I know NOTHING! Where do I start?

[aylad]

Carl's given you excellent advice, as usual--I just wanted to reiterate that having your own drop-based kit is a necessity--even if it's the 6-way from WalMart. You've now seen first hand why we don't like strips.

Welcome to the forum!!

Janet

[Watermom]

Unless I missed something, I don't understand how you can have a cya (stablizer) reading at all. You said in the first post that you hadn't added any chemicals yet you report a cya reading of 50. That isn't possible. CYA is something that has to be added either directly or through a stabilized form of chlorine such as trichlor pucks or dichlor powder. It is not in your water supply.

Also, another option for buying the Taylor K-2006 we recommend is to order it from Amazon. com through this link so that PF gets a donation in the process. More info in the following thread:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=10006

[lbmoore]

Watermom: As far as the stabilizer readings-There was no chemicals in the pool when I took the first strip test. There was no mistaking that reading. The strip was a burnt orange.

After adding 1/2 gallon of bleach last night at midnight, then retested at 7am today, that burnt orange color turned to a very deep orange.

I thought I read last night on here that there shouldnt be a reading for stabilizer when just filling a pool and no chemicals had been added, but couldnt find the post again.

We'll see what the pool store readings are and I'll get me a different kit.... unless there is something in our rural water?????? eeeek! lol

[Watermom]

There isn't any cya in water supplies of any type. Your cya reading is 0.

BTW -- Welcome to the forum. Glad you found us!

[CarlD]

So...if your REAL pH is fairly high, and the powdered stuff is Di-Chlor, we may have you add that. If it's Cal-Hypo, then no (until we get a CH value we can rely on).

For now stick with bleach.

[lbmoore]

And the results are in from the pool supply store. Amazingly enough, hubby said the woman was very nice and didnt try to sell him anything really. Just told him we might think about adding some stabilizer.

Hardness 225
Total Chlorine 3.9
Free Chlorine 3.9
Ph 7.9
Total Alkalinity 98
CYA (stabilizer?) 17

[aylad]

I agree with Watermom--if you haven't added any stabilizer to the water, then there is none in the water. If you've added the shock and swim though, that may be where it came from. Do yourself a favor and get a drop-based kit so that you know you have accurate numbers.

Anyway, from looking at what you have posted here, there are no reasons why you can't swim, if the water is clear....the hardness is high, so you want to avoid using cal-hypo as a chlorinating source, because high calcium in a vinyl pool can lead to milky water. Your pH is high and your stabilizer could stand to come up, so using the dichlor that you have is an okay option for now--but not until you have a way to accurately measure pH. Dichlor will raise stabilizer levels and lower pH, so you need to be testing as you use it to make sure that your pH stays above 7.0 and that your stabilizer (you're right, same as CYA) stays under 40 ppm or so.

Your alk is fine where it is. Just be aware that, as your stabilizer rises, so will the amount of chlorine you need to keep in the pool to keep it clean. See the sticky thread called "Best Guess Table" in the chlorine forum.

Janet