Testing a salt water pool that is treated with liquid chlorine

[edward.frazier]

I hired a pool chemical company to treat and balance my pool but I want to be able to test it periodically myself. First I bought a DP kit and the readings for chlorine levels weren't matching what the pool company was saying. They said I needed a OTO kit so I got one and the chlorine test always shows up orange instead of yellow. So I called and they told me that liquid chlorine treated pools show up on an orange scale instead of yellow when using a OTO kit. Is this correct? If so, is there an orange scale sheet somewhere I can print off and reference when I am testing myself? The chemical guy didn't know of any.
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Ed

 

[zea3]

Its showing up orange because the chlorine is high, not because it was in liquid form when it is added. If you want to be able to accurately test the pool yourself you need an FAS/DPD test kit such as a TF 100 or a Taylor K2006. They are both very accurate kits and will test chlorine values higher than 5ppm (the max of most OTO kits).

In the meantime, we do have a OTO color guide of sorts devised by one of our members:

From my own research (which I hunted down here using search) Blinding yellow is about 10. School bus yellow is about 12-13. Hunter orange is around 18, up around 25 it starts to look pumpkin orange. I never went any higher than that, but it's been reliably reported that it eventually will turn brown if you get high enough.



It's not terribly accurate. The FAS-DPD test is. Once you tame the pool and learn its ways, you only need to use the FAS-DPD test a couple times a week, the OTO test is good enough to ensure you're in range. That's all it's good for - a range. 4>7 all look like 5 to me.

 

[Sunnydaze]

There may have been a miscommunication. At least I hope. If they really believe liquid chlorine shows up a different color than chlorine produced by a salt cell, then that's all the more reason to fire them and take control of the pool yourself. Levels well above 5 will show up as orange on the oto test. I don't use that test so I'm not sure just how high it has to be to turn orange.

The FAS-DPD chlorine test is the most accurate and precise chlorine test you can buy. It's included in the TF100 and Taylor 2006. See Test Kits Compared

My question is, why are you using liquid chlorine on a salt pool? Is the salt cell currently not working?

 

[reggiehammond]

I hired a pool chemical company to treat and balance my pool but I want to be able to test it periodically myself. First I bought a DP kit and the readings for chlorine levels weren't matching what the pool company was saying. They said I needed a OTO kit so I got one and the chlorine test always shows up orange instead of yellow. So I called and they told me that liquid chlorine treated pools show up on an orange scale instead of yellow when using a OTO kit. Is this correct? If so, is there an orange scale sheet somewhere I can print off and reference when I am testing myself? The chemical guy didn't know of any.
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Ed

Glad you’re here. Fire those guys and take it over yourself for any chance at having good results. Plenty of resources here on the site; with properly balanced water and a SWCG, I add Muriatic acid every few weeks. That’s it; run the robot, empty the skimmer occasionally.

Everything thing they’ve already told you is wrong and their testing is guaranteed to be garbage. When I had a pool company, my FC was always magically around 3ppm… at a CYA of 150!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ed,

Do you have a Saltwater Chlorine Generator (SWCG) or not???

Step 1. Fire the idiots that are taking care of your pool.

Step 2 Forget anything that they told you about your pool.

Step 3. Start taking care of the pool yourself.. No one is going to do as good a job as you can do yourself.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Well, thats certainly a new one. If it makes you feel better, my OTO is almost always orange. If it is yellow, I add some chlorine to get it back up to "off the scale orange".