pool balance help needed

[gagan]

Here are my results from Anthony & Sylvan pools

Free chlorine 0.24 ppm
Total chlorine 0.61 ppm
Combined chlorine 0.37 ppm
PH 7.1
Hardness 195 ppm
Alkalinity 7.5 ppm
Cyanuric acid 15 ppm
Copper 0 ppm
Iron 0 ppm

Biggest issue I see is pool has been open 2+ weeks running on 4 + chorine tabs in the skimmer
But chorine level is still very low..


Any thoughts on how to proceed?

Thanks.

[PoolDoc]

1. Your test results are bogus. There aren't any pool testers that can tell the difference between 0.37 CC and 0.39 CC . . . so those numbers are made up. It's hard to say, with tests like those, which parts of the numbers are real, and which are made up. Usually, with electronically read test strips, the CYA result is almost all fabricated.

2. Get a cheap local OTO/phenol red kit -- not very accurate, but all 'real' -- and lets get some numbers that can be trusted. If your Walmart has the HTH 6-way kit, get that, too. It's miniaturized Taylor test kit, but is a pretty good value.

3. The alkalinity reading is either a problem or totally bogus.

4. Order a Taylor K2006 => http://pool9.net/tk/ These videos will help: http://pool9.net/tk-guide/

5. While you are at Walmart, buy 12 gallons of PLAIN 8% bleach. Tonight, add one gallon for EACH 10K gallons of pool water.

6. Do you have a pump timer? How many ON hours is it set for? (It may be better to move the tabs from the skimmer, to a floater).

7. While at Walmart, grab a couple of boxes of 20 Mule Team borax. Slowly, add 1 with the skimmer RUNNING. Feeding tabs, with a low TA and low pH is risky. Keep adding a box a day till your pH is 7.4 or above.

. . . membership updated.

[Watermom]

The HTH 6-Way kit that Ben is talking about is the drops-based kit and NOT the 6-Way test strip kit.

[gagan]

PoolDoc / Watermom - Thanks for your help!

An update from my side. I was away for the last week due to my baby boy being born but am back now working on my pool.
I purchased HTH 6-way kit from WalMart. My orginal numbers were as follows:
TC 2-4
PH seemed to be lower than 6.8
AK 30
Hardness 210

on 6/3 I added some left over Soda Ash from last year.

Retested TC and PH today (6/5 morning). Results were:
TC less than .5 (probably 0 if I had to guess)
PH is now 7.5.

Chlorinater is set to FULL. Pool runs about 12 hr/day. So chlorine is still an issue. I was surprised when the original number was higher, but now is back to 0.
Pool is around 30,000 gallons with DE filter.

Would the next step be to add one gallon of plain bleach for EACH 10K gallon? Should i consider some kind of stabilizer?

Also, how to identify PLAIN bleach?

[Watermom]

Just buy Walmart's generic bleach (8.25% sodium hypochlorite). It is sold in 121-oz jugs so not a gallon but about 0.95 gallons each. Go ahead and add 3 of them. That will increase your chlorine by about 8. With low CYA, it won't stay that high for long, though.

Yes, you need stabilizer (CYA) in the pool. The trichlor tabs have CYA in them so will gradually add it but it takes time. If you are going to use them for awhile it is ok but continued use over long periods causes CYA to get too high so you'll want to monitor it by testing for it every couple of weeks. (No need to run that test daily plus it will waste your reagents.) Just make sure that your trichlor tabs have NO COPPER in them as some do. You do NOT want copper in your pool. It can turn blonde hair green!

Personally, I wouldn't want a chlorinator. I'd rather do one of two things. 1) Use granular dichlor (which is fast dissolving and adds CYA and chlorine) until my CYA was 50 and then switch to bleach. Or.... 2) Add CYA upfront as a separate product and then just bleach for my chlorine. Just my 2 cents.

Is this a new pool just filled this spring?

Have you tested your CYA with the 6-Way kit. (I hope it is the drops-based 6-way.)

CONGRATS on the baby boy!!!! There is absolutely nothing as precious as a new baby. Not that I don't like girls, since I am one! ;), but I'm kinda partial to little boys --- since I raised three of them myself!

[gagan]

Thanks Watermom.

So just did the CYA test with the Drops based 6-way. CYA is low. On the test the lowest number is 30. And I could still "see the black dot". So must be lower than 30. What's the best way to add stabilizer. Any recommendation on brand and where to buy and how much?

Also what's the best way to do this. CYA first and then bleech? Should the pump and filter be running non stop while I add these? If so for how long?

The pool is not new. I bought the house with this pool last year... but last year there was a leak in one of the pipes so it was a continues process of add water, fight with the pool to get the pump primed, try to get it clear all while loosing water.. .and then start the process all over again. In the end I just gave up and closed the pool while it was nice and green. Got the leak repaired in Apirl of this year.

Lastly, I think the chorine tabs may have copper based stabilizer. Not sure as they were left over from the previous owners. What the good brand of tabs and where to buy them? Is Walmart good for these as well?

Thanks again!

[gagan]

Also, one other follow up question. Do I still need to shock the pool (1 gl of bleach for 10,0000 gl pool) even if the pool water is crystal clear?

[PoolDoc]

No. You can run normal levels, once you are 100% algae free.

BUT . . . normal levels are determined by the cl-cya chart => http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

[gagan]

No. You can run normal levels, once you are 100% algae free.

BUT . . . normal levels are determined by the cl-cya chart => http://pool9.net/cl-cya/

Awesome! So I will skip that step. Now just to figure out how much stabilizer to add. Just saw I have a whole bunch on Leslie's pool "conditioner" which I believe is stabilizer.


Also, since HTH 6way drop test only does TC, what the best way to get the FC. I am guessing it's important to know that.

[PoolDoc]

TC = FC . . . after a while, if there's sun and if you keep the chlorine high enough.

Also, if TC remains unchanged overnight then it's probably FC (ie, CC = 0 or close to it => TC = FC + CC)

However, to fully test the water's chlorine levels, the FAS-DPD test is the ONLY accurate test that covers the range from 0 - 50 ppm.

[gagan]

So far I have done the following

Soda ash : 3 lbs [4-5 days ago]
Conditioner: 4 lbs [ 2 days ago]
Bleach: 1 gallon [1 fairs ago]

Latest numbers from testing after 1 inch of rain in the morning today.

AK 5
TC .5-1
PH 7.5

Any thoughts on next steps. Water is still pretty clear. Haven't done another cya test as only have one more remaining.

Thanks in advance.

[Watermom]

If AK means alkalinity and I'm assuming it does, I think you have an error. I've never seen a pool with a TA of 5 before.

You also said that you added 1 gallon of bleach --- is that supposed to be 1 hour ago? At any rate, with low CYA, a chlorine reading of .5-1 isn't gonna last long. In fact it is probably gone already. Until your CYA level builds up, you may find that you have to add bleach a couple of times per day or else you may end up with algae. Clear water can be deceiving. Unfortunately, algae blooms can be beginning while the water still looks perfect.

Your pH is great at 7.5.