NEWBIE needs LOTS of help with water testing results

[rvaughn]

Okay, bare wth me since I'm new to doing all of this water testing on my own. Here are the numbers I got when I tested my pool the day after opening and adding 2 gallons of bleach. I also went to the pool store tonight and got them to test my water too. Our FC and CC numbers are WAY off, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong!! Please help!

MY NUMBERS
FC = 11 (it took me 55 drops of R-0871 FAS-DPD Reagent to get the color to change from pink to colorless, is that normal??!)
CC = 0 (sample never turned pink, so no CC present)
TC = (don't know how to measure)
CYA = 0
pH = 8.2
TA = 150
CA Hardness = 170

POOL STORE NUMBERS
FC = .5 ppm
CC = 7.1 ppm
TC = 7.7 ppm
CYA = 5 ppm
pH = 8.2
TA = (w/ stabilizer correction) 79 ppm
CA Hardness = 160 ppm

Purchased 12lbs. of Stabilizer and wondering if I should add a few pounds at a time in a pantyhose until it dissolves or what recommendation? They told me to pour it into the skimmer.
Have to buy the 20lbs of Calcium Hardness from them tomorrow (they were out)
Need to purchase 4 lbs. of ph decreaser.

Sorry for all the questions, but this is my first time testing all these on my own and I really curious as to what the heck I'm doing wrong with the FC reading! Thanks so much!

 

[DrC]

First off, WELCOME to Trouble Free Pool Forum.

Take a few deep breaths and relax. Others with better knowledge will give you specific answers to your results soon. It will be very helpful if you also post some information about the type of pool you have. Is it inground/above ground, vinyl liner or other finish, what size and shape, water depth or gallon capacity?

It all gets better from here on.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your first testing!

It is very likely you are doing the FC test correctly. There are two things that might have happened. First, FC tends to evaporate while you are on the way to the store. Second, they might have used a test which isn't accurate. Some of the tests bleach out at high chlorine levels and appear to show a very low chlorine level. I would never believe a pool store over your own testing.

If you add the CYA directly to the skimmer you need to remember not to backwash for at least a week. To avoid that issue, many people put the CYA into a sock suspended in front of a return jet. It is a good idea to add half of the calculated amount, wait a week, and test again to see where you are.

You should get your PH down below 8 as soon as possible.

I wouldn't worry about the hardness right away. If you have a vinyl pool you might not need it at all. Even if you have a plaster pool it isn't that far off and can wait till you have other things under control.

 

[rvaughn]

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I'm sorry I forgot to mention my pool!! I was in such a hurry to put my numbers out. I have a 36,000 gal. plaster pool, kidney shaped. Our water is disgusting because our pool covered ripped. There's no way I could wait a week to backwash. At the present time, I have to backwash with my DE filter atleast 4 times a day. I'll keep testing my FC levels everyday. What ppm should I be shooting for since I have no CYA in the water yeat but the water's green. Right now I'm just dumping in the 2 gallons of bleach and I got the 11ppm reading the next day, should I be dumping more? Let me know so I can do it tonight! Thanks so much, I feel better now!!

 

[DrC]

If you can start seeing green water instead of the big black mess that's good. You need to keep a high Chlorine level to get to the clear water point. Using the best guess chart with a CYA of >5 your shock level would be 10ppm. If you can maintain that level you will get rid of the green water. Are you adding your Bleach at night so it can do its work without the sun using it up instead. Here is the best guess chart,

Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm

Using the Bleach Calculator, a 36000 gallon pool capacity, 77 ounces (2 quarts, 1 cup, 5 ounces) of 6% Bleach will raise your FC level 1. If you are using 5.25% Bleach it will require 80 ounces ( 2 quarts, 2 cups) to raise your FC 1.

 

[medvampire]

MY NUMBERS
FC = 11 (it took me 55 drops of R-0871 FAS-DPD Reagent to get the color to change from pink to colorless, is that normal??!)
CC = 0 (sample never turned pink, so no CC present)
TC = (don't know how to measure)

Ok what test are you using?
I going to guess here ... If you are using a graduated test vile are you filling to the 10 ml mark or the 25 ml mark?
If you fill to the 25 ml each drop you add should be 0.25 ppm FC. If you use the 10 ml mark each drop will be 0.5 ppm FC.
TC=FC+CC if that helps as well.
Steve

 

[JCJR]

To answer your question "How to measure TC" , TC is total Chlorine. That is free chlorine plus combined chlorine (CC also known as chloramines). In your case, you know that free chlorine is 11 and CC is 0 this equates to 11+0=11. So your TC is 11. If you notice your pool store test 7.1 +.5 should of been 7.6 but they put 7.7 which is they probably entered the wrong data into their computer.

 

[matt4x4]

Did I read that right? You purchased 12 lbs of stabilizer - wow, are you doing an olympic sized pool?? - that would do me for 6 to 10 years.
Be careful with how much of that you add at a time, it can't be removed unless you drain off water. Best way, add it to a sock and tie it off the stairs, a few feet out from the wall, it's extremely corrosive and i do not recommend adding it to your equipment so it can do it's damage there.
I'd start with 1 - 2 lbs since I don't know your pool size. Give it at least 4 days before you retest CYA and then make a call as to where you want to be - somewhere between 40-60 ppm is good, more than that and you'll need more chlorine to effectively control algae.
I wouldn't worry about TA right now, get the stabilizer in there because you'll just be readjusting your TA over and over until you have the CYA where you want it.
Your pH is a little high, but not out of whack, it's actually easier to keep a pool in check with a littel higher pH, and it has some benefits, I would not worry about that right now until, once again, you have the stabilizer where you want it.
As for your hardness, if you've got a vinyl lined pool, it's irrelevant, however, otheer pools require it to be in check.