Chlorine level for low and high water temp

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There is a temperature effect, not sure how big it actually is. I always bring my sample in, fill my CYA mixing tube with pool water to the line, then run all my other tests. Then I get back to the CYA test and add the test reagent. Like that my sample is more or less at room temperature. Worth a try to rule that out.
 
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ok did some testing today, got the water to room temp, did the cya test, it was very very faint at 50, thats looking down at it from waist level sun behind me, when i topped up to 40 dot was gone, i tipped it out and redid got same result,
but really it was very faint at 50 and after taking in to account i have added 2.8 kg of stabilizer i am leaning towards saying its 50, should really be 80 after adding 2.8 stabilizer, so very very faint at 50 would be the best guess, wouldn't it ?

so going on cya 50 pool math says FC 6, checked the FC its now 5.2 so i added another litre of chlorine to target 6
 
Yep, assume 50 for now. What helped me to get familiar with the CYA test was doing the test with a reference sample. Clear Choice Labs sells a 50ppm CYA-standard. Running the test with that helped me a lot to read the test correctly (at least I hope I'm reading it correctly now...). Might be worth ordering once you need refills.
 
ok will get the cya test, i will need to order stuff from clear choice when my taylor regents get low, i been testing a lot..

so i am following pool math all good but just so i understand a bit more, as FC is a lot higher using the pool math cya /fc calculations, like i need FC 6 with 50 cya, where the general thing i read from pool shops or on the net is FC 3, i am not arguing what pool math says you guys know your stuff and follow it , so im happy to tag along! but as FC is higher using pool math calculation isn't that pushing the chlorinator overtime trying to keep it at FC6, compared to the average rule out there of FC 3 ?

i have never run a chlorinator so maybe thats no big deal, fc3 or fc6 or more no problem

also just fitted a new daisy pool blanket today and warranty form says never let FC get higher than 2.5....im not worried I'm sure blanket wont disintegrate over night, but daisy expects pool owner to keep it no higher than 2.5,
but i think i understand that the correct cya level makes the chlorine less harsh even though its a higher level

i am starting to think this pool blanket stuff is a headache, now i learn it has to come off every few days, and as my pool has a curve on one side it dont come off that easy, need 2 people or i need to walk around both sides feeding it out of pool....no fun there

.
 
kimkats said:
Covers are a pain.
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ok i figured it was because cya changes the old school thoughts.....yep i have a bull terrier but fenced so he is not getting on that blanket, but just after my short time with blanket today i am wondering if i should have got a blanket, the way it drags over the edge of the limestone coping i can see its going to wear fast, but its early days i might get used to it....maybe
 
The FC/CYA thing is the one big thing to get your head around when doing TFP. It might sound daunting in the beginning to go higher than pool stores recommend, but it all makes sense.

With CYA in the water most of the chlorine is bound to the CYA and not immediately available to kill algae and bacteria, and is also not aggressive to swimmers and equipment . But once "active" chlorine gets used (by UV or killing stuff), chlorine that was bound to CYA gets released. It's like a chlorine reservoir. The chlorine bound to CYA shows up in the FC test, because while the chlorine is being "used" by the test reagents, more chlorine gets released from the CYA very quickly.

But because most of the chlorine is bound to CYA, you need a higher FC level to have enough active chlorine (called Hypochlorous Acid or HOCl) in the water to keep it sanitized and algae free.

Not adjusting the FC level, particularly at higher CYA levels, leeds sooner or later to a green swamp. That's when pool services tell their customers that they have "chlorine lock due to high TDS" or similar made up explanations without understanding what is actually going on (not enough chlorine), and drain and refill the pool.

Pool "professionals" go apoplectic about FC 6 with CYA 40, but consider FC 3 with CYA 0 to be fine - the active chlorine concentration in the second case is about 20 times higher. That's why you feel like you got bleached in a public pool, but you will hardly notice the chlorine in your pool.

Once you are at your target level (what you are currently doing with bleach), your SWG only has to top up the daily losses, maybe 2 or 3ppm per day. With enough CYA you will limit chlorine loss by UV and make the pool manageable for both, bleach and SWG.
 
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FIESTA62 said:
im about to order the cya test from clear choice too.....
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Just to avoid confusion: The Clear Choice Labs CYA test itself is pretty much the same as the Taylor one, the test tube looks a bit different, but the reagent is identical. But it might be worth just getting the CYA 50ppm standard solution they are selling. You use that instead of pool water for a CYA test, and then you'll have a benchmark how it's supposed to look with a sample with known CYA.

They also sell the speedstir (I think they call it smartstir). I highly recommend that, makes testing do much easier by not having to drop and stir at the same time (doesn't help for the CYA test, but great for all the other tests).
 

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FIESTA62 said:
yep understand, i ordered the 50ppm standard to compare my tests to,

and i also noticed the speed stir and was keen on that, but i use the Taylor comparator it wont sit on the speed stir properly will it ? the Taylor comparator has all the colour windows to compare PH etc, .....
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The speedstir should work for all the titration tests, where you have to drop and swirl until the colour changes, i.e. TA, CH and FAS-DPD for FC. Looks like in my Avatar - you put the test tube with the stirrer bean on top of the speedstir and the bean will be rotated magnetically by the speedstir.

The Clear Choice Labs speedstir (which they call smartstir) comes with its own test tube and a matching bean that you can use for all tests. With the Clear Choice Labs test kits you get tubes for each test that also fit onto the smartstir (they add a smaller bean to the smartstir box that fits their test tubes). I have test tubes for each test (got them anyway with my kit) and bought enough beans on ebay so that I can run all my tests in a row and then rinse everything afterwards.
 
mgtfp said:
But it might be worth just getting the CYA 50ppm standard solution they are selling. You use that instead of pool water for a CYA test, and then you'll have a benchmark how it's supposed to look with a sample with known CYA.
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hi, i got the 50ppm cya from clear choice, sunny day here went to pool and put the clear choice cya into the taylor test comparator, at 50 the dot was clearly visible, i filled to the top of the test comparator and could still see the black dot easy, just did again the cya water in the test comparator looks virtually clear even when filled to the top, its not telling me anything may as well put tap water in test, am i missing something here ?
 
You did add the CYA reagent in as well, did you? The Clear Choice Labs standard is just a water sample that contains 50ppm of CYA. You use it instead of a pool water sample to run a normal test, with the advantage that you know what your test should read.
 
opps nope i just poured sample into test thinking it would read 50ppm....ok will do it again, also i just tested using pool water again, to be 100% dot gone its 40, 50 is very faint but it needs to be 40 to fully hide the dot....anyway im onto the cya test sample, thanks
 
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ok i did the test and the dot is very very faint at 90, 100% gone at 80, u could almost call it 90 as it was really faint i had to stare to see dot at 90, i put in the 7ml of clear choice water into taylor comparator and topped up to 14ml with the taylor 0013 regent

i am using taylor regent 0013 a new kit i bought few months ago so i assume regents are ok, there are 3 bottles of 0013 in the kit , i opened a new bottle and tested again same result 80/90, using clear choice water....using pool water 40, something is not right

but isnt the clear choice water supposed to show 50 ?
 
Doesn't sound right with the reference sample, it should show 50ppm. I could understand variations of around +/-15 depending on exact lighting conditions, mixing ratio of sample and reagent, etc. You could try to change the lighting conditions until you read 50ppm, but that would also imply that your pool readings would be even lower what doesn't really match your CYA additions.

Maybe @BrettClearChoiceLabs wants to chime in and help us out here?
 

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