New pool owner help interpreting Leslie's results

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Romoth

Silver Supporter
Sep 18, 2020
77
Houston, TX
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
So my pool builder gave me a "pool school" but it was so light I'm struggling here. His advice was to test regularly and change the inline chlorinator as needed to manage my chlorine. I took the water to Leslie's and got the results below. The pool itself is beautiful and clear and looks like it's ready to be swam in. I'd really like to use the SLAM method to manage my pool, so my plan was to basically run out the tabs in the chlorinator, and then just ignore the inline chlorinator from here on out and use the normal SLAM method. I was hoping to get reasonable numbers from Leslie's, but these seem pretty bonkers to me. Any help is greatly appreciated on how to get this right. 1 final question from the above (which I'm sure is super obvious) is how do I translate the test results into how much chemical I need to add? I'm using pool math, but 29lbs of calcium chloride seems like a LOT, but maybe I'm just on a different end of the spectrum from my PB. Thank you for the help in advance!

Leslie's Test Results:
Free Chlorine: 10
Total Chlorine: 10
ph: 7.6
total alkalinity: 87
Calcium Hardness: 170
Cyanuric Acid: 100
Iron: 0
Copper: 0
Phosphates: 200
TDS: 800

That CYA numbers seems ABSURDLY high for a brand new pool. Is it possible they screwed up the test or something? I'm in Houston, TX and very overwhelmed!
 
The best use for those results is to get a tf-100 test kit, test yourself; oh, and throw them in the trash where they belong.
 
I just bit the bullet and ordered the kit! After the money spent on the pool, it seems silly to not spend it! Should be here in five days. In the interim, any advice on to manage this with the dinky pentair test kit since it seems I can't trust Leslie's?

Edit to add: Thank you for the help!
 
CYA only gets in the water if you add it. Have you added it? I would keep the chlorine around 5 or so until you get your test kit and add nothing else.

Not sure what you mean by SLAM. I have never SLAMmed my pool. If you keep everything in balance you should never need to slam.
 
So I think the PB added CYA, but I honestly don't know. I can follow up with him and see. I was just using SLAM (apparently incorrectly) as the generalized method TFP uses to manage pools. I agree that i'd prefer never to need that.

Thanks for the advice, I'll get enough tablets to keep it around 5. Test kit should be here (hopefully) next week. Thanks for the help and giving me some sanity!
 
Welcome to the forum. I suggest you stop using tablets. They are adding CYA. Add 3 ppm worth of liquid chlorine each day with the pump running.

That would be around a half gallon of 10% each day.
 
Hmm... ok, so I have the inline chlorinator with a few tablets left in it from PB. I'm going to let those run down to empty. I know that adds CYA, but honestly not sure I want to muck around with getting them out right now. There's only 2 left, I think, of the 3" tablets so they should be gone soon.

So I need to keep my chlorine around 5? I'm going to have to figure out how to get that measured in the near term until my better test comes in. This is a very stupid question, but I can't see a direct answer. If i have 11,000 gallons, then how do I calculate the PPM ratio to raise the chlorine level by 1?
 
I have the app. The problem I’m trying to wrap my head around is that if the test from Leslie’s is wrong, Particularly the CYA, then it’s telling me to add a pretty good amount of chlorine I may not need, right? I’m trying to find a stop gap solution until my test gets here. Thanks for all the help, all. I really appreciate it. This is incredibly overwhelming. I thought there’d be a little bit more of a class from the PB!
 

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Romoth said:
So I need to keep my chlorine around 5? I'm going to have to figure out how to get that measured in the near term until my better test comes in. This is a very stupid question, but I can't see a direct answer. If i have 11,000 gallons, then how do I calculate the PPM ratio to raise the chlorine level by 1?
Click to expand...
Since you have no way to measure what FC you need, adding 3 ppm FC worth each day should keep things at bay until you get a proper test kit, find out what your CYA level is, and how you are going to procede.

Poolmath is how you determine how much chemicals you need. Also, one gallon of 10% liquid chlorine put in a 10000 gallon pool adds 10 ppm FC. So half a gallon in your 11000 gallon pool will add 4 ppm or so. That is close enough for now.
 
Leave the pucks in the chlorinator as you planned. Your CYA could be that high, but I really doubt it got that high that fast. But do add some liquid bleach as well. If you have low CYA, it'll burn off fast and not get too high, and if you have high CYA, you'll still be well below SLAM level so it'll still be safe. It's a win-win. You'll know for sure in a few days.

It may seem overwhelming, but pool chemistry is actually pretty simple. A couple weeks' worth of testing and dosing and it'll all make sense.

What you can do is skim through Extended Test Kit Directions – Trouble Free Pool so you'll have a vague recollection, "there's something about that..." if one of your tests seems off. For that matter, there are videos as well. TF100TestKit
 
Thank you all so much for helping/giving me a plan of action. So “worst case” scenario, my CYA is that high. If that’s the case, do I need to reduce it through drain/refill or just not add to it and manage it going forward?
 
IF your CYA is near or over 100, it will be best you do a 50% or greater water exchange. Just wait until you can properly test your pool water chemistry.
 
Hi fellow Houstonian. All of the advice you received above is spot on. Pour liquid chlorine as directed. Don't add any more pucks to your inline chlorinator but save them for use in the future (i.e. when you go out of town for a couple of days and you have no one to pour liquid chlorine in your pool). You can purchase it at Leslies (they sell 12.5%) or at Home Depot (10%) or at Pinch A Penny (also 10%). Texsun pool store does carry some but very expensive as is Ace Hardware. Some call it Liquid Shock, others call it Liquid Chlorine. Being in Houston, it is normally a full time exercise to maintain your pool as you normally do not "close" for several months it as they do up north. However, using the TFP methodology is easy exercise and you will become more confident as you progress and learn. I strongly suggest you review the testing methods on youtube (noted in the link above) before you use your test kit so you have some concept how to proceed. I can assure you your test results will be more consistent than that of Leslie's. Suggest you test everyday for a week to practice (I actually did it for a month). I would also test your tap water that you use to fill your pool. This way you know what is changing when you add water due to evaporation loss. This will help you gain consistency and also let you know how your pool reacts to sun, use, etc. As noted, I am in Katy. Good luck.
 
My take-away from all of this is:
- I need to buy liquid bleach and muriatic acid in the shot term.
-Use the test when it comes in to determine the other chemicals needed
-Add approx 1/2 gallon of 10% bleach (changing amount added depending on percentage of bleach I'm able to find)
-Wait on test and get real results

Thank you all very much for the help!
 
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