As I mentioned in my introduction, my husband and I own a condo in a coastal town in North Carolina and thus we are part owners of the condo complex pool. This past week was the first time I had entered the pool area or into the pool itself. First thing I noticed was the plaster was pitted in areas and a chunk of plaster the size of a large man's palm was missing on the pool floor by the drains. The water felt odd, too. Absolutely no smell of chlorine. Once a few guests realized I was an owner, I was asked if the pool was a salt system to which I replied, "No, it's chlorine." They could not smell any residual chlorine either. While the water was clear, it did not have that lovely sparkle that clean, well balanced pools have. There was some globs, for lack of a better word, of algae on the grout of the tiles at the water level. I decided to do a simple water test and see what the pH and FC was.... 8.4 pH and 3 ppm of FC.
The next morning (9 am) I took a water sample to a pool management company (not ours) 2 blocks away. This is their test results after a night of heavy rain:
pH 7.7
FC 4.18
TC 4.18
CH 158
Alkalinity 107
CYA 2
How is it possible to have a FC of 4.18 in 91 degree, sunny weather but have only a CYA of 2? Are we burning through chlorine like it's water? Is the low CYA due to failure to add any to the pool, drastic loss of water necessitating refill with fresh water, or is there some chemical reaction going on that I do not understand? I do believe there is a possible leak in the pool where the plaster is missing because there is a constant stream of water exiting from the base of the retaining wall nearest the missing plaster that flows into the drains in the parking lot.
The low CH would certainly explain the pitting and deterioration of the plaster to the point that a piece has gone missing.
The next morning (9 am) I took a water sample to a pool management company (not ours) 2 blocks away. This is their test results after a night of heavy rain:
pH 7.7
FC 4.18
TC 4.18
CH 158
Alkalinity 107
CYA 2
How is it possible to have a FC of 4.18 in 91 degree, sunny weather but have only a CYA of 2? Are we burning through chlorine like it's water? Is the low CYA due to failure to add any to the pool, drastic loss of water necessitating refill with fresh water, or is there some chemical reaction going on that I do not understand? I do believe there is a possible leak in the pool where the plaster is missing because there is a constant stream of water exiting from the base of the retaining wall nearest the missing plaster that flows into the drains in the parking lot.
The low CH would certainly explain the pitting and deterioration of the plaster to the point that a piece has gone missing.