Another newbie with a pool filled with limeade!

[Watermom]

Also remember that the cya could be much higher than 100 since that is as high as the tester can differentiate. If it is, draining half will not put your cya at 50, but you won't know that until you drain. Sometimes when it is way over 100, it takes a couple of drain/refill cycles to get it to a more manageable level. I'd probably drain 2/3 instead of 1/2. Like Carl said, you can run a high cya pool but it won't be as easy to manage as if you just go ahead and do a partial drain and refill.

[MCOAvalanche]

Thanks for the replies so far --

OK, could not drain the pool and did not add muriatic acid because, well, I thought I had some and I didn't. Added another 2 gallons of chlorine yesterday. Got updated numbers today:

CC - 0.0
FC - 5.0
TC - 5.0
PH - 7.7
TOT ALK - 120
CALCIUM HARDNESS - 320
STABILIZER - 95
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS - 700

The differences are Total ALK is up to the top limit of the store's measurement limit, stabilizer has dropped.

The water is crystal clear and honestly, hasn't looked this good in awhile. The filter has been running 24/7 since last Friday. I know I still need to raise the chlorine levels according to the matrix listed elsewhere and also address the pH. I intend to only put a cup of muriatic acid in as recommended above. I just wanted to note that when my pH first hit 7.7 the store said ad a quart of muriatic acid, today, with the very sam pH level, they said to add 1.5 quarts?!?!

Just added 2 more gallons of chlorine. Do I need to worry about the Total ALK, I read elsewhere it can be a bear to bring down, or will it eventually adjust itself? I live in Central Florida, so between the heat/sun and the almost daily afternoon thunderstorms, the water is impacted by something - evaporation causing refill by hose from city supplied water or rain water adding inches to the pool water level over the course of a couple of weeks. So it seems the water readings are always in a state of flux, rarely stable unless I am on it every few days.

Ordered the Taylor kit as recommended - no cheap option, but will pay for itself over time I am sure.

Finally, my question is this, when can the pool be opened for people to use it? I have kept everyone out but now the water is so clear, the kids (ok, the wife - LOL) don't understand why they cannot jump in.

[aylad]

With a CC of 0 and clear water, no excessive chlorine demand, I'd go ahead and get in it. Up your chlorine just a bit first--with a CYA of 95, if you don't keep your chlorine at least 8 ppm, it won't be long before it looks like limeade again. But keep it between 8-15 ppm and you shouldn't have a problem.
Your pH and TA can be addressed at the same time, using the information from the sticky in the "Alkalinity and Calcium" forum--but for right now, there's no reason why you can't swim in it--neither of your readings are critical.

You won't be sorry about buying the test kit, I promise--I can't tell you how much money, time, frustration, and lost swim time you're saving yourself by being able to test and control your own pool!!

Janet

[MCOAvalanche]

Added 2 gallons of chlorine and cup of muriatic acid, went to pool store and -sigh- here are my numbers:

CC - 0.0
FC - 5.0
TC - 5.0
PH - 7.8
TOT ALK - 90
CALCIUM HARDNESS - 275
STABILIZER - 100
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS - 900

I guess my question is how can I see numbers jump around like this AND pH go up? Is it just tester error at the pool store? I really cannot wait for the Taylor test kit to show up. Hopefully it just needs to settle down but I don't get why the chlorine stayed constant and the pH went UP by adding muriatic acid.

Regardless, pool water looks beautifully clear and blue. Thanks for all the help.

[aylad]

My guess would be tester error--it's amazing that you can take the same water sample to 3 different stores and get 3 different test results. Actually, your test numbers are closer to consistent than they usually are! That's why we always recommend that you do your own testing--so you know you can trust your numbers. And if you're going to test your own water, you may as well get a comprehensive kit that tests for everything you need--hence the recommendation for the Taylor kit.

Either way, I see nothing wrong with your numbers that would prevent me swimming in the water, except that your chlorine still needs to come up a little bit.

Janet

[PoolDoc]

Hi MCO . ..

I'm not sure what you mean by your numbers jumping around. They look really stable to me.

7.4 7.8 7.7 7.7
100 90 120 100
300 275 320 330
100 100 95 100
700 900 700 700

That's very stable, and well within the limits of error for most GOOD test kits and pool test methods.

To put it another way, if you put a gallon jug of pool water in your fridge, kept it sealed, and then took a sample of the water to be tested 4 days in a row . . . you'd expect to see as much variability as you show, simply from intrinsic testing error.

Ben
"PoolDoc"