First taylor readings

[resp215]

Hey guys. Ok so the pool is clean. After being drain cleaned and filled with new water the filter is on. I used my Taylor just now and here are the initial readings:


Ph 8.0
.5 ppm fc
No tc
Ta 80 ppm
1200 ppm calcium hardness

Sorry if I am posting them a bit weird. The dot test the dot never disappeared. Sorry I forget the test name.

As a reminder the pool is 24ft above ground. I just added 4 gallons of bleach a few moments ago. Any suggestions would be great. I have some bubbles coming out of the return but I think it's just an air leak via the seal on the pump. I'll take a look tomorrow when it's brighter out.

[madwil]

starting from scratch... and you already added bleach- good!
assuming 4 ft depth, you have about 13k gallons- 4 gallons bleach may have been a bit much, but it will go out quickly until you get CYA in...
the next step is to get your pH lowered- but you won't be able to get an accurate pH reading if your chlorine is at 20+ like I believe you would have now...
retest FC and pH in an hour... if pH stil 8 or more, add 1 cup muriatic acid. retest in another hour, repeat dose til pH is below 8 then wait til your chlorine is below 10 to make final pH adjustments.
If FC is not 20+, we need to figure out where it went...

Later, we'll look back at your CH- 1200? I think this might be a typo... 500+, especially at your pH, I think would be really cloudy!

[resp215]

Sorry for the late reply. I just took some readings

6ppm fc
No cc
Ph 8.0
80 ppm ta

With such a high cl level how do I get cc? I am going to buy som m acid today and try to get throb down. I though 7.8 was ideal but I overshot it apparently.

The pool isn't crystal clear. It's not cloudy per say. Maybe because it rained a bit yesterday.

The return bubbling is something I have to remember to look at and try to remedy. I remember reading about aerating the water to adjust levels... Maybe ph or ta... I forget.

[SalemCastles]

6ppm is not really that high a chlorine level and you don't want to "get" CC. CC is combined chlorine which is the result of the chlorine doing it's job and giving itself up to kill or oxidize a pollutant. When CC becomes .5ppm or higher you will need to shock the pool with a dose of 15ppm or so to "break" the combined chlorine. When you begin the test you are testing for TC or Total Chlorine, if you then get a CC reading (bad) then you subtract that from the TC to get your FC or Free Chlorine. It's only the FC that is available to work as a sanitiser and is what is important in keeping the water free from germs and algae. PH is important in allowing Chlorine work to it's best potential, bather comfort, and in equipment longevity, as well as preventing other elements from coming out of suspension and clouding your pool water. Total Alkalinity TA is a buffer that keeps the PH levels more stable and resistant to wild fluctuations.

The dot test is for the amount of CYA (Stabalizer), depending on where your pool is located and how much sunlight it gets will determine your target level however that said you should aim for 30 ppm to begin with. The CYA prevents the UV rays of the sun from consuming your chlorine. With no stabilizer the sun can eat all of the chlorine within minutes and leave none left to sanitize the pool. You might as well just throw your money directly in the pool and save the trip to the store Conventional wisdom is to add chlorine at dusk so all of it's energy is used in
cleaning and not in fighting the sunlight ...this is true even after you get the CYA level up. Go slow in adding stabilizer as it takes awhile to dissolve completely ..so aim first for 20-25 then redose as required.

The bubbles won't affect your PH levels when the PH is that high so don't worry about that right now.

Where did get the fill water for the pool? Can you confirm that your CA is 120 and not 1200 as first stated.

Cheers,

[Watermom]

Actually, bubbling water at the return jet is aeration and will cause a rise in pH.

[resp215]

Thx for the information . So this is actually one of those times I should hit the pool store and buy stabilizer. I guess some things can't be substituted.

[aylad]

You can get stabilizer from the pool store, from WalMart, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. It's often labeled as "conditioner", "balancer", but if you'll look at the ingredient label, cyanuric or isocyanuric acid is the right stuff.

Alternately, since you already have a high pH issue, you can use dichlor powder for chlorination, which will add your chlorine, add stabilizer (and very quickly, I might add--generally for each 10 ppm chlorine you get, dichlor also adds 8 or 9 ppm CYA), and also tends to drive pH downward. You won't be able to use it forever, but in this case, for now it would be a good choice.

Janet

[SalemCastles]

Actually, bubbling water at the return jet is aeration and will cause a rise in pH.

hmm ... I understood from a post by Ben that only a PH down closer to 7.0 will rise due to aeration and that at 8.0 it has no affect?

[madwil]

the effect is reduced at higher pH- the lower pH changes the balance equation of the carbonic acid vs CO2 vs... Some will happen higher, just not enough to really matter...
I think the point being made was aeration causes rise, while resp needs to decrease pH.

[SalemCastles]

I think the point is moot as it's "just not enough to matter" which is why I said don't worry about it right now.