First pool and test results

[Fruitygalore]

Hi all,

This looks to be a great resource I have found on my travels to try to understand how to get my pool into a condition that is swimmable. It is the first time I have owned a pool and it came with the house I purchased around a month ago (and where the pool was covered for winter at the time so may not have been treated for a month or two or more prior to that again). Apologies for the long post although I have no idea what I am doing although happy to give it all a crack and if I can't get it sorted will get one of the pool companies to look at it in due course.

The pool is small saltwater kidney shaped pool approximately 6m long and 3m wide at its widest point (the area is 14.2m2 and I think it varies in depth from about 1.1m to 1.6m from what I can find online). I don't know the make of it although I believe it to be similar to this one: Maxi-Swim Fibreglass Small Swimming Pool | Sapphire Pools

I've tried to work out the volume using online calculators and think it is in the order of 18 to 19 thousand litres.

It is coming to the end of winter in Australia (NSW) so I might be trying to get it ready a little too soon although thought now is as good a time as any

I started with buying some salt and general pool test strips from Bunnings and found them to not be very good. They did report very low chlorine/free chlorine, low alkalinity and high hardness though. From further searching, the Whirlpool forums recommended the Clear Choice Lab test kit for Australia and I have purchased that and just tested it all after it arrived today; it reminded me of high school chemistry.

The test logs are at PoolMath Logs

The pH was actually less than 6.8 although the test range doesn't report lower than 6.8.

I also bought some chlorine pucks from Bunnings and a floating dispenser and put one in a week ago.

About 3 days ago I added 20kg of salt to the pool as the salt test strip I used said it was low. The salt cholrinator control panel is also warning that the salt is low and it is reporting 0 chlorine generation. I tested the salt with the better test kit and it was 3800ppm today. I've added another approximately 6kg of salt which is what the pool math calculator suggested.

I have run the filter the past two days (4 hours the first day and 8 hours today). The salt chlorinator is reporting low salt and not generating any chlorine from what I can tell. I will post some photos tomorrow also. The filter is set to 'filter' although the pressure gauge is showing 0 when running; I tried tapping it like some articles online suggested although still see no pressure reported.

I struggled to get the pump cover off although eventually did and cleaned the pump basket. I also cleaned the skimmer basket today and vacuumed part of the leaf matter (there is a lot) from the bottom of the pool and emptied a load of leafs out afterwards; I'll give the floor a better clean tomorrow also. There is a Barracuda (I think) suction cleaner also although I'm not sure yet that it is properly working/moving around although I was at work all day so wasn't watching it.

It seems that the chlorine is low, free chlorine is very low, total alkalinity is non existent and pH is low. What would be the suggested treatment order/steps to improve this? I'll go look at Bunnings tomorrow although I'm thinking from a brief read that I need liquid chlorine, baking soda and borax maybe?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Cheers

 

[randytsuch]

I don't think its possible for TA to be zero, so pretty sure you didn't do that test correctly.
EDIT: Guess I need to change possible to likely

Think you kit uses the same reagents we use over here, so see this link for some advice

First concern is getting you FC up
FC levels
They say to aim for 6, I'd aim for 8 with a CYA of 80ish.

Recommended levels
You can add borax to bring up your PH, and will get some borates in your pool too.

EDIT2: I'd stop using pucks, they will raise your CYA levels and they look good now. Just use liquid chlorine to get FC up and SWG to keep it there.

Randy

 

[mknauss]

I don't think its possible for TA to be zero, so pretty sure you didn't do that test correctly.

It is possible, the pH will be 4.5.

 

[Britali]

I am no expert but it is weird to me that your filter gauge is showing 0 pressure. Is the water flowing back into your pool when it is running? It is a sand filter right? Have you opened it to make sure there is sand in it?

 

[Fruitygalore]

Thanks all for the comments. I can't seem to get the PoolMath Log share to work now for some reason although I have added various chemicals (logged in the app if the link works) and now have the following results:
FC 2.8
pH 7.6
TA 75
CH 350
CYA 75
Salt 4400

I couldn't find any liquid chlorine at my local Bunnings so used granular chlorine instead. It looks like I still need to add more. The pool looks fairly clean although the equipment is concerning, will post further on that soon.

 

[Fruitygalore]

I am no expert but it is weird to me that your filter gauge is showing 0 pressure. Is the water flowing back into your pool when it is running? It is a sand filter right? Have you opened it to make sure there is sand in it?

I believe it to be a sand filter based on pictures I found online and what I believe the faint model/brand on it reads (pictures to follow later). I haven't opened it up yet. I did buy a cheap pressure gauge and will have a go at replacing it as it looked easy enough.

The filter doesn't have a glass viewing area like I see in a lot of youtube videos so I can't see into it; nor does it have an air release valve. The selection handle is heavily faded however it is set to 'filter' and water does appear to be flowing through the filter (and into the salt water generator) and is definitely being returned to the pool.

 

[Fruitygalore]

Filter and general setup


The filter multiport is set to filter. I believe (assisted by Google) that the filter it is an Onga Pentair Series II P25 (25 inch?) sand filter. Pentair Onga Pantera Series II Sand Filter is it I think.

 

[Fruitygalore]

Chlorinator. I've set it all the way up to max although it continues to show 0 chlorine is being produced when it is running and shows a low salt warning light; water is definitely flowing through the cell. The testing shows the salt is 4400 and I've now added 40kg of salt. The temperature where I am is coldish (15 degrees celsius or so still) although I presume it should still be making some chlorine if it was working?

 

[Fruitygalore]

Pump is a Hurlcon CX Series pump and seems to be working okay.

 

[randytsuch]

Thanks all for the comments. I can't seem to get the PoolMath Log share to work now for some reason although I have added various chemicals (logged in the app if the link works) and now have the following results:
FC 2.8
pH 7.6
TA 75
CH 350
CYA 75
Salt 4400

I couldn't find any liquid chlorine at my local Bunnings so used granular chlorine instead. It looks like I still need to add more. The pool looks fairly clean although the equipment is concerning, will post further on that soon.

What's the active ingredient in your granular CL?

It can add either CYA or CH, as well as chlorine, depending on the ingredient. I'd be careful about adding more CYA, but CH you can handle.

For your SWG, when was the last time you inspected and cleaned the cell? Maybe it has scale?

Randy

 

[Britali]

It looks like the equipment may be old with the fading…any idea of how old or if/when the previous owner ever replaced the salt cell or backwashed or cleaned the sand?

Like Randy said you can look at the salt cell & see if there is any visible white calcium buildup on it. If there is, you can clean the buildup off the salt cell with vinegar or diluted muriatic acid. Or it could be that your salt cell has ran it’s course & you need a new one. The info here says they typically last 1-3 years. It gives you all kinds of great info on the SWG. I would think you have plenty of salt (if not over) at 4400ppm so would suggest not adding any more because to lower salt you have to replace/remove the water.

Salt Water Chlorine Generators

Salt Water Generators are designed to produce small amounts of chlorine continuously. This is perfect for day to day use and reduces work for the homeowner.

www.troublefreepool.com

Sounds like not a complete block since water flowing into pool but should have some kind of pressure if filtering through sand. Since you have the new pressure gauge hopefully that helps. If not, here is search results with the sand filter 0 pressure.

Google search results

www.troublefreepool.com

Hopefully some of the experts in here can chime in to help you. I have not had my pool long…just tend to do a lot of research lol.

 

[Fruitygalore]

What's the active ingredient in your granular CL?

It can add either CYA or CH, as well as chlorine, depending on the ingredient. I'd be careful about adding more CYA, but CH you can handle.

For your SWG, when was the last time you inspected and cleaned the cell? Maybe it has scale?

Randy

The active ingredient is 700g/kg Chlorine present as Calcium Hypochlorite

I've tested the water again today and CYA seems a little high. The Fc is only 2.8 still though so I have added bleach instead this time in the quantity recommended by the poolmath app.

I haven't inspected the SWG yet, that is the next step.

 

[Fruitygalore]

It looks like the equipment may be old with the fading…any idea of how old or if/when the previous owner ever replaced the salt cell or backwashed or cleaned the sand?

Like Randy said you can look at the salt cell & see if there is any visible white calcium buildup on it. If there is, you can clean the buildup off the salt cell with vinegar or diluted muriatic acid. Or it could be that your salt cell has ran it’s course & you need a new one. The info here says they typically last 1-3 years. It gives you all kinds of great info on the SWG. I would think you have plenty of salt (if not over) at 4400ppm so would suggest not adding any more because to lower salt you have to replace/remove the water.

Salt Water Chlorine Generators

Salt Water Generators are designed to produce small amounts of chlorine continuously. This is perfect for day to day use and reduces work for the homeowner.

www.troublefreepool.com

Sounds like not a complete block since water flowing into pool but should have some kind of pressure if filtering through sand. Since you have the new pressure gauge hopefully that helps. If not, here is search results with the sand filter 0 pressure.

Google search results

www.troublefreepool.com

Hopefully some of the experts in here can chime in to help you. I have not had my pool long…just tend to do a lot of research lol.

The equipment is definitely old. From what I can tell, the pool is approximately 10 years old and I'm guessing that the filter and pump are of the same age. The salt water chlorinator was replaced in 2017 from what the previous owner said however I'm unsure if the salt cell within it has ever been replaced since.

I haven't got to inspecting the salt cell itself yet although that is next on my list once the bleach has filtered around the pool.

I presume white vinegar would be okay to clean the cell?

I replaced the pressure gauge (and backwashed the filter a couple of times; the water came out through the clear section of pipe dirty initially although is now clear) and it looks to be working; pressure is reading 0 when the filter/pump are not running and around 80kpa/8psi when the filter/pump are running.

Also on my list to resolve with further questions in due course is the cleaner and skimmer box.

 

[Britali]

Yay! Glad you got the filter cleaned, running & showing pressure. White vinegar is completely okay and more gentle than the diluted muriatic.

 

[Fruitygalore]

I found an excellent video on YouTube showing how to clean an Astral salt water generator and have got to the cell and it is currently cleaning with most of the salt coming off. I’ll reassemble it soon and then hopefully it works.

Attached is a photo of the cell prior to cleaning.

 

[Britali]

Lot’s of buildup…definitely needed a cleaning. Glad you were able to find a great video.

 

[Fruitygalore]

So I got the cell back into the SWG and water is flowing through it fine. The chlorine production in the control panel is still showing as 0 though. The control panel is still showing a low salt warning light although I don’t think low salt is the issue.

I found online that SWG’s don’t work as well at below 15 degrees Celsius. My water temperature is approximately 14/15 degrees Celsius however I presume I should see some chlorine being generated?

 

[Fruitygalore]

The current water results from today are as follows:
Temperature: 15 degrees Celsius
Fc: 2.7
TA: 125
CYA: 85
PH: 7.8
CH: 325
Salt: 4600

I think my testing results are getting consistent now. As a sanity check, I used the test strips I had also and the salt and most items agreed with that above. The exceptions were CYA was low and CH was very high (1000ppm ish).

I am confused by the Fc in particular. It was 2.8 yesterday and then I added 1.3 litres of bleach (sodium hypochlorite 42g/L and sodium hydroxide 9g/L) in line with the pool math app and ran the pump/filter for several hours. Today the Fc is 2.7, shouldn’t it be a lot higher?

 

[Texas Splash]

My water temperature is approximately 14/15 degrees Celsius however I presume I should see some chlorine being generated?

You are right on the temperature edge of reliable SWG operation. Your SWG might need a couple more degrees to work reliably. Until then, continue to keep some liquid chlorine available.

As for the 1.3 liters of bleach, that's not much. My pool is just under 18K in size and it takes about 2 liters to increase my FC by 2.5 ppm. If your water is still chilly, you can safely add 3-4 liters of bleach.

 

[Fruitygalore]

The water is at 16 degrees and still no chlorine being generated by the SWG. Below is a photo of the middle cell which shows some wear at the end, is this typical of showing it needs to be replaced or would it usually be more eroded away?