Please share how you collect water for testing....I'm curious how everyone else does this...

[mrm1682]

All joking aside, has anyone proved that samples at different depths are significantly different? I’m not talking about skimming the surface for a sample but 1ft down then 2ft down etc.

 

[PoolStored]

All joking aside, has anyone proved that samples at different depths are significantly different? I’m not talking about skimming the surface for a sample but 1ft down then 2ft down etc.

Taylor Technologies suggest "To get a representative sample, draw the water from mid-pool"

Taylor Technologies Best Practices When Testing Water​

Best Practices When Testing Water

 

[Homebrewale]

I've been using the same local pool company water sample bottle since 2006. Dip it in to elbow's depth.

 

[Turbo1Ton]

Two foot length of ½" PVC pipe ($2).

View attachment 487291

Use it like a big straw. Put your thumb over one end, dip the other end ~18" below the surface, momentarily release your thumb and the pipe fills with water, put your thumb back on, and extract the water filled pipe.

View attachment 487292

Empty the pipe's water into a plastic condiment bottle ($1). Makes dispensing sample water very easy and precise. Arm stays dry too.

View attachment 487293

This - except my piece is 5' long so I don't have to bend over as much. Usually get a sample from about 3'-4' depths.

--Jeff

 

[Lilypad]

Been doing the kneel and plunge the free bottle from a known PS to elbow depth.
99.9% of the time it’s worked well. I get a true feel for the pool temp! Jan/Feb
are fun, especially the time I stood up, knew my balance was off and gracefully
stepped into the frigid pool laughing. I think I will invest in a PVC tube….just
so much hilarity I can handle!

 

[CraigChing]

knew my balance was off

I totally thought you knew your chemical balance was off just by putting your arm in the pool!

 

[Lilypad]

@CraigChing

You are absolutely correct! If it wasn’t for my TFP education I'd never have known!

 

[jimim]

U guys r hardcore.

Red solo cup to my son and me saying you better reach as far down as possible. If u don’t feel like u are going to fall in u aren’t going deep enough. Do it again.

 

[borjis]

Turkey baster that samples 1 ft down in the deep end.

 

[AUSpool]

Rinse, rinse, rinse. To wash away the tap water residue from rinsing after the previous test.

It‘s best to collect from the same spot and time of day, but the same time of day is not always possible. I collect from about 2 feet away from the skimmer and start by rinsing three times by scooping up surface water and throwing it (broadcasting) it away from me. Then I plunge down inverted to the elbow, turn it upright to fill, and pull it out. Adjust my volume and test. I then rinse three times with tap water.

 

[Dirk]

2nd prototype, bugs worked out. I pull a sample from the same spot each time, mid-pool, away from returns and skimmer, works in summer or winter, barely get the tips of a couple fingers wet, kneeling not necessary, easy to aim into Leslie's sample container:



3/4" PVC, 30" long
2 @ 3/4" caps
5/16" hole drilled in bottom cap
3/8" hole drilled in top cap

Seal thumb over top hole,
insert pipe into water until top cap is just a few inches above water,
release thumb,
fill pipe,
hold thumb to top hole,
remove from pool,
aim into Leslie's sampler,
release thumb.

Shake water out of sampler, first pass is to rinse pipe and container,
then repeat process to take sample.

 

[duraleigh]

has anyone proved that samples at different depths are significantly different?

No, nor should they be able to. Test results should be uniform throughout your pool. If they are not, you are not circulating the water well enough.

Chlorine, CYA, baking soda, salt,muriatic, etc. all seek "dynamic equilibrium" wherein the molecules flow from any higher concentration to a lower one. We rednecks call that "stays mixed up"

 

[Dirk]

No, nor should they be able to. Test results should be uniform throughout your pool. If they are not, you are not circulating the water well enough.

Chlorine, CYA, baking soda, salt,muriatic, etc. all seek "dynamic equilibrium" wherein the molecules flow from any higher concentration to a lower one. We rednecks call that "stays mixed up"

Would water temperature affect any of the tests? If you happen to test when the pool is very still, the top few inches would be some amount warmer than a couple feet down.

And I stay away from the returns just in case I am grabbing a sample while my SWG is pumping chlorine, or my IntellipH is pumping acid.

Given most of the tests we use have an accuracy of ±10%, I suppose none of this really matters in the grand scheme of things.

 

[V___25]

I use plastic water bottle without the lid and put my palm over the top as I'm putting it in, and stick my arm in the deep end to like arm pit level. Then I take my palm off the top, get some water from a few deep and test.

 

[Homebrewale]

I use plastic water bottle without the lid and put my palm over the top as I'm putting it in, and stick my arm in the deep end to like arm pit level. Then I take my palm off the top, get some water from a few deep and test.

Have you tried holding the water bottle upside down?

 

[Wntrequinx]

I stick an empty 8oz plastic cup in the pool (upside-down) lower it about a foot and a half, and turn it right-side up, then pour off a third of it before I walk away, 'cause I don't need that much. Helps I can stand next to the ab pool and reach my arm pretty far in.

 

[RickRude]

The Leslie's bottle's opening diameter is the perfect perfect diameter for a 10 mL graduated plastic syringe that Walgreen's once gave me with some meds. So retrieve water sample in the Leslie's bottle via arm-to-the elbow, then go inside and dose precisely with the syringe.

 

[RickRude]

Also, I suggest next month's picture contest be for the most Rube Goldberg water sample retrieval contraption.

 

[kul]

Coral Feeder Long Syringe Tube... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FKV3QVZ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I use the above syringe which works well for me.

 

[mrm1682]

No, nor should they be able to. Test results should be uniform throughout your pool. If they are not, you are not circulating the water well enough.

If that’s true then water 2” or 2’ deep should be the same. Next to the return or a foot away from the return shouldn’t matter either.