Is it too cold to start SLAM?

[oldmacg]

I never got my pool completely under control last year so I wanted to get an early start on it this year. I'm not sure what my water temperature is but I live in the Pacific Northwest. Could the water be too cold for testing and to start adding chemicals?

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Take the cold pool water in to the house and let it warm up a bit to test it. If your pool's water is around 60º, that's a great time to start.
Maddie

 

[ajw22]

If the water temperature is below 70F degrees let the water warm up inside before you do the CYA test.

The standard instructions to mix for 30 seconds is not enough time when the water is cold. You can either mix longer, or allow the sample to warm up to room temperature. Best solution is to allow the the sample to warm up first and then shake it for 30 seconds.

Taylor Technologies has run the pH, total alkalinity, calcium hardness, free chlorine, and cyanuric acid tests on known standard solutions at approximately 104°F, 75°F, 60°F, and 40°F. Only at 40°F did the CYA standard solution test higher than its actual value (after accounting for test variability). All other tests were unaffected by temperature differences.

 

[an1vrsy]

What works for me and the CYA test, take a water sample from the pool and bring into the house. First test CYA by pouring the sample pool water into the CYA test bottle to the first line. Cap it then put it into your pocket and perform the other pool water tests. By the time you have completed all the other test the CYA test bottle has warmed up in your pocket to above 70 degrees. Then using the CYA reagent, fill to the next line, as the directions state, cap it then shake for 30 seconds. All good...

 

[Newdude]

To answer your title question, the colder the better for a SLAM. Algae doesn't just shut off at 60 degrees. It stops growing exponentially. It's more and more dormant the colder it gets and easier to kill.

Bring your sample inside to get your CYA as said above and only after the pool had a day to mix. Add to 30 if need be, adjust PH to low 7's and SLAM away.

There really is no 'being in control' this year. You will stay far away from minimum and that's that. Whether it's a 7 or a 12, you are good until tomorrow or the next day. When you play that game at 3 or 4, it doesn't end well.

 

[oldmacg]

So yesterday, I did bring water to room temp to do the CYA test and it read 20. And I checked it multiple times and got the same result. TA was 100 and pH was above 8. Added acid per pool math and pH adjusted to low normal. zero chlorine. pH had dropped even lower after a few hours and thought I read chlorine would raise it slightly so thought ok to SLAM so added 102 oz liquid chlorine last nite. Then I dropped the ball. So was starting over today. Zero chlorine this am. Dark green pool. Read alot about aerating so figured how to do that and hooked up skimmer and left pump on and ran errands for a few hours. Did not add anything more. Came home to a much lighter green color in my pool and there was a lot of foamy stuff on the top and it smelled like chlorine. So retested and FC was 1 and CC was .5. Tried to test TA again and after adding the 5 drops of 1008 it turned from charcoal to pink. Did it twice same result. Never added 1009. So I either did the math wrong or I added something too much of something or I don't know what. Help