Test Results - Please Review

[Watermom]

Why can't you vacuum or brush? My water is still cool (haven't measured the temp) and I've been vacuuming for awhile now. Probably the first time was sometime at the end of March and I doubt my water was any warmer than 55 at that point.

By the way --- to save on your reagents, use the 10ml water sample instead of the 25ml sample. A testing margin of 0.5 is just fine and it isn't worth the extra reagents to get a 0.2 margin.

[Jacob99]

Why can't you vacuum or brush? My water is still cool (haven't measured the temp) and I've been vacuuming for awhile now. Probably the first time was sometime at the end of March and I doubt my water was any warmer than 55 at that point.

So you actually go into the water to vacuum and brush or you do this from outside the pool?

[Watermom]

I just vac from outside the pool manually or I throw one of my automatic cleaners in. I have a Wanda the Whale and also a Polaris 65. No way I'd go in water that is that cold!

[Jacob99]

With a manual vacuum I don't think I would reach the middle, nor would I reach far enough down the walls to brush. I would be game for going in at 65 if it would just warm up a little.

[PoolDoc]

Feel the sides of your pool -- if they feel 'slimy' you have pre-algal biofilm. RAISE THE CHLORINE IMMEDIATELY

Regarding dosing, I'd feel better if you MAINTAINED 10% of CYA and shocked to 20%. (With 40 ppm CYA, 4 ppm normally; 'normal' shock to 8 ppm)

[Jacob99]

So, I've gotta say things are going well over all. I've had a lot of rain, and had to backwash 5 days after I put in my stabilizer but I'm still around 35-40ppm. I'm happier about my CC. I have has zero for the last 2 days....woot woot! FC has been holding pretty well too. I'm losing less than 1 ppm per day. Today I got down to 3.5ppm FC but it was actually 75 and sunny all day, so I didn't think that was all that bad. pH is still on the low side (7.1) so I added my 2nd box of Borax and we'll see how it is over the next couple days. Last box it jumped from 7.1 to 8.0, then back down to 7.2 2 days later...(no acid) still haven't quite figured out the pH. I did get to vacuum today for the first time ever, and I learned something - on a 30 foot pool, I need an automatic cleaner....lol. Definitely getting there though. My water has been clear since the pool was installed, and I've only had to put in liquid chlorine, stabilizer, and 2 boxes of Borax. Last couple days I've been dealing with a lot of pollen, but I put in a skimmer sock today and have already rinsed it twice - can't believe how much the skimmer sock is catching! It's all starting to come together and I have everyone here to thank for it. Feeling pretty good about this pool thing. Thanks to everyone who has helped me out! I'm not totally out of the woods yet, so stay tuned for more newbie questions.

Latest test results:

FC: 3.5
CC: 0!
pH: 7.1
TA: 60
CYA: 35-40

[Watermom]

Great report! Glad things are going well. Now, you just need to get that pool warmed up so you can go swimming!

You might want to bump the alk up just a little with some baking soda. That will help your pH be a little more stable.

Another comment --- did you backwash only to lower the water level in the pool? If so, just an FYI. You could have just dumped some water to waste instead of backwashing it out. Dumping to waste bypasses the filter and thus won't throw out any undissolved CYA. (Although, it was probably all dissolved after 5 days anyways.) Just wanted to mention that option for future reference and also for the benefit of anybody else who might be reading this thread.