Pool newbie needs some guidance

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NP_PoolGuy

Member
Dec 17, 2024
7
New Prague, Minnesota, United States
Recently bought a home with an inground pool. We opened it up on Tuesday. Pool company gave me a simple test kit for chlorine and PH. Chlorine tested off the chart on the high end and PH off the chart on the low end. That day I added 4lbs of PH increaser with no change, added another 4lbs the next day, again with no change. Brought a sample of water to the local hardware store (no pool store close by). Here are the results of their test.
Free Available Chlorine: 12.98
Total Chlorine: 14.33
Combined Chlorine: 1.35
PH Level: 6.4
Total Alkalinity: 13
Calcium Hardness: 171
Cyanuric Acid/Stabilizer: 164
Total Dissolved Solids: 0
Phosphates: 1887
Saturation Index: -1.7

From what I read here and on swim university the first thing I should do is get the alkalinity up. I added 2 10.8lb bags of baking soda this morning and I am already seeing an increase in alkalinity based off of test strips. (I have a TF-Pro test kit in my cart ready to order). Was this the correct move? What next? bring up the PH? Then focus on chlorine?

I'm sure this will all get easier over time, but as a beginner this is a bit overwhelming.
 
NP_PoolGuy said:
(I have a TF-Pro test kit in my cart ready to order). Was this the correct move?
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It was. It is the same price as the K2006C, and comes with a $45 stirrer and better amounts of supplies. You dont need 144 TA and CH tests that are monthly, you need more FC tests that are daily.
NP_PoolGuy said:
From what I read here and on swim university the first thing I should do is get the alkalinity up
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Don't touch a thing without reliable results. You have dissolved solids per their testing and also no dissolved solids.

No longer trust whoever read the report and didnt understand that either, when it comes to water chemistry advice.

And Welcome to TFP. :wave:
 
NP_PoolGuy said:
What is the result that is showing dissolved solids?
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Calcium, cyanuric acid, chlorine, phosphates, not listed : salt, copper or iron, likely added at some point : baking soda. Etc etc etc. Anything thats been added to the water over time, it all adds up and TDS rises. But the testing is sketchy at best as proven right here with 0 TDS.

While the low TA and Ph do usually go hand in hand, I can't get behind it if the other test is so wildly wrong. Maybe they're low but not that low. We just dont know. Get your kit and we'll know for sure and act accordingly. We got you now.

Have some reading by clicking :
Pool Care Basics
FC/CYA Levels
Test Kits Compared
 
Finally got my tf-pro test kit and did some tests today.

FC - 11.5
CC - 0
PH - 7.5
TA - 180
CYA - ? I tested and it was over 100, diluted 50% pool water and 50% distilled water, test still showed over 100. Should I dilute further?

Water has been super cloudy the last week or so. I did not add anything for a few days now and am finally stating to see the bottom in the shallow end. I assume I will need to do a few drain/fill cycles to get the CYA an acceptable range. Any other suggestions?
 
Small water exchanges will do little to lower your CYA level. Since cyanuric acid is not present in tap water, the percentage of water exchanged is equal to the reduction in CYA. You should do a near complete water exchange. With a vinyl pool, you want to leave about 18 in of depth in the shallow end. Refill and test. You can make adjustments from there.

Your target CYA should be based upon your means of chlorination in the future. SWG pools run higher CYA levels than regular liquid chlorine pools.
 
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That depends how your draining. We don't recommend you use your pool pump to exchange water. A submersible pump is recommended for water exchanges. You can purchase from any of the big box stores or Amazon, or rent from Home Depot or Lowe's. I don't have any specific recommendations because there are many out there, but I own a Superior 3/4 horsepower version I haven't needed to use yet.
 
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NP_PoolGuy said:
CYA - ? I tested and it was over 100, diluted 50% pool water and 50% distilled water, test still showed over 100. Should I dilute further?
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For CYA > 90ppm, repeat the test adjusting the procedure as follows:

  1. Fill the mixing bottle to the lower mark (15 ml line or 7ml line) with pool water.
  2. Continue filling the mixing bottle to the upper mark (30 ml line) with tap water.
  3. Shake briefly to mix.
  4. Pour off half of the contents of the mixing bottle, so it is again filled to the lower mark (15 ml line or 7ml line).
  5. Continue the test normally from adding R-0013, but multiply the final result by two.
If you need to dilute the pool water further then apply these ratios:

Pool waterTap or distilled waterMultiply result by
112
123
145
Note that when doing a diluted test not only do you multiply the range of the test you multiply the error rate of the test, so results are a ballpark - not an absolute.

Stolen from @ajw22. Attribution so @JoyfulNoise doesn't sue me again....
 
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I tested again at lunch time today. at a 1 to mixture it looked to be right at that 100 mark, so multiplied by 2 would give me 200. I then tried the test again using 1 part pool water and 2 parts distilled. This time it looked to be right at the 80 mark, so multiplied by 3 would give me 240. I am guessing I am somewhere in between 200 and 240.
Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
That depends how your draining. We don't recommend you use your pool pump to exchange water. A submersible pump is recommended for water exchanges. You can purchase from any of the big box stores or Amazon, or rent from Home Depot or Lowe's. I don't have any specific recommendations because there are many out there, but I own a Superior 3/4 horsepower version I haven't needed to use yet.
Click to expand...
What is the reason not to drain using the pools pump?
 
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