Green hue in clear water...

[PoolDoc]

? 1. => TA is all alkalinity; Adj Alk is TA - alkalinity from cyanuric acid. (You also have alkalinity from borates, phosphates, and carbonates. CA is carbonate alkalinity.

? 2. => In one sense, the reading that matters is the one on your chlorinator cell. But, try doing the Aquachek again, but soaking the strip longer.

? 3. => If it's a concrete pool, yes. Otherwise, no.

? 4. => No, adding carbonate alkalinity will increase your pH; you'll have to add acid.

? 5. => I don't know that it's an INDICATOR of anything; it's a decent -- if slow -- method of dissolving CYA.

Regarding your pH -- learn to use muriatic acid. It's cheap, effective, and better for your pool. (But it has nasty fumes!) Here's the muriatic acid guide page.

[Sparkle]

It's a fiberglass pool. I used muratic acid most of last summer and pretty much got the hang of it. They keep trying to sell me some powder to lower pH so I don't have to worry about the fumes and chemical burn, etc.

Which alkalinity reading should I use...my TA from the test kit or their "alkalinity w/stabilizer correction?" The numbers are vastly different and I don't want to damage the fiberglass clear coat or the salt cell.

Ugh! :-)

[PoolDoc]

Low alkalinity isn't going to damage either one -- don't worry about them, yet.

[waterbear]

Some things jumping out at me here:
1. green tint to clear water
2. floating endpoint on CH test (stayng purple and never turning blue)

both of these can be indicative of metal in the water BUT are NOT conclusive.

Is your filberglass pool white or blue colored?
Did you get a new CYA view tube? It is an important test with a SWCG and with the aquarite you want the CYA at 80 pp
Vinegar is not what you should be cleaning the salt cell will. Aquarite cells should be cleaned with a 4:1 dilution of water to muriatic acid (1 cup of acid addied to 1 quart of water in a plastic bucket).

With a salt system you eventually want to get the TA down to about 70 ppm. It will slow the eventual pH rise. Higher TA will speed it up so do not put in the baking soda! You want to use an uncorrected TA reading and get the TA down to 70 ppm and a CYA at 80 ppm/ Keep the salt cell adjusted ot maintan a 4 ppm FC once you get all the bugs worked out.

[Sparkle]

Got a metal test and requested numbers before test was prformed. The store said their test doesn't produce numbers, but that if it turns blue it's not good and pink is okay. Both copper and iron were pink and the guy said there are no metals in the water.

[PoolDoc]

Remove your salt cells and look at them; flush them with plain water if necessary. Check and see if there is ACTUALLY any scale on them. Don't clean them, if there's not. If there is, ignore your dealer, get the mfg manual and follow THEIR instructions.

Pool store testing for metals is not reliable; we pretty much ignore it.

[waterbear]

You have a dark blue pool and the water was a clear green hue. Iron tints the water yellow and against a blue background will make the water look green. What kind of salt have you put in the pool. Some 'pool salts' are actually food grade salt and contain an iron anti-caking compound and will add iron to your pool. Solar salt is your best bet and less expensive.

No Mor Muriatic Acid is simply the brand of sodium bisulfate or dry acid sold by United Chemical . It is nothing special and the same as any other dry acid. It is the WORST thing you can use in a salt system because it forms sulfuric acid when dissolved in water which produce sulfates and sulfates are not good for salt cells!
Do not use vinegar or dry acid to clean your cell (your pool store is giving you very bad advice!), you use a 4:1 mix of water to muriatic acid as explained in the AquaRite manual on page 8,which I will quote:
Mild Acid Washing: Use only in severe cases where flushing and scraping will not
remove the majority of deposits. To acid wash, turn off power to Aqua Rite. Remove
cell from piping. In a clean plastic container, mix a 4:1 solution of water to muriatic acid
(one gallon of water to one quart of muriatic acid). ALWAYS ADD ACID TO WATER -
NEVER ADD WATER TO ACID. Be sure to wear rubber gloves and appropriate eye
protection. The level of the solution in the container should just reach the top of the
cell so that the wire harness compartment is NOT submerged. It may be helpful to coil
the wiring before immersing the cell. The cell should soak for a few minutes and then
rinse with a high pressure garden hose. If any deposits are still visible, repeat soaking
and rinsing. Replace cell and inspect again periodically.

What are your thoughts?

That your pool store does NOT know what they are talking about!

[Sparkle]

Forgot...as per your email, I'm going to get borax. Can my husband add salt while I add borax?
Also, do I wait a certain length of time between half boxes and test pH before adding more...I assume this is the case, but how long do I wait for an accurate reading?

Guess my target is 7.4.

Thanks again!! :-)

[PoolDoc]

My apologies -- but I accidentally delete your 2nd post -- I was trying to merge it. Very sorry.

+ You can add borax and salt at the same time.
+ Wait at least 2 hours after adding borax, before testing pH.
+ 7.4 is OK for now.

Did you notice Waterbear's question, about metals in your pool water?
1. Have you added any metals -- algaecides, skimmer pills, ?
2. Do you have a heater? What kind?
3. Do you have an 'ionizer', Nature2, Frog, or anything similar?
4. Where did the water in your pool come from - well, city, tank truck?

[Sparkle]

Pool store had my husband put in algicide as soon as we took off the cover. I have no idea what kind. He just did what he was told and threw out the bottle and he doesn't remember. Probably the same kind they had us put in last year...no issues last year??

Pool is darker blue finish...not white.

I asked the pool store about testing for metals and they said they did and it's fine. However, the print-out showed cooper and iron as "not run"???

Yes on skimmer pill...same kind as last year with no issues. You do mean the thing that helps prevent water loss from evaporation, right?

No heater, no ionizer, water comes from city, some of original water also came from spring...long story, but pool companies idea to speed up install. We didn't have any trouble then, nor last year, which was our first full season. Any water added since then and the majority of ariginal water is city water.

I did get the new tube and my CYA reading was the same as pool store at 55 ppm. This was yesterday and I suppose it's possible that it's gone up a bit more...had expected it to increase to 70 with the amount I added (added second 4 lbs on Wednesday).

Had trouble finding 2 boxes of Borax, but finally found a second box. We will be working on the pool for the rest of the day now that we are back home!

Thanks again for all of your help! Should I wait the same 2 hours to test the salt again or should I be more patient with this stuff?

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The ideal ppm for FC in the aqua rite book is 1.0-3.0. Is there a reason you suggest keeping it at 4.0?

I'm trying to learn and absorb everything each of you is teaching me and it helps when I understand the reasons behind your logic. I've been passing info on the my husband, but he doesn't really want to know how it works. He just wants it fixed...lol