Moved to a house with an pool, trying to get water chemistry right

[Kaestlyn]

Just moved into a house with an above ground 24' round pool. I've been struggling to get things balanced. The previous owner I think mostly just used 1" triclor tablets to chlorinate the pool, and said they'd basically just shock when it was green.

I got a K-2005 kit (and some test strips, they are nice for a quick reading in the morning...) and I'm a bit confused as if they were using Triclor I keep getting a CYA reading of less then 30. My understanding was those tablets will always slowly increase the CYA? Since its so low my chlorine level can't keep up with the sun (and possibly some algae or other things that need to be killed off). Should I add some CYA manually to boost the level up a little?

I'm also working on lowering my TA as its on the high side, I lowered the PH and am attempting to aerate by having the return jet aimed up a little so I can add more ph reducer to lower the PH and TA again.

I also have a question I seem to get piles of debris in the center of the pool at the bottom that seem to just be white dust? If I brush them they end up as a cloud in the pool and go away (Or I can vaccuum them up) but wasn't sure if this was normal or just a side effect of my chemistry being off.

 

[woodyp]

1" tablets could also be calcium based. What is your calcium reading? Could also explain your "white cloud". Welcome to the forum.

 

[Kaestlyn]

Thanks! I went to get a decent picture and of course my auto vacuum actually did a good job of getting everything!
This is a not as great picture of what I mean. https://www.menards.com/main/outdoo...ing-tablets/43515/p-1444445657437-c-10137.htm are the tablets I've been using (Not sure what the owner before used). I haven't done a calcuim test with the K2005 yet, I only have the reading from my test strips that say my hardness is 100. (The house has a water softener and I would assume they filled the pool with a hose off that not sure if that'd be the cause of a low hardness as well?)

 

[jeffchap]

Are you testing CYA with the Taylor kit or the test strips? Personally, I would throw the test strips away. Yes they are easy, but they are also frequently wrong. You might as well just pick numbers at random.

 

[Kaestlyn]

I've gotten the < 30 CYA on both. With the taylor kit I get the small tube completely full and can still see the black dot. The solution is not cloudy at all.

 

[jeffchap]

Then add 20 ppm of CYA with some granulated stabilizer and give it 48 hours to dissolve, then retest.