Issues with water testing and Algae

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todd.brock

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Jan 18, 2018
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Cincinnati/OH
Hi,
A few (thousand) questions-

We installed our pool late last fall. Water was clear when PB closed it. PB opened last Thursday to this
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They put in start up kit, and I fed it 10lb of Sodium bicarbonate from Leslie’s to raise TA. They said the CYA is 20. So I have been trying to keep FC around 10. They test with the exact same Taylor reagents for CYA as the TF100 I am using. My CYA test never hazes the dot. They showed me the test and redid so I could saw. They had the same tube and Again- by hand , same chemicals. Any thoughts on why my at home CYA test in the kitchen at night is a bust??

Next up, knowing that I need to SLAM , I read through it again and tryed to get completely in tune with my test kit. So I retested tonight and here is what I have. CYA courtesy of Leslies. I still have algae, but about 1/10th of what was in The pic. backwash Went from 21 to 16psi. I need to vacuum to waste again.

So questions-
How do I check my CYA test kit so I can rely on my own scores ??

Thanks
 

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This is how I do my CYA test -- ALWAYS on a bright sunny day.
When you do the CYA test, try this next time.

Once you have your solution ready, back to the sun, etc. Fill the vial to a line, say 80, lower the vial to your waist level and glance for the dot, you see it, add solution to the 70 line, glance, see it, repeat until you no longer see it with a glance. Then use the CYA value one step above the line you read. So if you stopped at 50, use 60 ppm CYA.

The vial is in logarithmic scale. So it is not viable to interpolate between the lines. Just use the whole numbers, such as 50, 40, 30, ....
 
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Marty has you covered with the CYA test, but please stop going to Leslies.

Mixing pool store advice/testing with TFP methods is just another recipe for disaster.

The 10 pounds of baking soda was not needed. 10 pounds in a 19,000 gallon pool will raise the TA about 40. Which means, yours was at 80 before. 80 is fine. The higher the TA the faster your pH rises. It's not the end of the world, and not something to worry about now - but, as it goes down, don't add more baking soda. For most pools, 60-70-80 TA is just fine and keeps your pool pH mellow. Kind of like what a rum & coke does to me.....
 
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Hey all,

Thank you for the answers. I wasn't comfortable with my own results, so since they tested by hand, I thought it was at least a start. They did get me on the TA Up....lol $25 bucks for 10lb of baking soda was my lesson. I am not going back, now that I can reliably produce test results except CYA. I will try going outside this afternoon for the CYA. I have not /will not add any other chemicals from them.

1. Knowing that CYA is in question, what is a target SLAM level?
2. Do I keep vacuuming to waste? Re-fillingng with water to vacuum to waste seems like my values are never going to get aligned. Should I vac on recirculate? Throw my Dolphin in there?
3. I know the SWG is for maintenance, but at what point do I up the salt and fire up the SWG?

attached pics are from this morning.
Thanks much!
 

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Use 10 ppm FC until you get a better CYA test result.

If the larger solids are removed from the pool you can stop vac to waste. Just go to normal vac if you have dead algae, etc. Backwash your sand filter when the pressure rises 20% over clean pressure.

Once you have crystal clear water, pass the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test, and have CC at or under 0.5ppm, then you will slowly raise your CYA to 70 ppm while still maintaining your FC with liquid chlorine. Once things are settled, then add salt and start up the SWCG.
 
Marty,

Thanks for your replies. I will buy another couple cases of pool shock and some boxes of patience.

Just to confirm, I will have to use the DPD-FAS part of the TF-100 to measure FC, b/c the little vial for FC and PH only go up to 5? It says 5-10, but you don't know it if its 5 or 10....
 
Razor --I have not used the recirculate before. I presume it goes into the filter? Will I contaminate the robot? The algae on the bottom looks like brownish dirt. Is very fine. After I swept steps, it has started to re-appear.

If I keep vacuuming to waste, do I have to just keep adding more bleach?
 

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todd.brock said:
Thanks for your replies. I will buy another couple cases of pool shock and some boxes of patience.
Click to expand...
Just confirming Liquid? ;)
todd.brock said:
Just to confirm, I will have to use the DPD-FAS part of the TF-100 to measure FC, b/c the little vial for FC and PH only go up to 5? It says 5-10, but you don't know it if its 5 or 10....
Click to expand...
The OTO Chlorine test "shows" chlorine level in various shades of yellow - orange - red (depending on chlorine level)... the 2 columns are for different sanitizers, chlorine (Cl) or bromine (Br) ignore the bromine column :)
todd.brock said:
Razor --I have not used the recirculate before. I presume it goes into the filter? Will I contaminate the robot? The algae on the bottom looks like brownish dirt. Is very fine. After I swept steps, it has started to re-appear.
Click to expand...
Recirculate keeps the water mixed, it bypasses the sand, it will not clear the pool.
todd.brock said:
If I keep vacuuming to waste, do I have to just keep adding more bleach?
Click to expand...
You have to continually raise FC by adding bleach until the pool is clean, clear & holding FC
 
If you have a multivalve like mine, the filter setting runs the water through the filter, recirculate bypasses the filter and just recirculates the water. Recirculate isn't used very often; just for certain chemical additions that you don't want going to the filter, but need to be stirred and distributed throughout the pool.
I only vac to waste when there is a lot of nasty dirt/debris. For most vacuuming you can keep it on filter and let it collect the stuff so you don't lose so much water. I'm in about the same situation. Water clearing up, CYA at 0 so I'm maintaining FC 10 and plan on adding CYA today. Getting that fine dust-like stuff on the bottom which I assume is dead algae.
 
Ahh... I get it- Filter is the skimmer position and then using the vac plate over the skimmer... Got it. When we built the pool aslt year, it was crystal clear. I would just use the dolphin. Im good with having to backwash the filter.
 
todd.brock said:
They did get me on the TA Up....lol $25 bucks for 10lb of baking soda was my lesson.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately the pool industry has evolved into sales by scare tactics, misdirection, misinformation and marketing hype. Go in to the store and tell them your TA is low and, as you found out they are going to sell you baking soda in a fancy package at four times the cost of WalMart. Do they have a right to make a profit, yes - but lets be reasonable. Heck, even their definition of "low" can many times put you on a pH roller coaster that's hard to get off of. Is that lack of knowledge or a sales technique to sell you more chemicals to control your pH????

What the pool industry does not understand is that the internet is changing the industry around them. My favorite story is about my pool light. When I bought the house with the pool along with high CYA my pool light was not working. I could get a new bulb from Amazon for $19, but heck I'm part of that immediate gratification society as much as the next guy. I went down to the local pool store and there was the same bulb, $39. I talked with the manager. I didn't want them to match the price, they have to keep the lights on - just be a little more reasonable. The manager gave me two choices, take it or leave it.
 
So, I have been able to get the water crystal clear, but the algae returns over night. So I stay the course with just pool shock, or does an algaecide or anything else come into play? I am having a hard time with work/family life keeping the FC at 10. I just keep going through case after case of shock. Also- I keep filling, vacuuming and adding shock.

Since I have no appreciable FC is there something that would help with FC? add salt and fire up the SWG? Pucks in a floater, powdered shock? Thanks,
 
Do you have a proper test kit?
tftestkits.net

TF-100 Test Kit

tftestkits.net tftestkits.net
todd.brock said:
So, I have been able to get the water crystal clear, but the algae returns over night. So I stay the course with just pool shock, or does an algaecide or anything else come into play? I am having a hard time with work/family life keeping the FC at 10. I just keep going through case after case of shock. Also- I keep filling, vacuuming and adding shock.

Since I have no appreciable FC is there something that would help with FC? add salt and fire up the SWG? Pucks in a floater, powdered shock? Thanks,
Click to expand...
Yes life happens during SLAM Process (FC Shock.Level.AND.Maintain = FC/CYA Levels )

  • When you add liquid chlorine (FC/5 or FC/10)...
    • does it hold if you test 15-30min later? (without sun shining on it)
  • If it holds, you can add some CYA
    • (what is your current CYA level)?
  • with stabilizer or via stabilized chlorine pucks... Use PoolMath to aim for CYA/30 for your pool size
 

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