Just got my TF-100 and I'm wondering if I can go out and get a bottle full of water and then go back inside and use the water as needed for each test. Or should I just get fresh water for each individual test?
Can I get a bottle of water for multiple tests or do each one on its own?
- Thread starter MikeDub
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Absolutely get a mug or bottle or jug of water and use that for all your tests. Aim to reach about 18" down in the pool- I use a small piece of PVC tubing as a pipette for my water sample.
Maddie
Maddie
gingrbredman
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- Jun 10, 2020
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Same here as Maddie.
My son really go into the testing at the end of last year, and always felt like a mad scientist at a table in the garage with with all the gear. We drop a PVC pipe in the pool about two feet down, grab the water and dump it into a large beaker. He sits at the table in the garage and transfers the water from the large beaker to all the tubes for the tests. He liked it so much, he performed every test every day towards the end of the season. May need to get more reagents with so much testing, but if I can get him that involved in the process, the cost of the reagents is worth it to me.
I usually just sat at the side of the pool with the kit and my "pool ipad" to record all the tests, but still grabbed all the water for the tests at once.
My son really go into the testing at the end of last year, and always felt like a mad scientist at a table in the garage with with all the gear. We drop a PVC pipe in the pool about two feet down, grab the water and dump it into a large beaker. He sits at the table in the garage and transfers the water from the large beaker to all the tubes for the tests. He liked it so much, he performed every test every day towards the end of the season. May need to get more reagents with so much testing, but if I can get him that involved in the process, the cost of the reagents is worth it to me.
I usually just sat at the side of the pool with the kit and my "pool ipad" to record all the tests, but still grabbed all the water for the tests at once.
I thought you should be testing outside with bright sunlight?
Also, get a squeeze bottle, it makes getting a sample at elbow depth really easy. Stick the bottle in elbow deep, squeeze the air out and let the water in.
Also, get a squeeze bottle, it makes getting a sample at elbow depth really easy. Stick the bottle in elbow deep, squeeze the air out and let the water in.
gingrbredman
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Don't think it really matter "where" you test, as long as you can see the colors well. My garage has some bright lights, and white backgrounds so we can see the colors perfectly in there. I'd prefer to be outside in the sun doing it myself, but like I said, my kid feels all "mad scientist" at a table in the garage with all the gear haha!
- Nov 12, 2017
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I prefer to test inside, in my laundry room, which has a nice big granite counter, a sink, and no windows. The conditions are always the same, day or night, every day of the year. I have both overhead and under-cabinet LED lights that produce a bright, consistent, neutral white light. Testing outdoors subjects the process to available lighting, which is different depending on time of day and season. Those are consistent conditions. And testing consistently is the goal: same conditions and same methods each time.
I use a Leslie's sample squirt bottle. They give them away for free. Next time you need chlorine, buy some from Leslie's and grab a sampler. Just don't let them sell you anything else! Ideal amount of water, and the squirt nozzle makes it very easy to meter out just the right amount. I have two (I buy all my chlorine at Leslie's). When I do a full suite of tests I grab two samples, as I get a little low from all the rinsing between tests. (Always pre-rinse your test gear with the pool water you're testing that day. Then tap water when you're done.)
I collect the sample all at once, then bring it inside. Like others, I pipette water out of the pool from down below, always in the same spot, about midway between deep and shallow end, well away from any returns. I built myself a custom pipe from 3/4" PVC, about 2' long, with 3/8" holes drilled into each cap. I find the caps help the process. The trick to getting a good sample with a pipe is to hold your thumb over the top hole before dipping it into the water, then release your thumb after you get to depth. That way, the pipe fills with 18" water only. I sample twice. Once to rinse both the pipe and the squirt bottle, then I shake that out and collect a second sample and that's what I test.
The pipe is great year round, as it saves me from having to get down on the ground to stick my arm that far under, but it's especially nice in the winter, when the water is so co-co-co-cold!
I use a Leslie's sample squirt bottle. They give them away for free. Next time you need chlorine, buy some from Leslie's and grab a sampler. Just don't let them sell you anything else! Ideal amount of water, and the squirt nozzle makes it very easy to meter out just the right amount. I have two (I buy all my chlorine at Leslie's). When I do a full suite of tests I grab two samples, as I get a little low from all the rinsing between tests. (Always pre-rinse your test gear with the pool water you're testing that day. Then tap water when you're done.)
I collect the sample all at once, then bring it inside. Like others, I pipette water out of the pool from down below, always in the same spot, about midway between deep and shallow end, well away from any returns. I built myself a custom pipe from 3/4" PVC, about 2' long, with 3/8" holes drilled into each cap. I find the caps help the process. The trick to getting a good sample with a pipe is to hold your thumb over the top hole before dipping it into the water, then release your thumb after you get to depth. That way, the pipe fills with 18" water only. I sample twice. Once to rinse both the pipe and the squirt bottle, then I shake that out and collect a second sample and that's what I test.
The pipe is great year round, as it saves me from having to get down on the ground to stick my arm that far under, but it's especially nice in the winter, when the water is so co-co-co-cold!
@gingrbredman ...keep your eyes open. The test kit company often has sales in early spring for reagent refills. Gotta give your son some materials to work with, yknow?
Maddie
The CYA test really does better with full sun at your back outside. Black dot easier to see/not see.
I am jealous of your toolbox test kit! Mine is spilling out of the case it came in, since I also try to cram the salt kit and the speedstir in there.
I do CYA test outside, everything else inside. I use a giant syringe with a long clear flexible tube attached to suck up the water. Syringe pulls enough water for all the tests.
Why am I picturing you using what is obviously a jello shooter syringe....
gingrbredman
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@gingrbredman ...keep your eyes open. The test kit company often has sales in early spring for reagent refills. Gotta give your son some materials to work with, yknow?
Maddie
It's like Maddie sees the future!
I think that is good advice! The CYA test needs good light so you can see, or not see the dot. But when I'm talking about my son doing tests in the garage, maybe some think of a dark, cramped space. But like Dirk's space, it is always well lit and we never had issues yet. And well, my garage, really isn't your "typical" garage haha!
I know we are not "typical" when it comes to these things, but we all have our vices. We really go through a ton of reagents with my son doing all the tests, then I like to "double check" some of the work while I'm pools side as well!
I use my CYA squirt bottle. It holds plenty for your weekly tests and will drop small enough to get the 10 MLs right. You won’t need to test the CH/TA/CYA often once they are in range and on those times go get more of you need it.
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I’m big on the rinsing, one sample bottle may not be enough for me but it wouldn’t be hard to collect another. I rinse three times with pool water and then two or three times with tap water when I’m finished. The pvc pipette is a great idea but don’t forget that the pipette and sample bottles need to be rinsed with tap water when your finished too.
There’s no problem with bringing a simple indoors and I do that occasionally. If you collect a sample for all the tests it would be best practice to do the FC first. Temperature is probably best checked at the pool.
There’s more on testing with links to sample collecting here.
www.troublefreepool.com
There’s no problem with bringing a simple indoors and I do that occasionally. If you collect a sample for all the tests it would be best practice to do the FC first. Temperature is probably best checked at the pool.
There’s more on testing with links to sample collecting here.
Water Testing Instructions - Further Reading
www.troublefreepool.com
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Geeze, specialized samplers, dedicated "labs", custom kits.
I have an old cup that I hold upside down, stick it under the water and then turn it right side up. I then take it to one of my sheds (the one near the pool where I keep the lawn tractor) and do my testing there on a scrap piece of plywood that I made a shelf out of. I keep my test kit in the same plastic case the TFT Kits sold it to me in. I keep telling myself I need to get a bigger plastic shoe box to hold the oversized CYA regent and speed stir in, but I have been telling myself that for almost 10 seasons now.
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I have an old cup that I hold upside down, stick it under the water and then turn it right side up. I then take it to one of my sheds (the one near the pool where I keep the lawn tractor) and do my testing there on a scrap piece of plywood that I made a shelf out of. I keep my test kit in the same plastic case the TFT Kits sold it to me in. I keep telling myself I need to get a bigger plastic shoe box to hold the oversized CYA regent and speed stir in, but I have been telling myself that for almost 10 seasons now.
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