Please help me calibrate my eyes

[Winnie-the-Pool]

Don't forget to post your results here when you receive your test kit.

In the meantime if you have a smartphone, iPad or tablet, download the TFP Pool Math App. It's a great way to keep track of all your pool maintenance. You enter your test results and it will compute your chemical additions for you.

Also get a couple gallons of liquid chlorine to start with once you get your test results. If you buy bleach (liquid chlorine) from the grocery store make sure it is just plain bleach, unscented, no splashless, etc. The store brand is fine and usually the least expensive there.

And read Pool School

 

[aquaN00b]

Don't forget to post your results here when you receive your test kit.

In the meantime if you have a smartphone, iPad or tablet, download the TFP Pool Math App. It's a great way to keep track of all your pool maintenance. You enter your test results and it will compute your chemical additions for you.

Also get a couple gallons of liquid chlorine to start with once you get your test results. If you buy bleach (liquid chlorine) from the grocery store make sure it is just plain bleach, unscented, no splashless, etc. The store brand is fine and usually the least expensive there.

And read Pool School

Yup I read a bunch of pool school last night. I picked up 4 gallons of plain 8.25% bleach with my groceries this morning. Test kit arrives tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Winnie-the-Pool]

Yup I read a bunch of pool school last night. I picked up 4 gallons of plain 8.25% bleach with my groceries this morning. Test kit arrives tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[aquaN00b]

Hello again all. So this week I was a suuuuper pool slacker. I was working late all week and didn't get a chance until today to test my water with my new K2006 kit.

Not surprisingly, FC was pretty much dead zero. pH was good. CYA was about 45.

I *think* normally I'd SLAM right now, right?

I have to go help a buddy move and want the wife and kid to be able to swim later today.

I added two gallons of 8.25% bleach which pool math says will bring it up to 8 ppm.

Is that enough to swim later? I was going to go out early tomorrow to get some more bleach and SLAM it. Gotta say I'm pretty happy I'm not adding CYA and the liquid is so much faster than tablets dissolving

 

[jeffchap]

There's no need to SLAM unless you have evidence of algae currently growing in your pool. You can perform an OCLT tonight to determine that. I would suggest adding enough bleach tonight to achieve FC of 10 ppm to run the OCLT. If you pass, just resume normal maintenance.

That said, letting your FC drop to zero is inviting disaster. You need to maintain a minimum of 4 ppm AT ALL TIMES for your current CYA, which we'll call 50 as you always round up. Adding FC is a daily occurrence. Is there any way you can get your wife or kids to add a gallon of that 8% bleach on the days that you are unable to attend to it? That would add 4 ppm of FC to your pool, which is right around what most pools consume in a day.

As to your question, your pool is safe to swim in any time the pH is 7.2-7.8, the FC is anything up to SLAM level (ie. CYA x 0.4, or 20 ppm for you), and the water is clear enough to see all the way to the bottom. So swim away!