Ok, first post (after the intro post). I've been testing our pool with the K-2005 test kit. And then my girlfriend got her friend who works in the pool industry to test the water with more lab scale equipment. Overall the readings have actually been really close so I guess that good. I see a couple things as real problems because this pool was maintained for a couple decades as a trichlor pool but overall the pool looks nice and clean and I'm happy I'm moving in a different direction. Let's start with the test results:
My recent tests with the Taylor K-2005:
FC=3;TC=3;pH=7.4;Total Alk=90;CH=270;CYA=~100
More accurate lab test
FC=2.5;TC=3.6;pH=7.5;Adj Alk=65;CH=253;CYA=118;Metal=0.3;TDS=800;
I do believe the more accurate test more or less BUT the TC is strange to me. I would think my K-2005 test should show SOMETHING if CC was actually 1.1ppm plus I went into the pool for a while and opened my eyes and smelled the water and it's not irritating and the smell is extremely faint chlorine smell, practically none at all. From reading I thought even very low CC, ~0.2ppm, would cause my skin to smell of chlorine, am I wrong. Also I just learned about adjusted alkalinity so it looks like those readings are pretty darn close.
Anyway, my current plan is to switch over to Sodium Hypo, I found a place willing to sell me 5 gallon carboys for $19.55, is this a good price??? And I'm setting up a peristaltic pump on a timer and syched with the water filter pump (sand filter) timer so once that up and running I feel like I'm pretty fine tuning on chlorine. Overall I'm hoping to lower CYA and metal over time with regular backwash and refill because I'm on a well and don't want to drain and fill the pool. The metal is most likely copper because the 'pro' who used to take care of this pool had the previous owner using substantial weekly copper based algecide additions (probably because of high CYA levels). Anyway, with the switch I'm doing I hope to not need the algecide; but I'm still using a little for now until CYA levels drop dilution.
Well I think that's it. Any comments are very much welcome. I guess my big question at the moment is should I shock again to reduce combined chlorine. The 'pro' just shocked it 2 weeks ago and we had very high, >10ppm, FC for a week straight. I would think that should do it, plus there is no indication of high combined chlorine, so I don't know...
My recent tests with the Taylor K-2005:
FC=3;TC=3;pH=7.4;Total Alk=90;CH=270;CYA=~100
More accurate lab test
FC=2.5;TC=3.6;pH=7.5;Adj Alk=65;CH=253;CYA=118;Metal=0.3;TDS=800;
I do believe the more accurate test more or less BUT the TC is strange to me. I would think my K-2005 test should show SOMETHING if CC was actually 1.1ppm plus I went into the pool for a while and opened my eyes and smelled the water and it's not irritating and the smell is extremely faint chlorine smell, practically none at all. From reading I thought even very low CC, ~0.2ppm, would cause my skin to smell of chlorine, am I wrong. Also I just learned about adjusted alkalinity so it looks like those readings are pretty darn close.
Anyway, my current plan is to switch over to Sodium Hypo, I found a place willing to sell me 5 gallon carboys for $19.55, is this a good price??? And I'm setting up a peristaltic pump on a timer and syched with the water filter pump (sand filter) timer so once that up and running I feel like I'm pretty fine tuning on chlorine. Overall I'm hoping to lower CYA and metal over time with regular backwash and refill because I'm on a well and don't want to drain and fill the pool. The metal is most likely copper because the 'pro' who used to take care of this pool had the previous owner using substantial weekly copper based algecide additions (probably because of high CYA levels). Anyway, with the switch I'm doing I hope to not need the algecide; but I'm still using a little for now until CYA levels drop dilution.
Well I think that's it. Any comments are very much welcome. I guess my big question at the moment is should I shock again to reduce combined chlorine. The 'pro' just shocked it 2 weeks ago and we had very high, >10ppm, FC for a week straight. I would think that should do it, plus there is no indication of high combined chlorine, so I don't know...