Total Newbie with first test....and questions, of course!

[teecee2021]

Hello TFP family! (can I claim that so soon? anyway...)

Just purchased this (new to me) home last year and is my first pool ownership experience. I have a pool guy that comes weekly and seems to do a good job. The water is usually very clear and doesnt reek of chlorine. However, last week everyone complained about eyes burning, but pool guy says all is well. He showed me the test he ran using the all in one test strip. Said ph and other levels were ok.
I ordered a Taylor K2006 test kit and did my first test earlier today. Could you all offer some suggestion on what to do from here?

96-98 degrees outside and pool water temp 88.7 deg. Also, it rained pretty good in the last 24 hours.
FAS-DPD 6 ppm
CC .4 ppm
ph 7.5
measured TA 90 Adjusted TA (using table N) 36.5
CH 220
Cyanuric Acid 170 (measured using 1/2 and 1/2 method)

According to the Water Balance calculator I'm at a Saturation Index of -0.4

Pretty certain I did this right...but am always open to suggestions! Biggest ask is what to do about the high CYA level. A little googling also tells me the culprit is likely the tyoe of chlorine pucks in the floating dispenser (correct?)

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Oly]

Nice work getting and using a quality test kit. You are correct about your very high CYA and the trichlor tabs. Use Pool Math to determine how much water to replace to bring your CYA back down to your target. If you are considering a SWG you will be able to utilize a higher, 70ppm CYA level. If you intend to use liquid chlorine you will be fine at 50ppm CYA.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I have NO idea what that adjusted TA is about. Ignore that business. The Taylor test TA results are all you need to report.

Yup, I see a major drain and refill in your future. No way do you want to attempt to keep enough FC in there with a CYA of 170.

Since you don't use a SWG, you'll need to start using Liquid Chlorine after that drain/refill. PoolMath tells me that you need to drain 74% of the water to get down to a CYA of 40ppm. Being that you're in Houston, I think a CYA of 50ppm might be better = 71%

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Be careful with draining due to that swamp your city is built on.

Maddie

 

[Panzer]

Hello TFP family! (can I claim that so soon? anyway...)

Just purchased this (new to me) home last year and is my first pool ownership experience. I have a pool guy that comes weekly and seems to do a good job. The water is usually very clear and doesnt reek of chlorine. However, last week everyone complained about eyes burning, but pool guy says all is well. He showed me the test he ran using the all in one test strip. Said ph and other levels were ok.
I ordered a Taylor K2006 test kit and did my first test earlier today. Could you all offer some suggestion on what to do from here?

96-98 degrees outside and pool water temp 88.7 deg. Also, it rained pretty good in the last 24 hours.
FAS-DPD 6 ppm
CC .4 ppm
ph 7.5
measured TA 90 Adjusted TA (using table N) 36.5
CH 220
Cyanuric Acid 170 (measured using 1/2 and 1/2 method)

According to the Water Balance calculator I'm at a Saturation Index of -0.4

Pretty certain I did this right...but am always open to suggestions! Biggest ask is what to do about the high CYA level. A little googling also tells me the culprit is likely the tyoe of chlorine pucks in the floating dispenser (correct?)

Thanks in advance for your help!

With your CYA at 170, your Chlorine level is about half of what it needs to be in order to sanitize properly... hence the CC showing. In my experience, the CC is usually the culprit when people begin complaining about burning eyes, chlorine smell, etc.
Until you can bring your CYA down through water changes, I'd increase my FC level to get rid of the CC. That should help with the irritation.
Respectfully,

 

[teecee2021]

Thank you everyone for your responses. This has been quite the crash-course in the last couple days!

Ive started draining the pool this morning. Not sure where the water table is after recent heavy rains, so I have it filling at the same time. (saw a pic of a pool that popped out of the ground--not cool!) Will get new results posted once its refilled. And will probabaly ask for stabilization tips....because the hockey pucks are going in the trash!

 

[mknauss]

Ive started draining the pool this morning.

Are you following the Exchange process shown in the article linked earlier in this thread? If not, I hope water is really cheap. As mixing will occur and the amount of water needed will be exponentially greater than if you follow the process.

Good luck.

 

[teecee2021]

Are you following the Exchange process shown in the article linked earlier in this thread? If not, I hope water is really cheap. As mixing will occur and the amount of water needed will be exponentially greater than if you follow the process.

Good luck.

Hi There...Yes. filling cold water into the deep end draining from the warm shallow end. Seems to be going well so far.

Thanks!

 

[teecee2021]

Okay Folks...I'm stumped!

So...we replaced right at 7.5k gallons of water (gleaned from the smart water meter). and once full, added 16oz of Leslie's 73% calcium hypochlorite. Waited a few hours with the pump on high and had the water analyzed by Leslie's...this is what it tested:

Free chlorine 5.97
Total chlorine 6.25
ph 7.8
TA 102
Cal hardness 139
CYA 59 (Yay!!! down from 170)
TDS 400 (down from 600)

Added 10lb bucket of Leslie's hardness plus, and since water had a very slight green tint, added 6oz of the Algae Control product. Let pump run all night on medium setting (2k rpm), and this morning the pool Looks fantastic! (well......not so fast)

Wanted a baseline test results to add to pool math app, so...ran the first chlorine test and ...ummm....what is this??? 0.2ppm free chlorine??? Ran it again...same result for both free and total.
Thought I did something wrong...took a sample to Leslie's--same result. (water temp is 88deg F for all tests)
Here's the full results this morning:

Free C 0.2
Total C 0.2
ph 7.7
TA 76
CH 207
CYA 63
TDS 500

At the recommendation of the store manager (and pool math), I added Another 16oz of 73% calcium hypochlorite, pool pump on high, and pool robot doing a run. Then waited 6 hours, which is about the turn over rate of the pump on high.

The FAS DPD test is only showing free chlorine at 0.6 and total at 0.2. Whaaat??? The water will Barely turn pink from two scopps...or even with 4 scoops! Full results at 3:30pm cst today:

Free C 0.6
Total C 0.2
ph 7.6
TA 110
CH 240
CYA 63
TDS 500

Where is the chlorine going?

Im really stumped folks....Help!!!!!!

 

[JJ_Tex]

Man, you were going so good... and then you went to Leslies. What are your test results from your test kit? Leslies is very inaccurate and their goal is to lighten your wallet, which looks like they did.

You likely have algae that you cannot yet see, but it is using up your chlorine. I would plan on getting some liquid chlorine (Walmart Pool Essentials, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) rather than continuing to use Cal-Hypo. The Cal-Hypo contains calcium, which also builds up in your pool causing the nasty while scale and just like high CYA, the only cure is to drain and refill.

 

[JJ_Tex]

By the way, 16oz of cal hypo in your pool raises FC by 4. With your CYA still at 70 (assuming we believe the 63 from leslies) you need to target FC of 8-10. See the chart in my signature if you need.

 

[teecee2021]

By the way, 16oz of cal hypo in your pool raises FC by 4. With your CYA still at 70 (assuming we believe the 63 from leslies) you need to target FC of 8-10. See the chart in my signature if you need.

Hey JJ,

Thanks for the tip. I'll try some liquid chlorine. (the last results I list are from my test kit...not Leslies)

Thanks!

 

[mknauss]

(the last results I list are from my test kit...not Leslies)

How did you test TDS? FYI - that value is meaningless. Also, you cannot measure a CYA of 63, it is 60, or 70.

 

[teecee2021]

How did you test TDS? FYI - that value is meaningless. Also, you cannot measure a CYA of 63, it is 60, or 70.

Hi...my result was a hair over 60, and the pool store result said 63...figured that was close enough to go with that. And the TDS came from Leslie's too. I cant test for that and was unsure if it meant anything.

Thanks for letting me know to ignore!

 

[teecee2021]

Heading to Lowes for a couple bottles of chlorine bleach.

Any particular method to add?

 

[CTFocusST]

Heading to Lowes for a couple bottles of chlorine bleach.

Any particular method to add?

Pour in front of a return, pencil size stream

 

[JJ_Tex]

Heading to Lowes for a couple bottles of chlorine bleach.

Any particular method to add?

1 Gallon of 10% bleach will raise your chlorine by 5.6. Hopefully by a couple you mean 5-10 bottles.

 

[teecee2021]

Wow...didnt realize this stuff was so hard to come by! 3 stores--sold out. Managed to find one with a fresh delivery of 12.5% bottles. Grabbed a box of four...which is the most they would allow. IF I need more, I'll sned the wife back in the morning.

PoolMath says use 1 gal + 1 cup. Let's see what this does!

 

[JJ_Tex]

Wow. In Dallas, Walmart is usually the best option since they are a bit cheaper, they keep it inside so, and they usually have tons of it. You may give them a shot, its called Pool Essentials and is in a white jug usually in the outdoor section that is inside of the store.

I'm not sure where you are in Houston, but if you are in the northern burbs, several people have posted a good deal on bulk liquid chlorine in Spring.

 

[teecee2021]

Wow. In Dallas, Walmart is usually the best option since they are a bit cheaper, they keep it inside so, and they usually have tons of it. You may give them a shot, its called Pool Essentials and is in a white jug usually in the outdoor section that is inside of the store.

I'm not sure where you are in Houston, but if you are in the northern burbs, several people have posted a good deal on bulk liquid chlorine in Spring.

Thanks JJ,

Im in Katy...far westside Houston. Even WalMart was out! A lot of pool guys are telling me there's a shortage. Maybe...maybe not.

I thought a bit about what may be causing the dramatic run on chlorine, and decided to look in the filter casing. The one that was supposed to have been replaced about 6 weeks ago.

Do these Look like they've been cleaned or replaced anytime recently???? They are Absolutely caked with crud, and the bottom of the case was Full of crud and debris.

You tell me...Im the newbie.

 

[teecee2021]

New Report...

New Filters! Those above made me wanna puke.
add 1gal+ 1 cup 12.5% bleach.

New free chlorine reading: 11.8
Combined C .6

The free is a little high. I'll test again in the morning after its had time to mix a bit more....see if it was the filters after all.