The Girl With The Huge Pool

[FloridaPoolGal]

Awesome pool! Welcome to TFP. Anxiously waiting for your TFT kit results. Did you order the speedstir?

I could not live without a SpeedStir but, boy, those things have gotten pricey! The Taylor SamleSizer is the next thing I can't live without.

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

Awesome pool! Welcome to TFP. Anxiously waiting for your TFT kit results. Did you order the speedstir?

Yes

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

Okay so this was last night. The guy at Lesslie is pretty good and helpful. He dried off all the testing components before he started and grumbled about how this should "all be dry". He tested salt two different ways (both within 100 of each other .
He said I need hardener and more salt.
I added CYA the other night 12 lbs then the next day 4 gal 10% liquid chlorine. Pool is clear. Pentair unit is set on high and all the lights are green. its pretty sensitive. when it reads low i can add a bag or two to 65k pool and it will go back to green.
Thoughts?
Thanks
Jen

 

[wireform]

Just hold off on adding anything but chlorine. I know the Leslie person is trying hard and for all you know may be close but don't rely on them at all. Seen too many screw ups.... Salt don't add more
a) while the cell is powered
b) if the cell is happy let it ride till you can test it yourself .
You've done well so leave well enough alone till the test kit arrives and then run the full list and post. Good luck.

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

Just hold off on adding anything but chlorine. I know the Leslie person is trying hard and for all you know may be close but don't rely on them at all. Seen too many screw ups.... Salt don't add more
a) while the cell is powered
b) if the cell is happy let it ride till you can test it yourself .
You've done well so leave well enough alone till the test kit arrives and then run the full list and post. Good luck.

Got it, Thanks
I don't foresee it going off the rails so I can wait until the kit comes in

 

[Newdude]

Their FC results, while off like everything else, are close enough in this instance that their report of 12 means you'll be fine. If it was a 5 and they were 'off' by 3.......... notsomuch.

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

Welcome to the forum, Jen

Really a beautiful pool. Please read "Pool Care Basics" up in Pool School. You will find that TFP teaches and relies upon precise testing to maintain pools.

Can you post a complete set of recent test results?

See below

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

Kit has been delivered so results to follow

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

Well the results are in. I took a bit of time going thru the steps carefully. That CYA test was a trip but I got the hang of it.
As follows,
CYA 70
FC 10.5
TC 11.5
TA 110
PH 8.2
Salt 4200
CH 275

Curious about how to test for phosphates?
Lesslie said it was very high 700+

I would welcome any input on my results.
Thank you in advance

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

PS I ordered the Taylor phosphate testing kit this morning

 

[dfwnoob]

Phosphates are not measured nor controlled in the TFP method. Ignore them.

 

[jeffchap]

Cancel the phosphate test if you can. Phosphates are food for algae. But if you eradicate the algae, it doesn't matter how much food is available for it. So we don't even test for it.

Phosphate removers are simply a bandaid. We prefer to attack algae directly.

Truth be told, pool stores find it convenient to blame high phosphate levels for algae and then sell you a phosphate remover rather than admit that the problem is usually due to excessively high CYA levels from the tablets and shock powders they've been selling you.

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

Cancel the phosphate test if you can. Phosphates are food for algae. But if you eradicate the algae, it doesn't matter how much food is available for it. So we don't even test for it.

Phosphate removers are simply a bandaid. We prefer to attack algae directly.

Truth be told, pool stores find it convenient to blame high phosphate levels for algae and then sell you a phosphate remover rather than admit that the problem is usually due to excessively high CYA levels from the tablets and shock powders they've been selling you.

I will nix the kit ASAP
I don't use tabs only liquid chlorine
I may have over shot the stabilizer with the granular

 

[jeffchap]

Your CYA is okay at 70, but you don't want to go any higher. In NJ, this should be plenty for your SWG to keep up. If you lived down here in the south, we like to keep at 80 due to the sun and heat.

FC at 10.5 is good. You could comfortably dial back your SWG to maintain 7 and still be safe. But better high than low. If your pool stays happily at 10 or so, leave it be. You can safely swim with FC up to 40% of CYA, so 28 in your case.

I'm a little concerned with TC at 11.5. Since TC = FC + CC, this means your CC is 1.0. We normally like to see CC .5 or less. Anything above that indicates that something in your water is being consumed by the chlorine (CC is combined chloramines, which results from the breakdown of organic material by the FC). It would be a good idea to perform an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tonight. This will give us a better idea if you have something growing or this is just a testing error. There's only one drop between .5 and 1.0. Did you count the last drop after it went clear?

You need to lower the pH into the 7.2 - 7.8 range with the addition of some muriatic acid. Use Pool Math to determine how much. It's common for to pH to creep upward with a SWG. I add a gallon of MA every other week.

Your TA is slightly high, but I wouldn't do anything about it. Over time, repeated dosing of MA to lower pH will lower TA as well. I don't even test it anymore.

Overall, you appear to be in good shape. How does that water look?

 

[ajw22]

When FC gets over 10 the pH test becomes unreliable. You are right at the edge.

PH - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

I would not lower your pH by much until you can get a good pH test when the FC is below 10.

 

[jeffchap]

When FC gets over 10 the pH test becomes unreliable. You are right at the edge.

PH - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

I would not lower your pH by much until you can get a good pH test when the FC is below 10.

Ooh, yeah, I missed that. Thanks!

 

[BearMeadowFarm]

Your CYA is okay at 70, but you don't want to go any higher. In NJ, this should be plenty for your SWG to keep up. If you lived down here in the south, we like to keep at 80 due to the sun and heat.

FC at 10.5 is good. You could comfortably dial back your SWG to maintain 7 and still be safe. But better high than low. If your pool stays happily at 10 or so, leave it be. You can safely swim with FC up to 40% of CYA, so 28 in your case.

I'm a little concerned with TC at 11.5. Since TC = FC + CC, this means your CC is 1.0. We normally like to see CC .5 or less. Anything above that indicates that something in your water is being consumed by the chlorine (CC is combined chloramines, which results from the breakdown of organic material by the FC). It would be a good idea to perform an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test tonight. This will give us a better idea if you have something growing or this is just a testing error. There's only one drop between .5 and 1.0. Did you count the last drop after it went clear?

You need to lower the pH into the 7.2 - 7.8 range with the addition of some muriatic acid. Use Pool Math to determine how much. It's common for to pH to creep upward with a SWG. I add a gallon of MA every other week.

Your TA is slightly high, but I wouldn't do anything about it. Over time, repeated dosing of MA to lower pH will lower TA as well. I don't even test it anymore.

Overall, you appear to be in good shape. How does that water look?

Super clear
It was my first time doing the kit testing so it was probably me.
I will look up the chlorine drop test tonight
Also the pool math on the ph (I will test that again too) just to be sure but I think it was accurate in color
Thanks for the input
Jen