Stabilizer Issue

[POOLQ]

Hi,

I have a 24 foot in ground pool. I am having trouble keeping both my chlorine stable. I have put multiple rounds of stabilzer in the water - yet the cyanuric acid levels barely go up. Then the levels rapidly go down.

The pool is clear and free of any visable algea. My issue is that I am using much more chlorine than usual and it's beginning to cost me an arm and a leg.

The only thing that I can think where my pool is different from others, is that I have 15 foot high ceder hedges that hang over one side (maybe a 6 foot stretch at most). I am thinking that maybe when it rains that the oils from the ceder ferns are dripping "attaching" to the droplets of rain and going into my pool water which is messing up my pool water chemisty. Mind you, I have had the ceder hedges for years and have not really had any issues except at the beginning of the season.

Would appreciate any feedback.

[BigDave]

Your Cyanuric Acid levels go quickly down?

Are you testing the water yourself? What test kit are you using?

[PoolDoc]

@ BigDave: he's in Canada, so it's unlikely he has a decent test kit. Lowry & Assoc has a monopoly on Taylor kit distribution in Canada, and charges what many consider to be extortionate prices.

As a result, it's unlikely he has any idea what his actual CYA level is . . . nor any good way to determine it.

@ PoolQ: It's unlikely cedar has anything to do with it. You *can* test to see if the issue is CYA, by adding a known quantity of PLAIN 6% (actually CHECK the %) bleach in the late evening. Test the chlorine 1 hour later, then in the early morning, and again that evening.

If your chlorine level drops little overnight, and a lot during a sunny day . . . you have a CYA problem. Otherwise, not.

[POOLQ]

I went to my local independant pool guy and had my water tested. Vedict..... my kit is defective... (actually they are strips). I actually have twice as much CYA as needed. Supposedly, the reason why my chlorine isn't holding is due to the excessive sunny warm days that have been experiancing over the past month or so. He said to expect to use close to twice as much chlorine as I usually use.

Question: What test kit(s) would you recommend ? I'll see if I can order them online somewhere.

Thanks !

[PoolDoc]

'Guess-strips' strike again!

Question: What test kit(s) would you recommend ? I'll see if I can order them online somewhere.

So glad you asked! I've got some fresh 'pre-written' answers just waiting for you!

+ Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) / phenol test kit, or if available at YOUR Walmart (check availability), get the HTH 6-way DROPS test kit, which is compatible with the Taylor K2006. Test the pool as soon and you can, and post the results. If you get the 6-way kit, ALSO test the water you FILL the pool with, especially if it's a well, and post THOSE results as well. (The HTH is the best available kit you're likely to find locally, but it's not the K-2006. It can only provide rough measurements chlorine levels above 5 ppm, and it measures "TOTAL" hardness, rather than "CALCIUM" hardness, which is not ideal.)

+ Having a good test kit makes pool care easier for EVERYONE. A good test kit means a kit that can test chlorine from 0 - 25 ppm, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, and stabilizer with reasonable accuracy. Test strips (AKA 'guess-strips' ) do NOT meet this standard. Some pool store testing is accurate; most is not. The ONLY way you'll know whether your pool store is accurate or bogus, is by testing accurately your own self. On the other hand, pool store 'computer' dosing recommendations are NEVER trustworthy -- ignore them. They are designed to sell more chemicals than you need, and WILL cause many pool problems.

+ We recommend the Taylor K-2006 test kit, which meets the requirements above, for many reasons. The HTH 6-way drops kit is a great starter kit, and is compatible with the K2006 (it's made by Taylor). There are a few alternatives; for example Lamotte makes an FAS-DPD kit that's OK -- but it costs 3x as much. But, we're not aware of any test that is better, and since we are all familiar with the K-2006 (and can help you with it) we recommend it exclusively ( Test kit info page ).

One caution for the 2012 season: Amazon does not stock the kits directly. So when buying at Amazon, Amato is our current preferred seller. However, they often don't list enough stock to last the whole day, so try order mid-morning. You should expect a delivered cost under $60 for the K2006A and under $95 for the K2006C. If you can't find that, wait a day.

+ Here are links to the kits we recommend:

HTH 6-Way Test Kit @ Walmart
Taylor K2006A (3/4 oz bottles) @ Amazon
Taylor K2006C (2 oz bottles) @ Amazon

[aylad]

Ben--can he get test kits delivered via Amazon in Canada?

Janet

[POOLQ]

Many thanks Ben...

Yes, Janet - There is actually an Amazon Canada !

Thanks.

[PoolDoc]

I think there's a link to Piscines-Apollo on the test kit info page, which is probably the best Canadian source.