New Pool Day 21 and TF-100 Test results

[SuperJ]

Hi All,

We are 21 days post plaster and trying to learn as much as possible from TFP. We are trying to figure out this water balancing science but have to admit it’s very confusing! We’ve been mainly focusing on bringing down the pH with every other day MA additions for the last week. We started swimming 5 days ago and our water is crystal clear however the CYA and FC remain very low.

Here are our results from TF-100 test kit (from yesterday). It was our first time using the kit and so some of it was confusing I’m sure we’ll get better at it. We also took a water sample to the local pool store today for comparison.

FC- 1 (pool store today said 0.26)
TC- 1.5 (pool store today said 0.26 with cc at 0)
pH- 7.5
TA- 90 (pool store today said 69 and suggested adding their TA increaser)
CH- 625 (I know this is wrong; pool store today said 223)
CYA- had difficulty doing this test so didn’t get a result (pool store today said 20)
pool water temp - 90 deg
‘phosphate- pool store said 1153

So... being just 21 days out from plaster, where do we go from here?? Since the pool is crystal clear, it seems like all is fine but I don’t know if algae is just lurking around waiting to bloom or what.... thanks for any insight/advice for these confused newbies just trying to figure it all out!!

 

[Jimrahbe]

sj,

Is this a saltwater pool? If so they tend not to put salt in for 30 days... How are you currently chlorinating your pool?

If you been here for more than about 10 minutes you know we are not fond of Mineral systems or Ozone systems...

There are two kinds of Nature 2 systems.. one uses 3" tablets plus a mineral pack and the other is a SWCG (Saltwater Chlorine Generator) plus mineral pack.. Which do you have?

If you plan to follow the TFP pool care process, you will need to keep your FC a lot higher than 1... See this chart.. [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]

Thanks,

Jim R.

- - - Updated - - -

Do nothing to your TA unless it falls below 50 ppm..

 

[SuperJ]

Thanks for response. It’s a chlorine pool; guess I need to update my sig to make that clear. We are using trichlor pucks in the nature 2. We were told to not use liquid chlorine for the first 30 days of pool start up so I don’t know how to get my FC up. I’ve studied the CYA/FC chart, just don’t know how to raise FC without the liquid chlorine.

 

[Richard320]

Thanks for response. It’s a chlorine pool; guess I need to update my sig to make that clear. We are using trichlor pucks in the nature 2. We were told to not use liquid chlorine for the first 30 days of pool start up so I don’t know how to get my FC up. I’ve studied the CYA/FC chart, just don’t know how to raise FC without the liquid chlorine.

Just pour it into the return stream. Once it's mixed, nobody can tell if it came from a jug or a trichlor puck or some cal-hypo powder or what. Store the jugs in the laundry room so nobody will see them by the pool.

 

[SpringPool]

Yeah I started using liquid chlorine right away in our new pool, our pool builder didn’t care. We never used the chlorinator. If it’s a pool builder thing just keep the jugs out of site.

Since you have the tf-100 kit I’m assuming you read through pool school. Don’t test at the pool store their numbers will never be as good as yours. There are several YouTube videos showing the tests. When you complete a cya test have your back against the sun and the tube at waist height.

Retest your ch. was anything added that could have made it that high? Have your tested your fill water to see what you filled your pool with?

You also need to raise your FC to what is recommended for your cya level based on the chart (see signature)