Opened Pool for the Year- Understanding results

[kyle6367]

Hey Everyone,
First time poster here, but I opened up the pool yesterday and brought the water to Leslies for testing. The results were as follows:
Free Chlorine: 13.47
Total Chlorine: 13.61
pH: 7.5
Alkalinity: 65
Calcium: 133
CYA: 108
Iron: 0.1
Copper: 0.4
Phosphates: 315

This was the first time that I opened up the pool to those high chlorine levels, but last fall was also the first time I personally closed it. Thinking I added too much chlorine at close? Looks like the CYA is on the higher side ( I used Trichlor tabs the last 3 years which didn't help), and I was thinking I would have to switch to liquid chlorine this year.

So this is where I was unsure about transitioning from the tabs in the chlorinator to dosing weekly with liquid. Considering the numbers above, what would the reccomendation be for my next step. I'm planning on letting some chlorine burn off, but given my higher CYA I wouldn't want it to get too low?

Thanks for the help!!
Kyle

 

[starrock77]

You should start testing your own water. Pool store results are notoriously bad. If the numbers are correct however you need to get the CYA level down. Easiest way is to do a partial drain and refill.

 

[kyle6367]

You should start testing your own water. Pool store results are notoriously bad. If the numbers are correct however you need to get the CYA level down. Easiest way is to do a partial drain and refill.

I actually just purchased a Tayler K-2006 kit on Amazon. I initially bought a cheaper poolmaster 5 way test kit, which is just not cutting it. As soon as I get the kit, i'll be running my own tests.

 

[Mdragger88]

welcome to tfp! You’re chlorine is not that high considering your cya level if those results are accurate see —> FC/CYA Levels

While you await your kit here’s some reading ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry & a great video
& stock up on some liquid chlorine so u r ready to go.
We generally don’t give much advice based on pool store testing other than metals because of its inaccuracies. It does however look like a drain/water exchange is in your future. How much depends on your actual cya.
When you get your kit in & test you can post you results here & we’ll be happy to help ?
We recommend testing & dosing with liquid chlorine daily or using a swg If daily isn’t your thing. & reserving the pucks for vacations etc. The average pool loses 2-4 ppm fc daily so weekly dosing can leave your water in an unsanitary condition.

 

[kyle6367]

welcome to tfp! You’re chlorine is not that high considering your cya level if those results are accurate see —> FC/CYA Levels

While you await your kit here’s some reading ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry & a great video
& stock up on some liquid chlorine so u r ready to go.
We generally don’t give much advice based on pool store testing other than metals because of its inaccuracies. It does however look like a drain/water exchange is in your future. How much depends on your actual cya.
When you get your kit in & test you can post you results here & we’ll be happy to help ?
We recommend testing & dosing with liquid chlorine daily or using a swg If daily isn’t your thing. & reserving the pucks for vacations etc. The average pool loses 2-4 ppm fc daily so weekly dosing can leave your water in an unsanitary condition.

Good morning, and thanks for the welcoming words and the video! As soon as I get the kit I will post up the results and we can go from there.

Just a little background on the pool. It's 12k gallons, and this is the first pool I owned/cared for in my life. For the last 3 years it has been amazing. Crystal clear water, no issues with anything really. The only things I did was fill the chlorinator with pucks and occasionally dump in some Baking soda when the alkalinity was low. I think now I am seeing that buildup of CYA and it's coming back to bite me?
Thanks again

 

[Mdragger88]

Yes - aside from the quick cya build up trichlor is acidic & Alot of people bottom out their ph & eventually ta with their blind usage. That’s why it is recommended here to use liquid chlorine as it Mostly only Affects fc & then use stabilizer separately. It’s much easier to control/adjust one thing at a time. PoolMath app is also a great tool & we recommend using it to calculate additions & save your logs.