New pool owner with horrible mountain water

Enumjon

Well-known member
Apr 30, 2020
105
Tijeras, NM
Pool Size
25000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Just moved to the mountains of New Mexico, into a home with a 35k gunnite pool. Previous owner was doing tricolor tabs, and I kept up that regimen. I opened up the pool this year and could not get a chlorine reading, even after adding 10 gallons of bleach. Pool store testing showed cya level of 130 and TDS of 1900, recommended drain and refill. I cleaned the pool, did a little acid wash on mineral buildup, and the pool is almost finished filling now.

My test kit should arrive in a few days, so all I have now are test strips.They show that the hose filled pool water has a ph of 6.2 and TA of 180. My plan is to use muriatic acid to drop the TA and borax to raise the ph. And using liquid bleach only to maintain chlorine levels and shock if needed-I only discovered this site a few weeks ago and have been studying the info almost every night. Wish me luck!
 
Welcome to the forum!
Wait until you have your real test kit before adding anything but 30 ppm worth of CYA and 3 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine. Add the LC each day.
A pH of 6.2 and a TA of 180 is not chemically compatible so, as usual, the test strips are junk.

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
 
Test kit arrived today. Numbers are worse than I imagined. Ph of 6.0, TA of over 600, CH of 1875. Cya is 0, FC at 3.5. I will make a post in pool chemistry to see where to start attacking this disaster.
 
Check your testing procedures.

Do you use this water for human consumption? Do you soften it?
 
We have a water softener and use it for everything in our home. I can check the procedures and do I again, but it was very straightforward. I have had college chemistry labs that were much more complex.