled my trichlor tabs out due to the high FC and reasonable CYA numbers. I'll let it get down to 5 or 6 and maintain that level with bleach provided my CYA test is accurate. It sounds accurate to me since I added stabilizer a few weeks ago to get it to 30 and have been using pucks since then.

Anyway, any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave:

Levels look pretty good. FC is of course higher than needed, just let that float down to recommended level for 40 CYA. TA can be actively lowered by adding acid to bring pH down to 7 - 7.2 and TA down, then aerating to bring pH back up. It's the adding acid part that lowers TA, not aeration. You can do this slowly over time or fast mode by increasing aeration, frequency of need to add acid. CH is not critical for vinyl pools. Helpful to have at least a little so anywhere from 50-350 is fine for vinyl pools. Don't add anything to increase CH. I'd say your CYA reading is good enough to assume 40 ppm. Could test in a week or so if you need reassurance, but it's probably fine.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Looks like you are starting off on the right foot :goodjob:

I think you evaluated your results very well and seems you have a good understanding.
The CYA is probably pretty close, might be a little low due to water temp.
You are right the low CH does not matter for your pool.

Feel free to ask any questions if they come up, but I think you are heading for a great pool season. :party:
 
The low pH was caused by the acidic trichlor pucks. Without that slow acid feed, I expect your pH will rise pretty rapidly. Just add acid to go back to 7.2 whenever pH rises to 7.8. The TA will drop some every time you add acid. There's no reason to get aggressive about it. You're far away from danger of scaling with that low CH.
 
Thanks for all the feedback!

Richard320 - I realized just after I posted that the CYA in the stabilizer/trichlor tabs has probably been lowering my PH. You're comment has confirmed that in my mind.

JVTrain - I've read about the muriatic acid, aerate, repeat trick for lowering TA, but since the only downside to high TA (other than cloudy water/scaling which is unlikely considering my low CH) is a gradual involuntary increase in PH, I probably won't worry about using that tactic now since PH is currently down to 7.2 from 7.8 without adding any MA.

Now that CYA is good, I'm going to quit the pucks. From what I've read, everything should stay the same except the PH may rise due to the high TA in which case I'll throw some MA in there which should lower the PH and TA simultaneously bringing me into the target ranges.

Of course, I'll allow FC to drop to my target of around 6ppm and maintain with liquid chlorine/bleach.

I need the weather to warm up so I can swim! LOL
 
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