Testing out my test kit

[Jacob99]

So, I'm testing my tap water (well water with purification system) just to get an idea of how my kit works. I got the Taylor 2006C. I'm attempting a chllorine test - filling the tube to 10ml. Instructions say to add 2 dippers, and if chlorine is present it will turn pink. For me 2 dippers just turns the water cloudy. If I add 4 dippers it will turn a very pale pink. So, should I be adding 4 dippers for this particular test?

When I start adding the reagents, it appears to turn clear-ish but not as clear as what I started with. Should I be getting back to as clear as what I started with?

I don't want to waste anymore product, but I find myself adding 8-10 drops of reagents so I'm thinking something is wrong....

[aylad]

You don't need to add 2 dippers of powder--if one won't turn it pink, then you have no chlorine. When you add the reagents to get it clear, it won't be as clear as the sample you started with.

[TheGoose]

Why would you have chlorine in your well water? Are you using a chlorinator on your well system?

[Jacob99]

I actually thought the DPD powder added chlorine. Epic Fail! Maybe I should actually read the book instead if just the inside cover of the test kit.

[aylad]

LOL, it helps :) :)

Just to clarify my post above, I have had the chlorine levels in my pool up into the 30-40 ppm range for extended periods of time (don't ask!) and it only took one scoop of powder to produce pink. It is possible, and I think one of my fellow mods is actually trying this out for clarification, that extremely high chlorine levels may bleach out one scoop of powder. However, even if that's so, you shouldn't find that level of chlorine in any source of drinking water.

Janet

[AnnaK]

Why would you have chlorine in your well water? Are you using a chlorinator on your well system?

Not answering for Jacob99 but it's common for well water to be chlorinated. We have a chlorine injector that uses diluted household bleach which it injects into the line that brings the well water into the house. That chlorinated water goes into a 150 gal holding tank. When a faucet is opened, water is drawn from the holding tank through a very large carbon filter into the house lines. The chlorine in the holding tank is around 8 ppm. What I draw at the sink is 1 ppm or less.

When I have to top off the pool I turn off the chlorination system and use straight well water. We don't have metals in the well and its alkalinity is right around 50 ppm, perfect for my pool. I usually adjust the FC to 5 ppm after a refill and let it drift back down to its normal 3 ppm.

Didn't mean to highjack your thread, Jacob. Having a good test kit is really very useful when you're using well water.

[Jacob99]

Not answering for Jacob99 but it's common for well water to be chlorinated. We have a chlorine injector that uses diluted household bleach which it injects into the line that brings the well water into the house. That chlorinated water goes into a 150 gal holding tank. When a faucet is opened, water is drawn from the holding tank through a very large carbon filter into the house lines. The chlorine in the holding tank is around 8 ppm. What I draw at the sink is 1 ppm or less.

When I have to top off the pool I turn off the chlorination system and use straight well water. We don't have metals in the well and its alkalinity is right around 50 ppm, perfect for my pool. I usually adjust the FC to 5 ppm after a refill and let it drift back down to its normal 3 ppm.

Didn't mean to highjack your thread, Jacob. Having a good test kit is really very useful when you're using well water.

No worries. Pretty interesting actually. I'm not sure how mine works to be honest. All I know is that I have to dump water softening salt crystals into it every few months...

So, should I be testing my well water for alkalinity? I'm not planning on filling my pool with it, but will probably supplement with about 5000 gallons over the course of a few days. I need almost 24000 gallons, and (3) 6500 gallon trucks will give me 19,500 gallons. I plan on topping the rest off with my well water.

[aylad]

It wouldn't hurt to know what it is, but that's not a priority right now, since only about 1/5 of your total volume will be well water, and the rest water trucked in--the end result will be affected more by the trucked in water. Either way, it's an easy fix. A more important thing to know is if there is iron, copper, manganese, or any other metals in your well water--that WILL be a priority when you fill with it.

Janet

[TheGoose]

Generally speaking, although it's pretty easy to chlorinate your well water, it's not preferable.

Why not just fill the pool from the well? Do you have a slow producer?


No worries. Pretty interesting actually. I'm not sure how mine works to be honest. All I know is that I have to dump water softening salt crystals into it every few months...

So, should I be testing my well water for alkalinity? I'm not planning on filling my pool with it, but will probably supplement with about 5000 gallons over the course of a few days. I need almost 24000 gallons, and (3) 6500 gallon trucks will give me 19,500 gallons. I plan on topping the rest off with my well water.

[Jacob99]

It wouldn't hurt to know what it is, but that's not a priority right now, since only about 1/5 of your total volume will be well water, and the rest water trucked in--the end result will be affected more by the trucked in water. Either way, it's an easy fix. A more important thing to know is if there is iron, copper, manganese, or any other metals in your well water--that WILL be a priority when you fill with it.

Janet

Is calcium hardness the test for iron, copper, and manganese?

[aylad]

No, the calcium hardness is only for calcium. Iron, copper, and manganese require special tests that are not in the K-2006. You can get the pool store to test for them, though.

Janet

[PoolDoc]

If your pool is filled with water that has gone through the softener, there should little if any copper, iron, or manganese present. One test for metals, is to fill a CLEAN 5 gallon white bucket with water, add a tablespoon of bleach, cover it, and let it stand for a day. Metals will tend to settle to the bottom. If you want to take it a step further, add a couple of tablespoons of washing soda when you add the bleach. Be sure to mix afterwards.

[Jacob99]

So hard water is bad because it contains metals, but soft water is also bad because it can be corrosive, so well water should be avoided if possible?

[PoolDoc]

Sorta, but not exactly. Neither hard water nor soft water is necessarily bad, nor is well water. The well water in parts of my area is EXTREMELY pool friendly -- metal free, and pretty much dead on in pH, alkalinity and calcium. Those wells are in limestone karst. Now, the wells in shale are something else altogether!

We can make taking care of your pool pretty easy. But, really *understanding* it? Not so much.

To completely understand pools (and I don't) you have to understand


hydrology
geology
electronics
motor circuits
hydraulics
mechanics
structure (metals, plastics & concrete)
organic chemistry
inorganic chemistry
pathogenicity of amoebic, bacterial, & viral organisms
human immune response, and hyper-response
. . . and more.


I know it sounds like I'm being facetious, but I'm not. I have books on every one of those topics within 10' of where I'm sitting, have read some of all of those books, and have, at one time or another, used something I learned from each of them, to understand a little more about pools. Believe it or not, the ones that have MOST affected how I think about pools are the ones on philosophy and theology ;)