New to forum, and white film at waterline

[Krally]

Hello all. I’m new to the forum, lots of great info here. I’ve had a 21’ above ground pool for the last two summers. So far no issues, water has been clean and used daily. We currently have an inline chlorinator, which other than flying through the v-pack cartridges, we haven’t had any issues. I’ve just been testing the pool daily with test strips, and maybe once a month at the pool store. I’m learning now, and just purchased a good Taylor test kit, and thinking about going away from the chlorinator. As of yesterday, we have a white film just at the waterline around the pool, that easily rubs off. I’ll post a pic of that, and a pic of my last results from the pool store, which I understand now aren’t always the most accurate. Up until now, I’ve been letting the chlorinator do it’s thing, and maybe once a week or two, shock the pool if I notice it getting a little cloudy, and it’s good to go by the next day. I also noticed after my last shock, it took days for the chlorine level to come down a bit when it’s normally pretty quick due to the amount of sun exposure it gets and use. I should add, due to my job, I’m gone 24hrs at a time, sometimes 48hr, would I still be able to use the TFPC method of maintaining the pool if I’m not there every day to test? I’m usually home about 4 days a week. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Krally, welcome to TFP.

Which Taylor test kit did you buy? What's the model number?
Can you tell me these test values-
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

A salt water chlorinator would be idea in your situation where you're gone for extended periods. The problem with your use of pucks is that they contain obscene amounts of stabilizer along with the chlorine, and that stabilizer builds up so high it becomes very problematic. The more CYA stabilizer you have, the more free chlorine you need to add or you'll have an algae party in no time.

Liquid Chlorine only contains chlorine.... nothing added to it.... so its also an ideal way to get chlorine in your pool. But again, with your schedule it is of limited value if no one is home to add it daily.

We can't advise you on pool store test results as they're inaccurate as often as not. We need your test results.

Maddie

 

[Krally]

Krally, welcome to TFP.

Which Taylor test kit did you buy? What's the model number?
Can you tell me these test values-
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

A salt water chlorinator would be idea in your situation where you're gone for extended periods. The problem with your use of pucks is that they contain obscene amounts of stabilizer along with the chlorine, and that stabilizer builds up so high it becomes very problematic. The more CYA stabilizer you have, the more free chlorine you need to add or you'll have an algae party in no time.

Liquid Chlorine only contains chlorine.... nothing added to it.... so its also an ideal way to get chlorine in your pool. But again, with your schedule it is of limited value if no one is home to add it daily.

We can't advise you on pool store test results as they're inaccurate as often as not. We need your test results.

Maddie

Krally, welcome to TFP.

Which Taylor test kit did you buy? What's the model number?
Can you tell me these test values-
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

A salt water chlorinator would be idea in your situation where you're gone for extended periods. The problem with your use of pucks is that they contain obscene amounts of stabilizer along with the chlorine, and that stabilizer builds up so high it becomes very problematic. The more CYA stabilizer you have, the more free chlorine you need to add or you'll have an algae party in no time.

Liquid Chlorine only contains chlorine.... nothing added to it.... so its also an ideal way to get chlorine in your pool. But again, with your schedule it is of limited value if no one is home to add it daily.

We can't advise you on pool store test results as they're inaccurate as often as not. We need your test results.

Maddie

Hey thanks for the quick reply. I bought the K-2006c, but have not received it yet. My wife is home everyday, so I guess it just depends how complicated the daily test is, not sure I want to burden her with it when she’s the one home dealing with the kids everyday, but she wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t to time consuming. I’ll have to figure it out myself when I get the kit, and then show her the ropes. And I will look into the salt water option as well.

 

[Krally]

Hello all. I’m new to the forum, lots of great info here. I’ve had a 21’ above ground pool for the last two summers. So far no issues, water has been clean and used daily. We currently have an inline chlorinator, which other than flying through the v-pack cartridges, we haven’t had any issues. I’ve just been testing the pool daily with test strips, and maybe once a month at the pool store. I’m learning now, and just purchased a good Taylor test kit, and thinking about going away from the chlorinator. As of yesterday, we have a white film just at the waterline around the pool, that easily rubs off. I’ll post a pic of that, and a pic of my last results from the pool store, which I understand now aren’t always the most accurate. Up until now, I’ve been letting the chlorinator do it’s thing, and maybe once a week or two, shock the pool if I notice it getting a little cloudy, and it’s good to go by the next day. I also noticed after my last shock, it took days for the chlorine level to come down a bit when it’s normally pretty quick due to the amount of sun exposure it gets and use. I should add, due to my job, I’m gone 24hrs at a time, sometimes 48hr, would I still be able to use the TFPC method of maintaining the pool if I’m not there every day to test? I’m usually home about 4 days a week. Any thoughts? Thanks

Apparently it’s not an actual line on the vinyl, cause the wife said when kids were in the pool it went away, but she said not foamy. I don’t know, pollen? That seems like it ended a while back though, and that was yellow in color, cause it was all over the plants and grass.

 

[Kellyp]

Hi Krally and welcome. The kits are very easy to use. Just do one test at a time instead of trying to digest it all at a glance. Your wife should be able to run all tests in 10 mins, but it's usually just ph and chlorine daily, all others monthly.

Be a kind hubby and buy the speedstir. She will love you even more! TFP has videos of the tests as well so you will KNOW you're doing them correctly.

 

[Krally]

Thanks again for the replies. Ok, got the kit today, did most tests a couple times just to make sure I was pretty accurate, make the the dot was totally gone, color blue not still purple, etc. Here’s what I got…
FC-3.6
CC-1
CYA-56
PH-7.4
TA-110
CH-340

 

[mknauss]

Great. Call your CYA 60. Always round up.

Watch your FC level. Be sure to follow FC/CYA Levels. Aim to keep pool water FC in target range or above.

 

[DieselBeast]

Great. Call your CYA 60. Always round up.

Watch your FC level. Be sure to follow FC/CYA Levels. Aim to keep pool water FC in target range or above.

Would his CC be a little high, maybe working on cleaning up something?
Disclaimer: I’m new, learning as well!

 

[Krally]

Great. Call your CYA 60. Always round up.

Watch your FC level. Be sure to follow FC/CYA Levels. Aim to keep pool water FC in target range or above.

So with a CYA of 60, chart says 7-9 for FC. Thats a safe number to swim in everyday? Or would I be better off lowering my CYA? Also with the chlorinator, think I’d be able to keep it on the lowest setting, to limit CYA build up, and compensate for lower FC if need be with liquid chlorine? Again, with my work schedule, I’ll probably keep the chlorinator for now until I figure something out. And lastly, if I was using bleach to bring level up, does it matter at what time of day I add it, like when I shock where I have to do it in the evening while the pumps running overnight. Sorry, lots of questions. Thanks again.

 

[mknauss]

Would his CC be a little high, maybe working on cleaning up something?
Disclaimer: I’m new, learning as well!

Might be. But first test. See what happens over the next few days.

 

[mknauss]

Thats a safe number to swim in everyday?

Aboslutely. It is safe to swim in a pool with a FC above minimum and at or below SLAM level FC. In your pool, that is 5 ppm to 24 ppm.

I’ll probably keep the chlorinator for now

Discontinue the use of trichlor or your CYA will continue to rise.

does it matter at what time of day I add it,

Not really. As long as your FC does not fall below minimum at any time, that is what is important.