First test with TF-Pro kit!

[Mama.B]

Got my test kit in the mail yesterday but didn’t get home until late last night. First tests done this morning…

FC: 2.5
CC: 0.5
pH: 8.3
TA: 90
CH: 175
CYA: 60

FC is obviously low, I expected that. I’m pleasantly surprised with the CYA, as I was anticipating it to be higher. pH is a bit high, but that doesn’t surprise me much. We are on well water, but should I address the low CH?

Appreciate any guidance on what I should do from this point to get my chemicals to TFP levels! Thanks y’all!

 

[Texas Splash]

Good job testing. If your well water is soft, I would increase the CH to at least 250. You already know to increase the FC a bit. Until you increase the CH, let the pH remain slightly elevated around 7.8-8.0. Once you increase the CH to 250, then you can continue to manage the pH in the 7.6 - 7.8 range. Also, if you did the CYA test early this morning, you might try to do another one when the sun is higher in the sky as the light might impact your reading. But overall you seem to have a good handle on everything.

 

[Mama.B]

Good job testing. If your well water is soft, I would increase the CH to at least 250. You already know to increase the FC a bit. Until you increase the CH, let the pH remain slightly elevated around 7.8-8.0. Once you increase the CH to 250, then you can continue to manage the pH in the 7.6 - 7.8 range. Also, if you did the CYA test early this morning, you might try to do another one when the sun is higher in the sky as the light might impact your reading. But overall you seem to have a good handle on everything.

Question — should I increase the CH gradually? I read in another forum post that adding a significant amount at one time can make the water pretty cloudy. I just added 5 lbs of calcium chloride tonight, but I’m needing to add a total of about 18 lbs to get my CH to 250.

I also added bleach to get my FC up to 7.

Pump is running now — should I give it about 30 min and re-test? I was away all day so wasn’t able to test other than my initial test this morning.

 

[Texas Splash]

Sure, adding the CH in stages is just fine. Good you are keeping the FC a bit more elevated. Yes, let the pump mix the water well for at least 30 minutes before grabbing a test sample.

 

[Mama.B]

Awesome, thank you! I’ll test here in another 20 min or so and see how things are looking. I’ll update here with my test results. Last Q for now…should I just worry about testing my FC, CC, and CH for now, since that’s what I’m currently working to adjust? Or go ahead and test everything, just like I did this morning?

 

[Texas Splash]

FC & pH are most important on a daily basis. You could even stretch the pH to every 2-3 days is it's stable. The TA about once a week. The CYA once a month unless you had major water exchanges. As for the CH, it doesn't move much either unless you change water or add CH like you are doing now. So I would just wait on the CH until you've done a couple additions, then check to see if you met your goal.

 

[Mama.B]

Ok, thank you! Heading out to grab a sample and see how the FC and CH look now!

 

[Mama.B]

FC: 6.5
CH: 200

The 5 lbs of calcium chloride I added earlier didn’t cause any cloudiness, so I’m going to go ahead and add another 5 lbs tonight.

 

[Texas Splash]

That's good. I think that's good for this evening. Let everything acclimate overnight and start fresh tomorrow. Good job.

 

[Mama.B]

That's good. I think that's good for this evening. Let everything acclimate overnight and start fresh tomorrow. Good job.

Just realized you said not to worry about testing the CH until I’ve added most of what I think I need. I’m apparently so excited to use my new test kit, I just couldn’t help myself!

 

[Mama.B]

Just tested my water — why in the world did my FC go down so much overnight?!?

 

[mknauss]

You have to add chlorine every day. Have you been?

Sounds like you need to do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tonight.

What does the water look like?

 

[Mama.B]

Yes, been adding chlorine every day…added liquid last night and got it to 6.5. However, I gave the entire pool a good brushing, so could that have caused the chlorine to get eaten up more quickly from all the “dust” that came off the walls?

I also added CH last night because it has been low since we finished our pool build. CYA was initially tested early in the morning and someone advised I should wait until the sun is out and repeat the test. CYA showed 70 just now in full sun. My CH has increased from 175 to 225. But the FC is mind boggling — it’s never dropped that much overnight…only thing different I did between last night and today was the brushing.

Pool water looks totally clear.

I just got my TF-pro test kit so I’m getting everything balanced for the first time with a legit test kit!

 

[mknauss]

Water does look good.

I would raise the FC to 7 ppm right now. Test again this evening and again first thing tomorrow morning. No other chemical adds during that time.

 

[Texas Splash]

Some members have noted oddities of their FC dropping a bit after adding calcium. Not all, but on occasion, but even still that is a large drop in FC overnight. If you are going to add another 25 ppm worth of CH, I would do that now then just leave the CH alone and focus on the FC and pH. Lower the pH to about 7.7-7.8 for now.

As for the FC, increase it right away. Now that you confirmed a CYA of 70, you could easily take the FC up to 7-9 ppm with no problem. You might try to keep it there today and do one more Overnight Chlorine Loss Test just to ensure the CH was not somehow influencing your FC testing.

 

[Mama.B]

Thanks guys. I’ll leave the CH alone for now since I know how to easily raise that. I’ll add liquid chlorine to get it up to 7ppm.

 

[Mama.B]

Update: Did my OCLT and the FC dropped by 1.

 

[Mama.B]

Hey y’all!

I truly appreciate all of your help so far in getting my pool chemicals and water TFP perfect! To recap, here’s what I’ve done in the last 2 days…

Aug 12 - evening (first test using TF-Pro kit)
FC: 2.5
CC: 0.5
pH: 8.3
TA: 90
CH: 175
CYA: 60
Added liquid bleach and CH to increase levels.

Aug 13 - noon
FC: 0.5
CC: 0.0
pH: 8.2
TA: 110
CH: 225
CYA: 70
Added liquid bleach to increase FC level.

Aug 13 - after dark
FC: 5.0 (had a high bather load all afternoon and needed to do an OCLT)

Aug 14 - early morning
FC: 4.0
Added Cal-Hypo to increase FC, since I was also ok with CH increasing.

Aug 14 - mid morning
FC: 9.5
CC: 0.5
pH: 8.7
TA: 110
CH: 225
CYA: 70
Added muriatic acid to reduce pH and TA.

Aug 14 - noon
pH: 7.1
TA: 80

So…losing 1.0 FC overnight means I passed my OCLT, right? And do all of my other levels look ok for now? I know my CYA is slightly on the high side…so I need to do anything to address that at this point? I won’t be using anymore tri-chlor tablets so won’t be adding any CYA going forward.

Thank you all again!

 

[Texas Splash]

So…losing 1.0 FC overnight means I passed my OCLT, right?

Yes, and if your water is still crystal clear you got very lucky since that FC level was much too low there for a while. Now is the time to try and steady the ship - consistency without the huge up & down swings. In other words, try to keep the FC steady in the ideal target zone noted on the FC/CYA Levels. Never let it fall below the minimum. As for the pH and TA, focus on the pH now. It should never go over 8.2 in the summer, so if it hits the 8.0 area, use enough acid to lower the pH down a bit into the upper 7s. With a TA of 80 you don't have to be so aggressive anymore. Keeping the pH in the 7.6-7.8 range is just fine.

 

[Mama.B]

Yes, and if your water is still crystal clear you got very lucky since that FC level was much too low there for a while. Now is the time to try and steady the ship - consistency without the huge up & down swings. In other words, try to keep the FC steady in the ideal target zone noted on the FC/CYA Levels. Never let it fall below the minimum. As for the pH and TA, focus on the pH now. It should never go over 8.2 in the summer, so if it hits the 8.0 area, use enough acid to lower the pH down a bit into the upper 7s. With a TA of 80 you don't have to be so aggressive anymore. Keeping the pH in the 7.6-7.8 range is just fine.

Thanks for your response -- YIKES, I know! Thanking my lucky stars for the crystal clear water!

I'm about to go check the water again now since we've had sun all day. Should I be checking the FC throughout the day to ensure it doesn't drop below the target zone on the FC/CYA chart? Or is once a day sufficient? I'm fine with whatever is best!

I must say, my meticulous OCD personality is kind of geeking out over doing all of this! When we first got the pool chemicals turned over to us from the pool builder, my husband started out kinda taking care of things. Well...he's much too lax and will just eyeball things. I immediately knew I needed to be in control. I found TFP and it's all been a fun journey since then. He's happy he doesn't have to deal with it, I'm happy to be in control of it and satisfy my OCD-ness -- WIN-WIN for everyone!