First Test Results

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M

mikeqf

0
Bronze Supporter
Jul 9, 2018
22
Columbus Grove, OH
Pool Size
17500
Surface
Fiberglass
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair iChlor 30
Hi everyone! We are new pool owners, and while the installation was mostly complete on 6/26, we will be getting our official equipment training from our installer on Saturday. In the meantime we've been enjoying the water, and over the last few weeks have shocked the pool once a week at the installers direction. I'm going to verify with him, but I'm not sure exactly what they put in the pool to begin besides a gallon of shock. Our pump/SWG is running on the default schedule (starting at 8:00am it runs for 14 hours, 2 at high, 10 at low, 2 at medium speed.) The water has looked nice and clear (photo from today), occasionally getting a little cloudy, but the shock is keeping it at bay.

A few days ago I came upon the forum here and now know there's a lot more to it than that. I have been reading as much as I can. My TF-100 kit arrived today, and I tested for the first time. Hopefully I did everything correctly!

FC - 0.5
CC - 0.5
pH - 7.6
TA - 80
CH - 350
CYA - 0 (Water remained clear with the tube full)

I guess I was hoping to get some advice on where to start. Seems like the first step is getting the CYA up with some stabilizer? Any other direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Welcome to the forum!

You need chlorine and CYA. Get your FC to 3 ppm with bleach. Add 30 ppm CYA powder to the pool. Add the CYA by using what we call the sock method. Get an old sock (no holes) and put the measured amount of CYA. Tie the sock closed and either suspend it in front of a return (hang it from your brush pole works with something weighted on the deck) OR if it still allows flow thru the skimmer, place the sock in the skimmer. Every 15/20 minutes give the sock a squeeze to speed up the process. Please DO NOT follow the directions on the container of CYA to just pour it into the skimmer and don't put the sock in the pool as the CYA is acidic and can bleach/stain pool finishes.

Once the CYA powder has been dissolved out of the sock for 24 hours test your CYA. I would then suggest you run a Overnight Chlorine Loss Test as you have had cloudy water. Keep your FC at 3 ppm minimum.

Once you confirm no issues, then raise your CYA to 70 ppm. Your SWCG most likely will need to run quite a bit more to generate sufficient chlorine for your pool as it is undersized. We recommend a SWCG be a minimum of 2X your pool volume.

Digest all that and come back with more questions!!
 
Thanks so much for the quick reply! I brought the FC up last night with the recommended measurement from PoolMath, and have some leggings suspended over the return area with the CYA through the night and will be squeezing throughout the day. I'll report back some numbers on Sunday to see where I'm at.

Wish I would have found this place before construction, but it is what it is - I'm sure I'll have questions about dialing in the right amount of SWCG run-time as I get things balanced. Thanks again!
 
mikeqf said:
Thanks so much for the quick reply! I brought the FC up last night with the recommended measurement from PoolMath, and have some leggings suspended over the return area with the CYA through the night and will be squeezing throughout the day. I'll report back some numbers on Sunday to see where I'm at.

Wish I would have found this place before construction, but it is what it is - I'm sure I'll have questions about dialing in the right amount of SWCG run-time as I get things balanced. Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Mike,
Your leaps and bounds ahead of the average new pool owner already. Once your CYA and FC are up to proper levels, enjoy your pool and keep reading. Cheers!
 
Here's where I'm at this morning a day and a half after the CYA powder was dissolved. The SWG ran for 24 hours while that was happening and then continued to run on it's normal schedule until 8pm last night, and it was off until 7:30 this morning.

FC - 1.5
CC - 0.5
pH - 7.3
TA - 60
CH - 300
CYA - 30

I also tested our fill water, which is from a well. Contains sulfur but no iron, etc. Here's how that came out:

pH - 6.8
CH - 400
TA - 320

I have a couple of questions based on these results. First, it was good to see my CYA level coming up, but it looks like I still need to get the FC up again before I can run the OCLT. From some searching around it seems night is the preferred time to add chlorine to the pool, but since it is low again I would guess I should be adding it as soon as I can, correct? Looking at other searches, it seems the high CH and TA of my well water is not uncommon. Anything I should be thinking of adding to the pool when I am adding water in this case? It's definitely a little low right now after our daughter had some friends over followed by a hot sunny day.

Thanks again!
 
Raise your FC now based on [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. Use Target level (or a touch higher) for the FC.

That high of CH and TA water does make for some challenges. I do find it amazing to have a pH of 6.8 and a TA of 320. That is typically not compatible.

Luckily you do not have to use the amount of fill water due to evaporation I do. So your CH should not increase over time. In fact, you show a lower CH in your pool than your fill water. So I assume that is from rainfall.

TA is dropped when you lower your pH with acid. Appears you must have been doing that as your TA in the pool water is 60.

Once you get a OCLT done then raise your CYA to 70 or so and get the SWCG generating. Your IChlor is a bit small so you will be running your pump about 16 hours per day to start.
 
Our pool was filled with trucked in water initially, we'll just be adding water when needed with the well.

From working with Pool Math it looks like as I add the CYA powder, it drops the pH. After the OCLT is done and I go to raise the CYA to 70, should I add some borax at the same time to keep the pH at an acceptable level?
 
CYA powder does not typically effect pH all that much. You said you will be adding some of your high TA water and that should raise your pH.

Still not sure how your fill water has a low pH and high TA -----
 

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mknauss said:
CYA powder does not typically effect pH all that much. You said you will be adding some of your high TA water and that should raise your pH.

Still not sure how your fill water has a low pH and high TA -----
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks - there is definitely a possibility of user error with the test kit. I'll test the fill water again and see what I come up with.
 
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