High Phosphates > 1,000 & High Nitrates 90ppm

[PoolDoc]

Both pool companies were telling me that it would be extremely difficult to maintain chlorine because of the phosphate and nitrate levels.

And, lemme guess, they had something to sell you to fix that?

Please, please post your K2005 test results . . . and please consider purchasing a K1515 DPD-FAS add-on for your K2005. (link to PoolSolutions page with links to items on Amazon, in my sig below)

Meanwhile, keep your chlorine high.

(By the way, I deleted your other posts asking the same question. Please ask once, in one place. It makes forums really really messy when people start asking their question in multiple places.)

[PoolDoc]

In the blue table, underneath the moderators and my posts, are a group of links. One says "Amazon Links for FAS-DPD Kits".

[Watermom]

Ben -- you beat me to it. I was also getting ready to find the other posts and delete them.

I also forgot about the add on part of the kit.

Applepar --- don't buy a whole K-2006 or 2006C. Just buy the K1515 kit. You have all the other parts of the K-2006 in your K2005 kit. That will give you the component that you are missing, but do need.

Regarding signatures ---- at the bottom of my post (and Ben's above) are some blue links. Click on the Amazon link and you'll find the K-1515 kit.

[applepar]

Today's readings with the k-2005 kit:

FC=1 Ph = 7.4
TC = 2 Bromine = 1
CC= 1 Alkalinity = 100
CYA = 65

I feel like an idiot, but I don't see any blue links at the bottom of any replies.

Still don't see blue links, but found it thru Pool Solutions.

[PoolDoc]

Not your fault; mine, with help from vBulletin.

You should see more, now, plus get notifications on posts you've made.

[Yeggim]

Not your fault; mine, with help from vBulletin.

You should see more, now, plus get notifications on posts you've made.

Ben, I had to go into Settings and check mark view signatures in the Thread Display Options. I don't think I unchecked it last year--so maybe the default is unchecked? I did this a few weeks ago.

[waterbear]

Today's readings with the k-2005 kit:

FC=1 Ph = 7.4
TC = 2 Bromine = 1
CC= 1 Alkalinity = 100
CYA = 65

1 ppm CC is good indication of a nascent algae bloom. This will consume all your chlorine
You are not using bromine so ignore the reading BUT if you are reading 1 on the bromine scale that is .5 on the chlorine scale so your chlorine readings are possibly off!

What kind of SWCG do you have? 65 is on the low end of where your CYA should be (higher CYA means slower pH rise for technical reasons so bump this up to the manufacturer's maximum)

100 is a bit high for TA in a salt pool and can lead to a higher acid demand because of more outassing of CO2. 70-80 ppm is better.
Also, maintain your pH at 7.6 instead of 7.4. The lower you put the pH the faster it rises (technical reason -- faster outgassing of CO2)

Phosphate and nitrate readings are generally bogus and are just used to sell (unneeded) phosphate remover products.

[applepar]

So I went to two pool places - different readings
First one uses BioGuard system - CYA = 96, Tot Chlorine = 1.3, Free Chlorine = .8, Ph = 7.7, Total Alkalinity 113, Total Hardness - 400
Phosphate test using paper tabs (way off from other tests = 20)
Told me that high nitrates can cause swimmers ear, rashes and pink eye (I had pink eye last week!)
Still recommend neutralizing the chlorine & draining and refilling the pool
Also to add ph down

The Second store used all drops in their testing Aqua - something
Free Chlorine = 1.7, Total Chlorine = 1.9, Combined Chlorine = = .3, pH = 7.9, Hardness = 338 ppm, Alkalinity = 93, CYA = 65
Phosphates was 1200, Nitrates = turned red in 30 seconds & by the end of the test was deep red
Before running the nitrates, they felt I was doing ok and could continue to run the salt system at 80% to get thru the season
After seeing the nitrate level they recommended that I drain the pool and replace the water as soon as possible
They said nitrates aren't harmful to people, but said recommendation is not to have babies & pregnant women swim

When I got home I am noticing a little green staining starting and it doesn't brush off. What is aa nascent algae bloom? And what do I do about it?

I have a Jandy AquaPure - last year i ran it between 35%- 60% depending on the heat, had no problems last year

I will adjust for the ph tonight and add bleach. I usually like the chlorine at 2.8.

[applepar]

Ben - I still need to do your suggestion to make sure the SWCG is working. I had taken a sample directly from the output and it was reading a higher chlorine, but if you think I should do the test you suggested at the beginning I will.

Thank you all for your continued help - I'm a frustrated fairly newbie pool owner!

[Watermom]

Keeping your chlorine at 2.8 is an open invitation for algae to move in! Your CYA levels were reported as 96 and 65 which is a pretty big discrepancy. (Another good reason to get a good test kit and test it yourself.)

Chlorine levels depend on the CYA reading. If you keep your chlorine below the minimum needed, you'll get algae. Take a look at the Best Guess table in my signature below. To clear up this algae bloom, you need to raise your chlorine way up ("shock" the pool). This is another reason you'll need the good kit. Other test kits cannot measure high cl levels.

Please go back and re-read post #2 where Ben outlined what you need to do. I'm sure you are frustrated but if you follow the directions you are given here on the forum, we can help you take care of this. However, if you try and mix advice given here and advice given from a pool store or two, it will take much longer and be much more difficult.