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haneyrm
04-28-2006, 09:32 PM
Hello All,

We just completed construction on a 15,000 gallon inground Pebble-Tec pool in Central Florida with a SWG system. Like way too many others, my pool builder left me with a test kit and a handshake. I took a water sample to my local big chain pool store and $100 in chemicals later ended up with muriatic acid, calcium hardener, stabilizer, metal treatment, and one or two other things. The nice lady told me that my pool had no stabilizer what-so-ever in it. I was having an impossible time getting the chlorine level up and was running 65% on the SWG so I guess she was right. Now, my PH is about 7.8 and my chlorine is above 3.0. I have my SWG set at 15% and the chlorine is still off the chart. I do not know if the pool was ever shocked. I do not smell or taste any chlorine at all.

This may sound odd but my water has a bad taste to it. My salt level is around 3300 but I do not think it is salt I am tasting. The water does not taste clean if that makes sense. Would shocking it make the water taste better. Our last pool did not have a SWG and the water tasted and smelled great. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

Poolsean
05-07-2006, 09:06 PM
Have your water tested for TDS, which is different from salinity. Usually high TDS is as a result of high calcium and magnesium salts, metals in the water, and other "Dissolved solids". Usually high TDS is indicated by needing a higher chlorine level to maintain the pool, a dull appearance to the water and the salty, metallic taste to the water. The only way to reduce high TDS is dilution.
How do you know if you have high TDS? Take a water sample of the pool water and the source water you use to add water to the pool and have them both tested.
First, you have to factor out the salinity. This is done by testing TDS and Salinity and subtracting the salinity out of the TDS (which should be higher).
Second, test your source water for TDS too. If this is well water, your TDS will probably be higher.
Third, the difference between the source water and the TDS test should not be more than 1000 ppm different. If so, you have high TDS.
Dilution is the solution.


It will also help if you can have them do a complet test and report the result here.

Total Alkalinity
Calcium Hardness
pH
Cyanuric acid
Free Chlorine
Total Chlorine