Water circulating before testing?

[onemsmom]

I just got my new Taylor test kit & am reading, reading, reading. I remember the pool store saying that the water should circulate at least one hour before testing. If that is true - does it need to be immediately prior/during to testing, or could it have run all day, then be off for an hour or two before testing?

Thanks & I'll post results soon for help - my pool is starting to look like a green pond again.

Jennifer

[PoolDoc]

It's best if your water is circulating before you test it.

But, more to the point, if your water is turning green, your pump should be running continuously, till the pool's cleaned up. And, if you are using any form of chlorine in the pool, put a double dose in.

The longer you put off dealing with algae, the harder it is to clean it up.

PoolDoc

[onemsmom]

I JUST got my Taylor K2006. I did the very first test & added 2 dippers full of R-0870 to 10mL of pool water sample (taken at furthest away from outlet, water has been circulating all day). There was NO color change. The water did not turn pink AT ALL. I'm assuming I have no chlorine. At all. ???? I don't get it. I just dumped in 1 1/2 gals of chlorine (from pool store) yesterday a.m. & have a tab in the floater. What is going on? Pool is green & I'm brand new at this & have no clue what to do. I'm learning from scratch, here.

I have a 24' round vinyl.

Thanks for any help tonight.

Jenn

[PoolDoc]

I merged your two threads.

Loosing 1.5 gallons of bleach in a green pool overnight is pretty much par for the course. On your pool that's only about 7.5 ppm. Algae infested pools can easily consume 10 or 20x what a clean pool would.

Assuming your pool is about 13,000 gallons, (12 x 12 x 3.14 x 3.75 x 7.48)

Test your stabilizer,too.

And, if you see this before you go to bed, add about 4 gallons of bleach tonight.

PoolDoc

[onemsmom]

I did the other tests....unless I messed them up, here are the #'s

pH 7.8
acid demand test - needed one drop - whatever that means??
TA 160
Ca 340
CYA 90

& I'm on my way to WalMart for the bleach now.

Jenn

[aylad]

With your CYA at 90, that means that you have to get your chlorine level up to between 20 and 25 ppm in order to attain shock level that will kill off the algae. 4 1/2 gallons of 6% bleach would do it, but you need to test and add more bleach as often as you can to maintain that 20-25 ppm level until the pool is cleared up. In your pool, each quart of bleach will raise your Cl by approximately 1 ppm, so you can use that as a guide to figure out how much you need to add each time. It is consistently holding your pool at shock level that will kill the algae off, and running the filter 24/7 that will help remove it from the pool. You will need to keep an eye on your filter pressure, and clean the filter as it indicates. Brushing the pool daily during this process helps, too.

I would not use anymore stabilized chlorine in your pool--no more trichlor pucks or dichlor powder, because your CYA is already very high, and that's going to mean keeping higher base levels of chlorine in the pool to keep it from turning green. Plain, unscented bleach will do the trick, but first you need to get it up to that shock level and hold it there until the algae clears up.

Janet

[Watermom]

To add to what Janet said, I would also not using any cal-hypo to chlorinate with. Your calcium hardness is already high. I think if it was my pool and it had high cya, high calcium hardness and somewhat high TA, I'd do a partial drain and refill. This would bring all those levels down to more manageable levels. Do NOT do a total drain, however. You should never totally drain a vinyl pool or you risk ruining your liner. In your pool, I think I would drain half and refill.

[onemsmom]

I'm confused.

I did the chlorine test again this a.m. I used the 10mL sample. I added 2 dippers, it turned pink. Then I added 9 drops of R-0871 for it to turn clear. Then I added 5 drops of R-003, it turned pink. Then I added 1 drop of R-0871 & it turned clear.

I don't understand how to figure out the ppm?

It says "multiply drops in step 3 (9) by drop equivalence in Step 1 (?). Record as ppm FC
It says "multiply drops in step 6 (1) by drop equivalence in Step 1 (?). Record as ppm CC

I used one drop so does that mean I multiply by 1? Please explain so I can do this myself in the future.

The pond is even greener this a.m. The filter pressure is 15 - there is a leak. Husband says it needs a new O ring. I guess I'm going to the pool store this a.m.?? And to WM to buy more bleach. Oh, I took the floating tab out. Won't all the bleach just dissipate w/o the tab? It's very hot & sunny here (Florida).

Jennifer

[onemsmom]

If I partial drain & refill - just so you know - I'd be filling with well water. Is this important for you to know?

Jenn

[Watermom]

The wording in their directions is a little confusing. What it means is --- if you use a 10ml sample, you multiply the number of drops by 0.5. If you use a 25ml sample, you multiply the number of drops by 0.2. The 25ml sample gives you a little more precise reading, but uses more of the reagents. Using the 10ml sample saves your reagents and gives you a reading that is good enough.

Since you used the 10ml sample and it took 9 drops to clear it, 9 x 0.5 is 4.5 So your FC is 4.5. Then, after adding the R-003, it took only one drop to clear it so your CC is 1 x 0.5 or 0.5.

You were right to take the trichlor tab out. It is adding more cya and yours is already way high. Just use bleach. Since you are fighting an algae bloom, test as many times a day as you can and each time, take your chlorine back up to shock level, which for your pool with cya of 90 will be 20-25. The key to killing algae is to sustain high cl readings without letting it yo-yo up and down.

Regarding adding well water if you do a partial drain and refill, yes, that complicates things. Maybe since it is nearing the end of swim season and you will be draining some when you close the pool for the winter and then adding some water in the spring, maybe just live with the high cya for now and deal with the metals issue in the spring. Any chance you could truck some water in for refilling?

A couple other questions I have:
-- Is this a new pool that was just opened for the first time this year? If so, was it filled from the well?
-- Is your pool green and cloudy or green and clear?
-- Have you recently added any well water?