Did my pool guys mess up?

[berniedp]

Hi all,

First of all, if I posted this in the wrong section, then please by all means move it.

I have a local Pinch-a-Penny doing my pool maintenance (chemicals only) and am a bit surprised at what they did yesterday.
I have a salt water pool (about 8000 gallons) with a chlorinator (about 1 year old). The pool is clear - no cloudyness or algea or anything visible wrong.
Yesterday, the pool guys tested the water and, for some reason, found it necessary to add chlorine (on top of acid which they do almost weekly). I can see from my video cameras that they added an entire jug of their liquid chlorine (I think it’s 2.5 gallons).
Just out of curiosity, I did a chlorine test and got the following:

That looks concerning (at least to me).

Did the test again this morning:



So, my question: did the pool guys mess up? Or am I overthinking this?
And is it safe to swim?

Thanks,
B.

 

[mknauss]

They are 'pool guys'. They do not really understand pool water chemistry.

As we do not know your CYA level, and you do not have a FC test, we do not know if it is safe to swim.
If they added 2.5 gallons of 12.5%, that is 39 ppm FC in your pool. I hope you do not have a CYA of 100. 39 ppm FC is the SLAM level for 100 CYA.

Get your own proper test kit. Do your own pool water chemistry maintenance. Test Kits Compared

 

[Mike1162]

A gallon of chlorine for your size pool should have been enough. As Marty said we really don't know without the results from a recommended test kit.
I can't recall anyone else with a salt water chlorine generator also using a pool service. How much are you paying for their "expertise"?

 

[Oly]

The fact that you are concerned about the safety of your pool water should be your reason to invest in a proper test kit. A quality test kit puts you in control of your water chemistry.

 

[BowserB]

Hi Bernie. I'm not piling on, just recapping and expanding. Yes you need a proper test kit with a couple of options. You also have a SWSG, so you need to be able to test salt, too. So, go to tftestkits.net and get out your credit card. In terms of basics, you need what's included in the TF100 kit plus you need a Taylor K1766 salt test kit. Also to make testing so much easier, you need the SpeedStir. A lot of people also like the pH meter for its convenience (be sure to get the calibration liquid, too.) I just did a quick look, and it appears some or most of these are available in a combo set called the TF-Pro for $165. Please believe me when I say that would be money well spent. After just a few times, you'll be proficient with the testing, and I dare say not long after that, it will occur to you that you don't need a pool service and indeed might be better off without it.

Over the years, there have been quite a few things I have had to become competent and capable. Pool water chemistry testing is probably the easiest and worthwhile!

Oh, and to answer the question that was your topic, yes I think they probably did mess up.