Confused on what to fix first!

[PoolDoc]

Hi Lisa;

"Burning eyes" are a relative thing. Fresh water alone causes eye discomfort, as does sea water. To avoid all "burning eyes" you have to use something equivalent to saline solution, which is MORE salty than a salt chlorinator pool, but LESS salty than the ocean.

So, from the point of view of an experienced pool service guy, a complaint of "burning eyes" is meaningful only if it's comparative, like "It never burned our eyes till a week ago".

So the question is, "Has it always burned your eyes like this, or has something changed?"

Often in my experience, burning eyes -- other than just from staying in the pool a long time, for from fresh, or very salty, water -- are caused by three things.

First, is combined chlorine, from chlorine + too much urine, or chlorine + foamy algaecides, or chlorine + Yellow Out type ammonia based algaecides. In this case, the solution is to keep adding chlorine, stop adding the other stuff, and wait.

Second, some algaecides will cause significant eye irritation all on their own. Again, the solution is to wait.

Third, very low pH will cause eye irritation. (Very high pH could too, but I haven't personally encountered complaints arising from that situation.)


Other issues:

Thanks for the heads up, but I do know about the bad link. Unfortunately, it's turned out that I can't enable those links inside a forum section without turning on HTML within that section for everyone who posts . . . and that's a huge security risk. I'd tried to do it for just me, but wasn't able to find a combination of settings that accomplished that. A solution is a little further down the road.

Also, you do need to test your CYA. As soon as your K2006 arrives, test your pool water for CYA, using a 3:1 dilution (1/4 pool water, 3/4 cup tap water, mix, test, multiply result x4). Your CYA levels may be quite a bit above 100, and that's something we need to know. By the way, do NOT overtest CYA: the K2006 only has enough reagent to test CYA 6x!

Finally, the TA variation is not unusual. Unless you carry your sample to the pool store in a tightly closed bottle AND have filled it so no air space is left in the bottle AND keep it reasonably cool till it's tested, you can see big variations, that are not testing errors. On the other hand, test kits may be bad, and pool stores are often bad. So, don't worry about it, and just wait for the K2006.

[CarlD]

Everyone's been "pool-stored" at one time or another--but most of us have had someone on PF point it out to us, rather than pick it up on our own, as you did.

With a CYA of 100, to tell someone to reduce an FC level of 12 to 4 is like telling someone with pneumonia to go skiing! Just not right.

You CAN get refills for the CYA reagent -- Taylor Reagent # 0013, I believe. I keep a pint bottle in a dark, cool cabinet, as well as other refills. But, with care, you'll easily make the end of this season with your new K-2006.

That your water is clear is a really good sign. That means we will get you to adjust chemicals, but you don't have to FIGHT a problem, like algae.

Once we know the true T/A (and the K-2006 will tell you that) we can guide you to lowering it. We'll also know the true FC and CC levels. Your "Shot Glass" measure of 12ppm is for total chlorine (TC) and the "Shot Glass" measure isn't very precise (that's no reflection on you--I use the shot glass because it's very easy to dilute more precisely that way), although it works as an excellent "Plan B" method.

If, what Ben suspects and suggests is true, that your CYA is actually much, much higher than 100, then draining and refilling much of your water will be in order, and that may TOTALLY alter your T/A level as well. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Luckily, with a smaller pool, it's less painful to do so.

But please don't just empty the pool and refill it....bad things can happen from doing that, especially if you have a lot of ground water around the pool (it can float, like a boat--very, VERY bad!)