Testing Results Having trouble with Calcium

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520wilbur

0
Jun 6, 2015
5
Tucson, Az
Last weekend my pool turned green so I added Algeicide and 5 lbs of shock. Normally Algeicide does the trick throughout my few years of being a pool owner however this time it did not. I did not have a test kit because for the most part of the last 2 years my pool has been clear and blue. After reading some posts I decided to put put 12 gallons of liquid chlorine into my pool. Now my pool is back to blue after the week but still a little cloudy. I can see the bottom of the deep end but it is not 100 % clear. I receieved my td-100 kit yesterday and here are my results

FC-45
CC-0
TA-250 This one turned yellow at 25 drops. I am asssuming it wont turn red because of my high chlorine
pH-7.8
CYA-135

Now to the CH testing. I could not get the water to turn blue. It turned clear after 50 drops of the r-0012. 300 drops later and it still hasnt turned blue. I need help.
 
Welcome to the forum :wave:

Well you've gotten ahead of yourself here. It does sound like you needed to SLAM, but there is a procedure. I suggest lowering your Cya way down by drain and refill until it's a reasonable level of 30-40. Otherwise, you will be spinning your wheels. That is too high a stabilizer level to SLAM with. Get it down there first, and let's work it from there. Take some time to review the slam procedure while you are getting this done. It will no doubt help with your other levels which really need to be addressed later. Until this is under control it will be a rough go getting and keeping the pool clear.
 
First, welcome to TFP!

Glad to see you got the Cadillac of test kits, that makes things much easier going forward.

How did you get a CYA reading of 135? The test only goes to 100 so that seems like a very odd result.

With an FC of 45 the pH test does not work correctly and I am guessing the CH one was affected as well. Best to wait until you are able to drop your FC before taking another set of pH, TA, and CH tests.

We still need to know how you got your CYA number, but assuming that is correct you will need to reduce that quite a bit. It also sounds like you just dumped a bunch of chlorine in to the pool, which can be very dangerous to the pool and equipment. The method taught here is SLAM, where you raise the FC level to a specific level and hold it there until the water is clear and tests show that everything growing is gone. You can read about it here: Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
 
I suffer from astronomical Calcium as well. I feel your pain. If you don;t yet own a speedstir, get one. It makes CH testing a whole lot easier and accurate. My CH reading dropped 200 just by using the speedstir when I test!

That said, my method...

10 ml sample. 5 drops R-0012 and mix a minute. 10 drops R-0010 and mix 30-40 seconds. Then 5 drops R-0011. It makes the color deeper and easier to read than just 3. I think that was your problem. It faded out. Okay, swirl that mix until it's a uniform pink. Then start adding drops of R-0012 while swirling. You can't swirl too much. I tend to drop mine 2 at a time until the color goes to what I call indigo. When it gets to that color, swirl an extra minute. Sometimes that will push it to blue. If not, resume counting one drop at a time and swirl between drops until your wrist is sore. It will turn sky blue at some point. And if at any point it gets too pale to see, add another drop of R-0011.
 
I got the cya reading based on the instructions with the test kit. I couldnt see the black dot well before the water reach the 100 mark on the tube so I just guessed it was 135.

How would I drop my FC level and where do I need to drop it? Yes that is what I did dumped a bunch of chlorine in the pool thinking it would be the trick. I was worried the water would have gotten worse.

Should I wait to retest my CH level the Richard320 way?
 
520wilbur said:
I got the cya reading based on the instructions with the test kit. I couldnt see the black dot well before the water reach the 100 mark on the tube so I just guessed it was 135.

How would I drop my FC level and where do I need to drop it? Yes that is what I did dumped a bunch of chlorine in the pool thinking it would be the trick. I was worried the water would have gotten worse.

Should I wait to retest my CH level the Richard320 way?
Click to expand...
If you want to know the CH, that's how to do it.
CYA dilution test is given in Extended Test Kit Directions Post 8, Step 9.

If you intend to SLAM to get rid of algae, you'll need to drain off some water to lower the CYA.
 
I re tested your way Richard and it still wouldnt turn blue after 100 drops. After 100 drops I dropped 1 drop of r-0011L it did turn blue. I am still at a lost with with test. Like I said earlier the water turns clear after about 50 drops of r-0012. I am almost out of r-0012 trying to do this test. I am going to re try the cya now.
 
520wilbur said:
Yes I did multiple cya tests. I did the straight pool water in the viewing tube and I could see the black dot. Should I just drain the whole pool or a certain amount?
Click to expand...
CYA is evenly mixed in the pool water. If you're at 140 and you want to be at 50, you drain off 90/140 or 64% If you know your average pool depth, it is just simple arithmetic.
 

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520wilbur said:
New results after I drained about 15k.

pH-7.8
FC-16
cc-0
ch-575
ta-170
cya-100

2 things one is this ok to swim in? Also I am at a lost for the cya level. What should I do next?
Click to expand...
If you can see the bottom of the pool, technically I'd guess it's safe to swim. People swim in lakes that are a lot greener with algae. However, I've become a pool snob and I hesitate to even get ion a cloudy pool.

Ideally, you'd replace some more water to get CYA reasonable and then SLAM the pool. Until you kill it all, the algae is going to just keep growing until you have a gooey swamp.
 
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