CYA reagent

[Luric]

I recently bought replacement r-0013 from Amazon. We tested CYA tonight and got about 20 after having had a level of around 10 and adding 4 lbs of stabilizer a little over a week ago. This was my husband's 1st time testing, and after asking if the dot was cloudy enough multiple times before we both finally called it 20, I had him do the control test included in my TF-100 kit to see what it should look like. He got 35 with that pool water and our new r-0013. I'd done the control test when I 1st got the kit a few weeks ago, and it came out to the perfect 50 it was supposed to. I watched him perform the test, and he did everything properly. Am I correct in thinking for the control test to be 35, my new r-0013 must be faulty?

On a related note, is there any concern in leaving my CYA around 20 until I can get better/more inaccurate r-0013 to test? Or should I go ahead and add, say 2 lbs of stabilizer to at least get things going for now?

 

[OTPirate]

Do you have any of your old R-0013 left? Is the R-0013 you ordered on Amazon from Taylor Technologies? If so, they started putting expiration dates on their bottles well over a year and a half ago-does it have an expiration date?


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[needsajet]

A few tips for the test:
Stand with your back to the sun, test tube at waist height in the shade of your body, and look straight down
Don't wrap your hand around the test tube; the light needs to get in to light up the particles
Glance, then look away, glance, then look away. If you don't see the dot right away, you're done. If you do, add a bit more solution
After a reading, pour the test tube contents back into the mixing vial and give it a shake; re-test several times to get confidence
Use the standard solution to find the lighting conditions that work for you

 

[atttech-2]

I think ordering a new one is a safe thing to do just to be sure.

However if your pool truly is 45K gallons 4LB of CYA would raise the level by 11ppm, if it is 35K the level would rise 14ppm both within the margin of error and making the first test seems to be valid.

I don't see a problem keeping the pool at the 20 level till you can be sure, but I would keep the FC around 5 ppm just incase the level is higher than you think. Keeping it at 5 will keep you covered even if the real CYA number is more like 50 and still be safe to swim in if it truly is only 20.

 

[Luric]

I know it's not really encouraged here, but would my local pool store test for CYA? I just tried the r-7065 test again (after hubby got 35ish with it last night) and got about 45/50, did my own pool water and got 25ish...I feel like I'm just not quite getting the hang of the test yet and would benefit from a little more oversight & certainty, esp since I'm sure my level isn't high enough and does need to be adjusted. My bottle says Taylor but was fullfilled via Amazon by a 3rd party. It has an expiration date of 2/18. I opened it a few days ago and can't remember if it had a tamper-proof seal on the top. I'm leaning towards it having had one, so the soluion SHOULD be fine and the discrepancy/uncertainty is on my end

I know I also need to become more certain of how much water I have which is going to be tough with our irregularly shaped pool. Does anyone know if there's an accurate way I can gauge water volume off how much chlorine or something goes up based on how much chemical I add?

 

[atttech-2]

It sounds like you are getting very near where you should be so I am going to say the test where you showed the 50 ppm control sample low was just a testing error. The rest of your tests have been near enough. You should be safe adding another 4LB of CYA I am fairly certain your current level is between 20 and 25.

As for pool volume there are 2 methods I would use. first is try breaking the pool up into smaller sections and measure length width and depth of each section and use a calculator to get the volume of each and add the results together. My PB told me my pool was going to be about 16K but when I did the method above I got 12,500 only a couple hundred off the real number. I was able to get the real number because our water in metered and I took readings before and after the fill.

The second method uses pool math. Pick a volume to start with in your case 35K and test your FC level then use pool math to see how much bleach you need to increase the level by say 2 ppm. With the pump running add the amount sugested and test again in an hour. If your FC increased by 2 you have near enough to the correct volume, if you fall short adjust your volume, up if you overshoot adjust the volume down. You need to do the test a few times at least to be sure and this might be the one situation I can think of where the 25ml .2ppm test would come in handy.

 

[needsajet]

Well explained!! +1 ^^^

I just add one thing, be sure you have bleach about 1 month old from a high volume store. Around maybe 16140 to 16170 manufacture date

 

[duraleigh]

There is little chance of the R-0013 being faulty. It is chemically inert and can actually last for years.