Do not add acid and chlorine at the same time. Bad Things will happen. Wait at least 10 minutes between those two chemicals.
Test results
- Thread starter D&GNewbies
- Start date
Now D&G, this morning didn’t we agree to do your own testing, stay out of the pool store and not to buy anything from them??
You have to decide if you want to follow TFP methods or pool store antics.
Dumping acid in a still pool is just plain bad advice.
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BowserB
Silver Supporter
- Jul 29, 2018
- 782
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
D&G, a couple of little things. On the Taylor chlorine drop test, note Taylor's instructions for the powder--heaping spoon or two level. If you use too little of the powder, you will get an erroneous low result. If you use too much, no problem except you may see some undissolved powder in the bottom of the vial, but you'll be sure of an accurate result. Next consider the Taylor SpeedStir. It makes all the tests where you have to add and mix stuff easier and faster. Finally, know prices. Check Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, and your pool store. Be sure you know what you are getting. Liquid chlorine may be as little as 6% or up to 12.5%. When you see prices, do the simple math to make them comparable. Where I live, the best price for liquid chlorine (when % taken into account) is Leslies pool store. Best price for muriatic acid is at Home Depot. Your locale may be different, but the key is prices and %. You'll use a lot of that stuff, so there's no reason to overpay. Also watch out for supermarket bleach. Usually not a very good value and sometimes has undesirable stuff added for anti splash, fragrance, etc. You want chlorine and water.
So last night we added the liquid chlorine, stabilizer and the muriatic acid. We did a few hours from adding the chlorine and stabilizer to the acid. The stabilizer hasn't completely dissipated yet out of the nylon we have it in. We did split it into to. I didn't have anywhere near the jet to tie it, so they are tied to the ladder. Should I move them?
This morning I only tested chlorine, pH and alkalinity
Chlorine- IF, I did this right- 1.2ppm. I filled the large tube of the Taylor kit to 25ml. It took 60 drops to get it to turn clear. So then I took 60 x .2= 12, then move the decimal to make it 1.2ppm. Is that right?
pH- looked close to 7.4 to 7.6
Alkalinity- 300ppm still. We did add acid last night, but i was scared to add a whole bottle, so did only half of one. We will add the other today.
Thoughts?
This morning I only tested chlorine, pH and alkalinity
Chlorine- IF, I did this right- 1.2ppm. I filled the large tube of the Taylor kit to 25ml. It took 60 drops to get it to turn clear. So then I took 60 x .2= 12, then move the decimal to make it 1.2ppm. Is that right?
pH- looked close to 7.4 to 7.6
Alkalinity- 300ppm still. We did add acid last night, but i was scared to add a whole bottle, so did only half of one. We will add the other today.
Thoughts?
You can squeeze the sock with stabilizer to speed up dissolving.
FC =12. Don’t move decimal.
FC =12. Don’t move decimal.
Save on reagents by using 10ml sample, 1 heaping scoop powder, drop count x .5 = FC.
No rush on TA, it will come down as you dose to lower PH when ph gets back up to 8.
No rush on TA, it will come down as you dose to lower PH when ph gets back up to 8.
No worries it will burn off. What was your stabilizer goal? How much did you put in?
We put in 3lbs of stabilizer since our CYA level was 2.
It's also pouring rain this morning now.
You have good instincts, I've always read that ph and ta adjustments should be made a little a time. Only using half using half the acid was a good move. You're on your way now!
So retested using the 10mL mark. 22 drops it took to get clear. So it would mean our chlorine level is 11ppm right now.
That's fine. It will come down gradually over the next couple of days. Assume your CYA is 30 and add chlorine as needed. A little rain won't change things much. You have a lot of water in the pool so it takes inches of rain to have an impact.
Great job getting started with your test kit and getting this started.
Just as an FYI, the fill water will have zero CYA in it for future reference.
I would really check that TA test again tonight and make sure you pay attention to the volume sizes and the multiplier. A TA of 300 is extremely high and unlikely with new fill water where you haven’t added any chemicals. It’s more likely you use the wrong multiplier and the TA is really 120 ppm.
I’m not too concerned about the 12 ppm of chlorine . Since you filled through the fire truck, there may be residual crud in there and it won’t hurt to have a high FC for a day or two to make sure everything is killed off. Firemen are known to pump from anything they can including scummy pond water and who knows what was run through those hoses.
Just as an FYI, the fill water will have zero CYA in it for future reference.
I would really check that TA test again tonight and make sure you pay attention to the volume sizes and the multiplier. A TA of 300 is extremely high and unlikely with new fill water where you haven’t added any chemicals. It’s more likely you use the wrong multiplier and the TA is really 120 ppm.
I’m not too concerned about the 12 ppm of chlorine . Since you filled through the fire truck, there may be residual crud in there and it won’t hurt to have a high FC for a day or two to make sure everything is killed off. Firemen are known to pump from anything they can including scummy pond water and who knows what was run through those hoses.
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Good. We have people coming this weekend for a backyard party and I am sure people will be in the pool. I just don't want it to be too high.
Thank you!!
You can swim with FC up to the slam level. If CYA is 30, 11 or 12 is fine to swim in.
So I just ran the CYA test and if I did it right, the CYA level is just at 30
That makes sense. You started with fresh water, you added a known quantity of stabilizer. The rest is just testing and learning to trust your results and/or know when the results don't make sense so you test again. I keep a small notebook with my test kit and log my results. The pool app lets you do the same. Once you have some history to fall back on it all comes together.
Test results from this morning
FC- 5
pH- 7.2
TA- 200
CYA- 40
I plan on adding more muriatic acid this morning to bring the TA level down and then i also have some borax to help bring the pH level up after i get the TA level down to where it needs to be. Getting closer! The Taylor Kit isn't so scary after all!
We do plan on still buying the liquid chlorine from the pool store we got our pool from. $8 for 4 gallon jugs, so a decent price at least.
FC- 5
pH- 7.2
TA- 200
CYA- 40
I plan on adding more muriatic acid this morning to bring the TA level down and then i also have some borax to help bring the pH level up after i get the TA level down to where it needs to be. Getting closer! The Taylor Kit isn't so scary after all!
We do plan on still buying the liquid chlorine from the pool store we got our pool from. $8 for 4 gallon jugs, so a decent price at least.