Calcium test - 0?

I have the HTH kit (waiting on Ben's to arrive) and when I do the CH test, it does not turn red to begin with. Maybe a slightly beigy hue, but certainly not even close to red. So do I try to get that to turn blue anyway, or does that mean there is no CH? We do have soft water, everyone who comes over complains that the feel like they don't get the soap off of their skin when washing.

If it is zero, is that really okay for a vinyl liner? I know this has been discussed in depth, but should I get it over 100 just to have SOME CH in there?

Thanks - this place is a great resource!

If the test doesn't go red, then it usually means there is no calcium hardness. That is possible--I don't have any calcium in my fill water, either. If you don't have a heater, then it will be okay--vinyl lined pools don't need calcium to keep the water from leaching from the concrete, because there is no contact.

Ben has commented on past occasions that in some liners, there may be components of the liner that can weaken without the calcium, but when I started my pool up and asked the same questions 5 years ago, his comment was that as long as I had greater than 20 ppm or so, it would be fine. 5 years later, my liner still looks new, so I trust his judgement.

So...if you find a good deal on cal-hypo, I would just use that to chlorinate with for awhile, until your calcium gets up to 200 or so, then switch to plain bleach, and that would kill two birds with one stone!

Janet

There have been some issues with the HTH kits from Walmart for hardness. I have one of these kits and have had problems with the HD test. I would think about treating the pool untill you have the results from Ben's kit.
Steve

The color when you add the indicator should either be pinkish (indicating hardness) or blueish (no hardness). Try adding more indicator drops. There are known issues with the test in this kit that have been discussed before in the forum.