help with testing water for the first time

[catsncoffee]

I'm having some trouble testing my water for the first time. I'm using the k2006c

My CH is really high, 1500. This seems right because i have extreme calcium build up, and I'm in AZ so this is a regular problem.
I can't get the FAS-DPD free chlorine test to work. I did it twice with the same results. At first the water is very dark purple/pink/brown but never clears up i added 100 drops and the color didn't change.
I can't get the CYA test to work. The water is cloudy when i pour it into the viewer, even a small amount, and i can't see the black dot at all. I repeated the test with 1/2 tap water, same thing. My pool water isn't cloudy tho.

I know my pool chemistry is very off. Our plan is to drain, as we normally do every 2 years, but i wanted to see how bad it was before we did it. Any tips? What am i doing wrong?

 

[catsncoffee]

Ok i think I'm dumb and I'm following the wrong instructions. Will report back with the rest of the numbers.

 

[catsncoffee]

pH - 7.6
TA - 180
CYA - did this test 3 times appears to be over 100.
Free and combined chlorine - I can't seem to get this test to work. It turned dark pink and then never gets any lighter. I did add some liquid chlorine about 2 days ago but nothing since.
CH - I repeated this test and it was closer to 1000 this time, but it turned more of a clear color than a blue, i guess the color is a bit subjective.

Should we drain as planned? We have really bad calcium build up on the waterline tile and waterfall between the spa and pool. I was originally told by 3 companies it couldn't be cleaned up and we should just replace the tile, but the third company came and looked at it and said it was worth trying to clean. I'm trying to get on their schedule ASAP but i was waiting to drain until that happened. I've been cleaning it myself with a pumice stone and it's cleaning up fine, it's just a lot of elbow grease.

I also noticed what look like rust spots in some places on the bottom of the pool, just very small circles. Unfortunately, at one point I was using a lot of powdered shock which had copper in it, ugh.

 

[mknauss]

FC test is odd as what you are describing is indicating very high.

Regardless, this pool water needs to be drained/exchanged. When is up to you. Soon though, as you do not want to drain when it gets into later March or beyond due to heat and sun angle.

 

[catsncoffee]

I just tried the FC test again same results. I did put a gallon of 10% liquid chlorine in 2 days ago but previous to that i wasn't really doing much i didn't have any floats or anything. I guess that was too much. It does smell of chlorine. I guess we'll just drain ASAP. How do i figure how much chlorine to add to the fresh water? I also have one of those, im sure, not very accurate dip testing strips and that isn't even registering chlorine. I guess i must be doing something wrong but i don't know what.

 

[mknauss]

If FC is high, test strips get bleached out. So they are not reliable, under any circumstances.

Use PoolMath for amounts after draining. When the pool is filling, add enough liquid chlorine to get to 3 ppm FC. Then add 30 ppm CYA via the sock method. Test pH and TA. Then adjust pH as necessary.

 

[mknauss]

For a test, use your tap water and do the FC / CC test using the FAS-DPD. See what you get.