Totally confused about what is going on withour pool!

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Christiane

Christiane

Silver Supporter
Jul 11, 2022
32
North Las Vegas Nevada
Our water is being tested at a Leslie's. Concern: build up of algae. Scrubbed pool.
07/05/22:
Test results: free chlorine 0.9 ppm total chlorine 0.9 ppm, pH 8.4, total alkalinity 132, calcium hardness 486, cyanuric acid 144, iron 0.1, copper 0.1, phosphates 3014, TDS 1700.
Recommendations: (1) add 1 gal 31 fl oz Muriatic Ccid at 31 fl oz doses. (2) Add 8 oz Leslie's Power Powder Plus 73. This chlorine so we did not buy any because we have shock in bags. (3) Add total amount of 2 gal 48 fl oz Leslie's NoPhos at 48 oz doses. Ensure filter is clean. Run pump 48 hours w/o backwash or cleaning. Clean filter before each followind dose.
Added 3 doses of Muriatic Acid with 4 hours between doses.
07/06/22:
Added 2 more doses of Muriatic Acid with 4 hours between doses.
07/07/22: retested to see if anything changed
Test results: free chlorine 0.72 ppm, total chlorine 0.72, pH 7.8, total alkalinity 100, calcium hardness 439, cyanuric acid 165, iron 0, copper 0, phosphates 3185, TDS 1700.
Recommendations: (1) add 9 oz of Leslie's Power Powder Plus 73 (2) Add 2 gal 65 fl oz of Leslie's NoPhos, same instructions.
Strong winds, no action taken.
07/08/22: still strong winds, no actions taken.
07/09/22: Algae had significantly increased, turned chlorine tab dispender from med to max, scrubbed pool, added 2 bags of shock. Cleaned filters before No Phos treatments. Due to very high temperatures and no shade, we have to wait until sundown to clean filters.
07/10/22:
Added first dose of No Phos as directed. Pump running for 48 hours.
07/12/22: retested for changes
Test results: free chlorine 14.42, total chlorine 14.42, pH 8.1, total alkalinity 91, calcium hardness 364, cyanuric acid 166, iron 0, copper 0.1, phosphates 3042, TDS 1700.
Recommendations: (1) Add 44 fl oz of Muriatic Acid (2) Add 2 gal 51 fl oz of Leslie's NoPhos.
No Muriatic Acid available in Las Vegas. Ordered from Amazon ETA 07/15/22. Turned down chlorine dispenser. Cleaning filter tonight for next No Phos treatment.

What are we doing wrong? Can Chlorine really jump from 0.72 to 14.42 within 5 days?

Thank you!
 
Welcome to the forum :wave: :wave:

If you are serious about pool water management, you must do your own testing, As you are finding out, pool store testing and advice is off the charts horrible.

That's a pretty big leap of faith to accept that statement but read through this forum for an hour or so and you will come to the same conclusion

There are three kits that will dovetail nicely with the advice we give, The TF-Pro and TF-100 from TFTestkits.net and the Taylor K-2006C.

Honestly I have no faith in ANY of the test result Leslies provides.........they are simply unreliable
 
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Welcome to TFP! Fortunately, we can fix this all in three easy steps!

Step one: Stay out of the pool store.
Step two: Stop getting your water tested at the pool store.
Step three: Stop buying stuff the pool store tells you to.

We do not offer recommendations based upon pool store testing because it is notoriously inaccurate. However - if that CYA number is to be believed, you are likely going to be looking at a partial drain and refill. Still, we need to actually know the condition of your water. We'll know more when your TF-100 arrives. Metal testing is one of the only things we ever refer people to the pool store for. Your copper should be 0.0. Are you adding anything to the pool with "blue" in the name?

For what it's worth, the TFP methods do not measure or care for phosphates or TDS. Ignore them.

Your pool has gotten out of hand because of problematic pool store advice and using chlorine pucks. You are going to need to switch to either liquid chlorine or have a salt water chlorine generator installed to prevent all of this in the future. For more information, check out the FC/CYA ratio chart and especially start reading up on water chemistry in the Pool School section, especially The ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry.
 
Thank you all so much!

While waiting for my TF-100 to arrive, I have tested our poolwater with HTH test strips with the following results: FC 2, pH 7.8, TA 180, TH 400 CYA 150. The numbers may be off a little because the test strip colors do not exactly match the colors on the tube and I picked what looked the closest. We have not added anything with "blue" in the name.

Partial draining and refilling the pool is problematic. Temps are 110F plus during the day and we were told to not significantly lower the water level during excessive heat. We are not hooked up to public sewer (septic tank) and are unable to find a service that would partially empty our pool and dump the water in a public sewer. Because of this, and because we are having a water shortage with Lake Mead at record low levels, we have had our pool water cleaned by a service that uses reverse osmosis; the process is quite expensive. We are trying to find a balance between conserving water and still using our pool.

Can we stop the NoPhos at this time? We just added the 2nd portion.

Please let us know if there is any information about our pool I still need to provide. While we have had the pool for 15 years now, we are newbies at pool maintenance but determined to learn.
 
Christiane said:
Can we stop the NoPhos at this time? We just added the 2nd portion.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't.

Generally, two things will result in having to drain or perform RO.
  • Regular use of solid chlorine products that add either calcium or stabilizer (CYA) to the pool. Use liquid chlorine or a SWG.
  • Calcium rise caused high CH fill water (yours is about 250 ppm). With evaporation, calcium stays behind in the pool. When you top off with calcium-laden fill water, CH levels increase. Find a way to use softened water for top offs. If you have a whole-home softener, tap into it. A few of use portable RV softeners. Not the easiest solution as they require frequent manual flushing during the hot months (link in my sig).
Until your test kit arrives, add 5 ppm of liquid chlorine [daily]. Pool Math will tell you how much you need. For 10% strength, PM shows nearly a gallon per day. Turn off the chlorinator.

Best wishes!
 
Last edited:
Thank you, Mike!

Just to make sure I understand correctly:

1. we should continue adding the NoPhos as recommended by Leslie's.
2. Your recommendation is to add 1 gal of 10% liquid chlorine per day.
3. Can we add the chlorine one the same days we add NoPhos? Wait 4 hours after adding NoPhos?

I downloaded the PoolMath app and plan to use it.

We do not have a water softener, and we fill our pool with the watering hose. Need to think about that....
 
Christiane said:
Thank you, Mike!

Just to make sure I understand correctly:

1. we should continue adding the NoPhos as recommended by Leslie's.
2. Your recommendation is to add 1 gal of 10% liquid chlorine per day.
3. Can we add the chlorine one the same days we add NoPhos? Wait 4 hours after adding NoPhos?

I downloaded the PoolMath app and plan to use it.

We do not have a water softener, and we fill our pool with the watering hose. Need to think about that....
Click to expand...
1. Dont use the NoPhos
2. Yes, 1 gallon of liquid chlorine daily
3. Wait for your test kit and then do your own testing and post the results.
 
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I updated the volume of our pool based on the Pentair Pool Volume Calculator to 20,800 gal. ETA for my TF-100 with Smart Stir and pH meter is 07/18/22 :)

Also, is Pool Essentials Liquid Chlorine Calcium Free a good product to use? Datasheet attached.
 

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