I have a new pool that was filled Dec. 15th. Using my TF-100 test kit, I measured pre-fill water as having CH of 150, and immediately following fill up, I measured CH at 100. Trying to bring up my CH, I have added 45 lbs of calcium over the past month and a half, and using my TF-100 I'm sitting at about 250. Call me biased, but the water is beautiful and some of the clearest pool water I've ever seen!
At the recommendation of my pool builder (for plaster warranty), I have taken water to my local pool store for testing (3 times so far). I usually run a set of tests using my TF-100 that same day as a comparison and to see how far off their numbers are. Ph and free chlorine are usually pretty close, but the other numbers have enough variation that I think taking water to the pool store is a total waste. In particular, the pool store CH numbers consistently come in lower than mine, and during my most recent visit (2/1), they tested CH of 100 and recommended adding another 35 lbs of calcium chloride. With my TF-100 I had measured CH of 250 that same day, so adding 35lbs would raise my CH about 200, putting me at 450 CH. When the pool store employee mentioned that I needed to raise the CH, I explained that I had already added 45lbs of calcium chloride, to which he suggested that the recent rains likely caused a drop in my CH. Looking at the historical rainfall for the past month, I see that we only had 3.5" rain, so I find it hard to believe that it's dropped that far due to rainfall.
Here's a table showing my water tests (TF=TF-100 and PS=Pool Store) where you can see the appropriate bumps (TF numbers) in CH when calcium chloride was added.
I'm a little torn because while it would be nice to have a third party validate my testing results (mainly for warranty purposes), seeing the discrepancies over each of my 3 visits wouldn't seem to give me much support if there ever was an issue. I suppose I could take a water sample to another but I don't think I'd have much faith in any pool store testing.
Does anyone really go through the trouble of taking water to a pool store for a second opinion? As of a few weeks ago, I paid for Pool Math, so all my testing and chem additions are documented in the app. Has anyone ever used the Pool Math logs for a warranty claim?
At the recommendation of my pool builder (for plaster warranty), I have taken water to my local pool store for testing (3 times so far). I usually run a set of tests using my TF-100 that same day as a comparison and to see how far off their numbers are. Ph and free chlorine are usually pretty close, but the other numbers have enough variation that I think taking water to the pool store is a total waste. In particular, the pool store CH numbers consistently come in lower than mine, and during my most recent visit (2/1), they tested CH of 100 and recommended adding another 35 lbs of calcium chloride. With my TF-100 I had measured CH of 250 that same day, so adding 35lbs would raise my CH about 200, putting me at 450 CH. When the pool store employee mentioned that I needed to raise the CH, I explained that I had already added 45lbs of calcium chloride, to which he suggested that the recent rains likely caused a drop in my CH. Looking at the historical rainfall for the past month, I see that we only had 3.5" rain, so I find it hard to believe that it's dropped that far due to rainfall.
Here's a table showing my water tests (TF=TF-100 and PS=Pool Store) where you can see the appropriate bumps (TF numbers) in CH when calcium chloride was added.
Pre-Fill 11/20 TF | 12/13 TF | 12/15 TF | *12/15 PS | 12/16 TF | 12/26 TF | 12/30 TF | 12/31 TF | *12-31 PS | 2/1 TF | *2/1 PS | |
FC | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 2.5 | 3 |
CC | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TC | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 2.5 | 3 |
pH | 7.7 | 7.2 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 8 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 7.8 |
CH | 150 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 150 | 175 | 200 | 225 | 160 | 250 | 100 |
TA | 210 | 190 | 220 | 100 | 190 | 170 | 150 | 140 | 110 | 100 | 100 |
CYA | 10 | 30 | 30 | 35 | 45 | 35 | 35 | ||||
After adding 15 lbs CC | After adding 10 lbs CC | After adding 8 lbs CC | After adding 7 lbs CC | After adding 5 lbs CC |
I'm a little torn because while it would be nice to have a third party validate my testing results (mainly for warranty purposes), seeing the discrepancies over each of my 3 visits wouldn't seem to give me much support if there ever was an issue. I suppose I could take a water sample to another but I don't think I'd have much faith in any pool store testing.
Does anyone really go through the trouble of taking water to a pool store for a second opinion? As of a few weeks ago, I paid for Pool Math, so all my testing and chem additions are documented in the app. Has anyone ever used the Pool Math logs for a warranty claim?