just got good test kit. HELP PLEASE

[shub_31]

Im not following. Fill the syringe(sp?) to 5 then drops. Do i add 2 scoops of powder. Why cant I fill the test tube halfway to 10ml.

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Sorry. IM stressing. Fill the syringe to 5m. squirt in test vial. I do need to know how many scoops of powder. Thank for your time.

[PoolDoc]

Filling 1/2 way to 10 ml is OK. You'll just be more accurate with a syringe. You need enough powder to get pink - that's all. It's just a dye indicator; if you have pink, you have enough.

[shub_31]

Thanks again. Just went to bed with FC 29 Woke up to 24ppm. Wow im going through alot of bleach. before i started this i used about 60 gallons just trying to keep my pool clear not relizing that i wasnt solving any problems. last year i did the same thing. Many moirnings of waking up to a cloudy pool. I posted another problem with no replies. I know i shouldnt worry about this yet but my concrete deck is pitting like crazy. Many kids dumping water on deck. No calcium at all. Should i eventually add some for my concretes sake and not my vinyl liners sake.thanks

[drband]

You need to test your CYA in the manner Ben instructed in post #2 (see above). The CYA test is tricky to read at best and levels showing approx. 100 could easily be much much higher. Please let us know when you have done the 1:1 dilution CYA test and what level you get. Reason: If your CYA is much higher than 100, (or even right at 100) you may need to take measures to reduce it. It is quite difficult to maintain high enough chlorine to prevent algae and sanitize in a pool with that much CYA. (Been there myself before finding this forum). You will use ridiculous amounts of bleach to keep a high enough chlorine level (see Ben's Best Guess chart) to be effective in a high CYA pool. But first, most importantly, you must know how much CYA is REALLY there.

I had bloom after bloom after bloom when my CYA got in the 100 range years ago... the pool store man just said to keep shocking! Used dichlor shock! Raised my CYA even more!!! Water turned a beautiful transparent emerald green. Thought it was metals... Wrong! It was just algae. My problem did not go away 'til draining a lot of water to dilute CYA, stopping trichlor pucks, and balancing everything properly with the BBB method. You can fix this... easily, but may take a little time. Everybody here will help.

Let us know what your true CYA level is and folks will be ready to help.

[shub_31]

thanks for the info.
I tested my CYA with dilution and its at 100. However i kinda can still see the black with the white ring around it. But barely. So if i need to add more that means my CYA is lower. I have been shocking to 25 to 30ppm.. I do know i have to drain. But given the mid 90s my only option now is to kill the algae and maintain fc of 10 to 15ppm until later in the summer. My alk. is very high at 250ish so I know that needs to be lowered. I did it once last year with the method here. Comments. Thanks

[PoolDoc]

Yeah, just hold the FC at 30 ppm, and brush away at any spots.

Adding borax sufficient to take your borates to 60 ppm will help some too, and will create a certain amount of permanent algae 'resistance' in your pool. You'll need 15 boxes of borax and probably 5 gallons of muriatic acid to compensate, and have a bit left over to lower your pH to 7.0. If you START with the acid and cycle the pH to below 6.8 and then add borax till it's back to 7.2, you'll also tend to remove the excess TA which 'feeds' algae somewhat, too.

By the way, IF you use the DPD-FAS kit, you can run perfectly OK at high CYA. There are some adjustments, and you want to stop using anything but bleach so you don't add MORE CYA.

You can still drain if you like, but you have another option.

[shub_31]

thanks again, however, I thought the taylor kit could only test PH with a max of FC 15ppm. Im at 30. how do I do that.

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One more thing. Do I use all of the acid at once to get to 6.8 then add the borax to bring it back up. Your"cycle" is throwing me off. thanks

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You guys asked for it. I just thought of something else. If im to lower my ph, why cant I aerate to lower TA before I raise is back up.

[PoolDoc]

thanks again, however, I thought the taylor kit could only test PH with a max of FC 15ppm. Im at 30. how do I do that

#1 - Try it. If the phenol red converts to chlorophenol red, you'll end with a purplish-blue. If not, the test should be valid
#2 - Confirm it - if it worked, check it it by adding 1 drop of thiosulfate from your K2006 to your water sample and mixing BEFORE you add phenol red. If the result with thiosulfate is the same, or just slightly higher, the first test was OK.
#3 - If #1 fails, and you show chlorophenol red, add 3 drops of thiosulfate and mix before adding phenol red. You should get a meaningful result, but it may read 1 color bar high because of the thiosulfate / chlorine reaction.

When you lower pH, it will -- if you act slowly -- also lower TA. If you lower pH, and actively aerate, the TA (really, the CA, carbonate alkalinity) will drop much more rapidly.

[shub_31]

Im in trouble now. After all the help from everyone, Im afraid it may have been a waste of time. I am down to my last 1 maybe 2 tests for chlorine. After 3 days I have used a whole bottle of fasd. Just ordered it from Amato Inds, but dont know how quick they ship. Even then, Ill be out. Not sure what to do. Dont want to overchlorinate. Need to swim this week. In the mid 90s
I did lose 4ppm last night so not over yet.

[Watermom]

If you have a cheap OTO kit (yellow and red drops) you can use it til you get your refills. It will only read to 3 or 5 but you can force it to read higher with a dilution method described here: Testing Without a Good Kit