New to TFP- can I ask a few questions?

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tacotory

Member
Jun 15, 2023
15
Bend, OR
Hello all. Very happy to have stumbled onto this site.

We have a SWG swimming pond (pool) and are beginning the journey to take control of our pool and get away from our local pool store.

We just did our yearly "reset"- drain, pressure wash, refill, start over- after coming out of winter here in Central Oregon. We used all the recommended chemicals from the local pool store (hadn't found TFP yet) and levels seem to be in the rough ballpark using the test strips we have. I have ordered the TFP recommended test kit and am waiting for it to arrive so we can start to get more accurate numbers on our own.

In the past, we have struggled with algae blooms and high pH. We used to struggle with chlorine levels, but I think it was because our salt cell was too small for our pool. It seems to be holding better now.

So while waiting for our test kit to arrive so that I can get some "where do we go from here" advice, I'd like to get the app figured out. Does anyone know if there is a tutorial somewhere showing all the features and how best to utilize it? I am hoping that I can use it to track test results, and then have it tell me how much of each chemical needs to be added?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
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tacotory said:
Guess I should have looked around a bit more on the app first! I found the tutorial that Lee did on the app on YT. Very helpful.

Can't wait for the test kit to arrive so I can get started...
Click to expand...
Welcome, the app should be pretty easy to get going on.
 
Typically we advise people waiting on their test kits who have algae problems to add 5 ppm of chlorine to your pool daily to keep the algae in check. For your pool that would be 2 gallons of liquid chlorine at 10% strength, typically found at Walmart or hardware stores.

Since you also have a SWG, can you tell us what kind you have and we can calculate that. It is still likely going to be a combo of liquid chlorine and your SWG but may lessen the amount of liquid chlorine you have to buy for now.
 
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OK, we got our test kit yesterday. Results are as follows:

FC 7.0
CC 1.0
TC 8.0
pH 7.8
TA 110
CH 150
CYA 47
Salt 3000

Attached is a test we got back from our local pool co yesterday. Salt and chlorine seem to be in total contradiction between my tests and the pool co. Chlorine I tested twice with the exact same results...

Any thoughts/ guidance would be greatly appreciated.

90B6E3D7-E7AF-47A4-A329-1E0718ABE9CD_1_105_c.jpeg3D5E0BB8-FD70-4756-91D5-EC6164FEC97B_1_105_c.jpeg
 
Round up your CYA to 50.
The CC of 1 is a concern. Test that again tomorrow.
Keep pH in the 7's.

Did not look at the pool store test. Use your own testing.
 
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I’m going to echo what MK said above about your combined chlorine (CC). You might have an algae issue and one of the best ways to check that is by doing an OCLT (overnight chlorine loss test). Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

Your FC of 7 looks good but, if you follow the OCLT to the ‘T’ and you lose more than 1ppm of FC you may need to SLAM your pool. SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain
 
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tacotory said:
OK, we got our test kit yesterday. Results are as follows:

FC 7.0
CC 1.0
TC 8.0
pH 7.8
TA 110
CH 150
CYA 47
Salt 3000

Attached is a test we got back from our local pool co yesterday. Salt and chlorine seem to be in total contradiction between my tests and the pool co. Chlorine I tested twice with the exact same results...

Any thoughts/ guidance would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 506476View attachment 506477
Click to expand...
That’s why no one around here trusts a Pool Store test. I don’t bother going there for tests and no need to waste internet electrons by posting. Trust your own testing.
 
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I thought I posted details of our SWG the other day, but I don't see a post for it. I have added that info to my signature.

I don't think I will be able to do the OCLT tonight, but I can for sure do it Fri night.

I will test chlorine levels again tomorrow and post results.

Here is a pic of our pool. As mentioned, lots of nooks and crannies with the boulders where algae could be hiding. Water is still crystal clear, so fingers crossed the OCLT doesn't show an algae bloom in the works.AB2BE8C8-6DAC-4A95-993D-592108561ED9_1_105_c.jpeg
 
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Good morning all.

I ran chlorine tests again yesterday and got the following results:
FC- 7.5
CC- 0.5
TC- 8.0

First, a few questions about these tests. FC is pretty straightforward. For the CC, on the app CC is "combined chlorine" and on the test kit instructions it is something like "combined chloromides"- don't have it in front of me right now. Ae these the same thing? And for TC, we add FC and CC together- correct?

This am, I ran all my tests again with the following results:
FC- 7.0
CC- 0.5
TC- 7.5
pH- 7.8
TA- 100
CH- 150
CYA- 50
Salt- 3000

As a total side note, I have a Blue Labs pH pen that I got from a previous endeavor. I received the calibration solutions yesterday and calibrated it this am. I got 7.6 with the pen. I am not ready to trust it 100% yet as the probe is supposed to be stored in a special solution, which I also didn't receive until yesterday. I will continue to test with it now that it is stored properly and compare those results to the little box test. My assumption is that the pen will be more accurate going forward, as there is a) nothing subjective about it, and b) not limited to .2 reading gradients.

App question 1- I have it tracking CC as you can see on the attached "logs" page, but it does not show on the summary page. Is this an issue with the app or a setting I have wrong?
App question 2- Will the app make recommendations as to what needs to be added to the pool to correct numbers that are off? I have not found it so far, but the description on the "Pool Math" link to the left says "takes all the guess work of how much chemical to add".

Soooo, what do you all think about our numbers? The app thinks TA and CYA are out of range. Do you agree? Assuming so, how much stuff should I add? I have a note that to raise alkalinity I should add baking soda, but to lower it? Also, FC appears to be dropping slowly, should I bump our percentage up on our SWG? It is currently at around 55%.

Thanks so much to everyone here for the help!!1D890BF7-1F0B-4FDC-848B-6CD630DE10E4_1_105_c.jpeg5897957A-1025-4BF8-B1D4-00F58BA5D820_1_105_c.jpeg82D1515E-1813-4E35-AC7B-E579DA9ECC85_1_105_c.jpeg
 
tacotory said:
Good morning all.

I ran chlorine tests again yesterday and got the following results:
FC- 7.5
CC- 0.5
TC- 8.0

First, a few questions about these tests. FC is pretty straightforward. For the CC, on the app CC is "combined chlorine" and on the test kit instructions it is something like "combined chloromides"- don't have it in front of me right now. Ae these the same thing? And for TC, we add FC and CC together- correct?

This am, I ran all my tests again with the following results:
FC- 7.0
CC- 0.5
TC- 7.5
pH- 7.8
TA- 100
CH- 150
CYA- 50
Salt- 3000

As a total side note, I have a Blue Labs pH pen that I got from a previous endeavor. I received the calibration solutions yesterday and calibrated it this am. I got 7.6 with the pen. I am not ready to trust it 100% yet as the probe is supposed to be stored in a special solution, which I also didn't receive until yesterday. I will continue to test with it now that it is stored properly and compare those results to the little box test. My assumption is that the pen will be more accurate going forward, as there is a) nothing subjective about it, and b) not limited to .2 reading gradients.

App question 1- I have it tracking CC as you can see on the attached "logs" page, but it does not show on the summary page. Is this an issue with the app or a setting I have wrong?
App question 2- Will the app make recommendations as to what needs to be added to the pool to correct numbers that are off? I have not found it so far, but the description on the "Pool Math" link to the left says "takes all the guess work of how much chemical to add".

Soooo, what do you all think about our numbers? The app thinks TA and CYA are out of range. Do you agree? Assuming so, how much stuff should I add? I have a note that to raise alkalinity I should add baking soda, but to lower it? Also, FC appears to be dropping slowly, should I bump our percentage up on our SWG? It is currently at around 55%.

Thanks so much to everyone here for the help!!View attachment 507169View attachment 507170View attachment 507171
Click to expand...
1. CC is the same thing.

2. Click on any of the items with the red exclamation point and it’ll give you a recommendation on what to do. But realistically you don’t need to do anything with those results. The TA will come down on its own and the CYA is fine for now.

3. The electronic pH meters are a pain to maintain so I’d count on using the drop test long term. Being off by a small amount isn’t a big deal. As long as the pH is 7.something it’s fine.
 
When you click on each card in the overview it will show the recommendation.
Your swg cell is still very small for your pool volume
The max it can produce in 24 hours in your pool volume is 4ppm fc - the average fc loss in an algae free is anywhere from 2-5ppm/day give or take depending upon conditions.
You will likely need to run it at a much higher percentage & then possibly supplement with liquid chlorine in the peak of the season to maintain adequate fc
FC/CYA Levels
IMG_6613.png
After confirming that you’re algae free with the
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test (swg is off for this)
You should raise your cya to the 70’s to help protect more of the fc your swg makes from the sun.
 
Just a nitpick… no need to post TC here. Post FC and CC. That’s what matters. We don’t use the addition of FC and CC for anything. Pool looks sweet!!
 
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the cc’s info is kept in the logs so you can review it, it just doesn’t display on the overview cards.
One other great thing about poolmath-
You can select sharing in the settings & it allows others to see all your logs (you need the subscription to keep more than 1 log)
To see what I mean- If you click on my avatar picture a button will appear to show my logs
 

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