Above ground low maintenance pool, Season II

[Pv2]

My Italian is not very good (LOL especially since I am trying to use my poor Mexican Spanish to translate) but this looks like what you want, not sure of cost or shipping on it though.

Taylor K-1515-A .75OZ FAS-DPD Chlorine Drop Test Kit | eBay

OK, after looking longer I think shipping would almost double the cost. But maybe you can use the name and number of the test kit to search there or even take to a store and ask if they have this item or something similar.

Again...your pool is really small enough that as long as your water is clean and the clorine can be guessed to be close to where it should be, you will be fine. If your water gets way off balance you can use it to water the grass and fill it up again. If you keep it TFT clean, you would not ever need to slam anyway!

 

[mikey78]

Thankyou Pv2 for replying,
I knew already about the test you mentioned above ... the point is that item (chlorine test only) plus shipping is going to be $50 !!!
I managed to find on ebay.com what I think is a better deal :
2 oz. bottles refills for chlorine(R0870 powder, R0871), cya (r0013C), salt (R0718) are going to be $57 plus $39 for the shipping (3-4 weeks) plus customs $30 (hope so) ...
The whole thing is pretty expensive but for people living this side of the Atlantic there is no alternative !!!

"...maybe you can use the name and number of the test kit to search there or even take to a store and ask if they have this item or something similar ... "
This is just a waste of time , trust me !!!

"...TFT clean..." can you explain better ?

While I was overthinking about what to do, I came across this thread : Water Testing - Precision vs Saving Reagents
As long as I can understand from the discussion if one is truly in need (like I'am) there is the chance to save reagents
making the test with 5ml size sample ... I did understand that this route is good if you slam and it's not accurate for the daily routine but didn't understand very well
(mainly because of the different language) how inaccurate it'is ....
Given a FC target of 5 to 10 ppm, and being very careful in measuring the water volume, Do I loose 10%, 20% or more accuracy ?
Sorry for asking so many questions but I'm a perfectionist !!!

 

[Pv2]

I know the commercial pool and spa products can be harder to find over there, but I bet if you had the time you might be able to figure out what the chemicals are and find them from a manufacturer somewhere. Maybe a pharmacist even? I am not sure. Chem geek was really good at explaining things but I don't think he posts here anymore. That is too bad, he could probably tell you way more than me! I think you understand that discussion better than I do! When it goes to margin of error and percentages my eyes kind of glaze over and I lose the ability to focus on the conversation. Ha!

TFT clean is what this website is all about - maintaining your pool with minimal chemicals and using a good test kit. Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

Where are you getting that FC target of 5 to 10 ppm? I thought you were using a SWG? Then it is only 3 to 5 ppm with CYA at 70, even less if CYA is lower - that can be tested using the color match test. Whatever way you are chlorinating there are ways to make educated guesses and save on test chemicals. Once you have a routine and know what your pool "wants" you don't need to test all the time, you can use the yellow comparison block in combination with pool math to approximate what is happening for daily maintenance. I know that sounds terrible to a perfectionist, but it can be done. Maybe good mental health exercise to let go of a little bit of that. ha ha

 

[mikey78]

Hello Pv2 ,
"Where are you getting that FC target of 5 to 10 ppm?" Yes, you are correct these levels are too high (I'm aware of the cya-chlorine chart for Swcg pools) it was just for reference, just to make you understand that if I go over 5ppm I don't know how far I'm from my target.
I'm already making "educated guesses" on my pool needings and am saving on test chemicals (I'm testing twice a week... could you believe that ? ) and at this point of the season I think I'll buy chemicals next spring !!!

My educated guesses :
My small pool burns a bit less than 1 ppm a day when not in use and covered by its tarp,
Chlorine consumption goes up to 4 ppm a day (or a bit more) when used and in full sun ....
With these guidelines I'm doing pretty good at the moment, considering my limited testing capacity !!!

I've also had the opportunity to run my swcg for a week now and have to say that I'm more than pleased with it !!!
At the moment this is my experience :
I've Intex swg mod. eco 7220, this model is without the copper electrode and I'm very pleased for that.
It is rated for 5gr/hour chlorine production, but I think it is a bit more, I would say 7gr/ hour,
because I can get 3ppm of chlorine in my pool (1200 gallons) with the device operating for two hours.
What I really like about the generator is that It has an on/off switch plus a built-in timer
that you can set from 1 to 12 hours (with one hour increments) ....
I've the Swcg plugged on a programmable weekly timer, I leave its switch on and the built in timer set for 3hours (or more It doesn't really matter) so that whenever the weekly timer gives electricity the device starts producing chlorine and stops when the programmable timer interrupts the power supply, this is important because this way you can override the internal timer and make the swcg work according to your needings.

One last thing must be said : The device, once is ON, starts producing chlorine after 20 seconds, so you could just put Swcg and filter pump on the same timer without running the risk of leaving the generator without water flaw !!!

Hope this can help you guys as much as I was helped by this community . . . just trying to give something back

 

[mikey78]

I forgot to mention that I've used a total of 13kg of salt to hit a level of 3000 ppm (as per manual instructions),
but the Swcg was already doing well at a level of 2600 ppm.
It's been a couple of weeks now and salt level has been quite steady