Help with K-2006 results

[Ohio Canoe]

Just started using my K-2006c test kit last night and here are the results from last night and tonight.

Last night:
PH: 6.8
FC: 4.6
CC: 1.0
CYA:50
TA: 50

Tonight: (after adding 2 cups of Borax this morning; I was guessing at the amount I would need. I read some where to raise Ph it was 1 cup per 10000 gallons?)
PH: 6.8
FC: 1.8
CC: 1.0
CYA:48
TA: 50

I have the pool frog chlorine pack wide open and have added 4 more cups of Borax to try and get the ph up.

[Watermom]

Ditch the Pool Frog. I am copying and pasting below (the part in bold print) a post Ben wrote about the Pool Frog:

Pool Frog per Ben:
The Pool Frog is one of a class of devices that put copper (and sometimes silver) into pool water.

Copper:
+ kills algae
+ inhibits some bacterial growth
BUT ALSO
- does NOT inactivate viruses
- does NOT kill bacteria quickly enough to protect people
- does stain pool walls
- does turn hair green
- is NOT 'natural' -- it's in the toxic 'heavy metal' class, if you want to play chemical name games.
- is NOT 'chemical free' -- copper ions are just as 'chemical' as hypochorite (chlorine) ions.

You don't need it. You are better off just using chlorine. Many of us just use plain, unscented 6% bleach for our chlorine. (Generic Walmart brand is fine.)

Since you are getting a CC reading of 1, you need to shock your pool. With a CYA reading of 50, your shock level would be around 15ppm. (See the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature for more about that.) Your pool is about the same size as mine. Each of the big jugs of bleach from Walmart (1.42 gallons) will add about 4.5ppm of chlorine. Use that as a reference to help you figure out doses. You'll want to test in the evening when the sun is off the pool and add enough bleach to get back to 15ppm. Then, an hour later, test again. And, then, once more in the morning within 2 hours of sunrise. See how much chlorine you lose overnight. You need to keep they chlorine at shock level until you can go overnight without losing more than 1ppm of chlorine and you have a CC reading no greater than 0.5. Then, we usually say keep it high one more day for added insurance and then let it drift down. But, you will want to make sure it ALWAYS stays between 3-6ppm.

Your pH of 6.8 may be a critical problem. Since the test block can't differentiate a reading any lower than 6.8, getting that reading means it may actually be much lower. Add a box of Borax slowly to the skimmer while the pump is running. After 2 or 3 hours, retest and redose until you get the pH up to 7.4-7.6 although actually anywhere 7.2-7.8 is ok. A reading lower than 7.0 is acidic and can cause damage to your pool.

Hope this helps.

(By the way, use the 10mL sample instead of the 25mL sample to save on your reagents. Also, it is not necessary to run the CYA test every day, nor the TA. Just FC, CC, and pH.)

[Ohio Canoe]

Thanks for the info Watermom. I added 3 gallons of bleach (all that I had) and two boxes of Borax.

Here are my results from this morning:

FC:13.0
CC:1.0
PH: 6.8 to 6.9?

Also, I cannot fully get rid of my Pool Frog as I still have 2 Chlorine backpacs that I purchased a while back and they are not cheap at 21 bucks a pop.

-Should I just remove my mineral pac that surrounds the chlorine pac or ride it out till end of pool season in September?

Other questions:

- Do I continue to run my pump a full speed or can I cut it back to the slower mode and run it 24/7 like I usually do? Or can I just run it at night? Want to save energy and money, if possible.

- Once I lose less than 1ppm over night, how often will I have to add bleach and how much? Seems like it could get expensive, no?

- How many more boxes of Borax do I need to buy? Two boxes didn't seem to make a dent.

- My pool is 28' round and 54" deep. I was told by someone at the pool store that I had 18000 gallons, but don't those measurements equal 21,000+?

Gracias!!!

[aylad]

You can just remove the mineral pac and continue to use the trichlor pucks in the pool, but the trichlor is very acidic and is adding to (if not creating) your low pH problem. I can't tell you how many more boxes of Borax you need, but if two didn't make a dent, then I would at least get 4. Since you don't know how low your pH is, it might take quite a lot of Borax to get the pH back up into range, but this is crucial, because low pH can damage, or destroy, your liner.

Most people that have 2 speed pumps, generally run them on low speed, except when backwashing sand filters or running a cleaner--and unless you're trying to kill off an algae bloom, it doesn't need to run 24/7. It only needs to run enough to turn your entire pool volume over in a day. For most folks, that means 6-8 hours a day is plenty, depending on your pump.

The measurements of your pool ordinarily would equal over 21K gallons, but the 54" depth is misleading--that's actually the total height of the wall, not the actual depth of the water. In most filled pools, your actual water depth is more like 48", which would put your pool volume at 18,400 gallons (roughly).

[Ohio Canoe]

Ok, here are my reading last night, this morning, and to-nite without pool frog chlorine pack running.

Last night :
Fc:21.5
Cc:0
Ph:7.7

This morning:
Fc:13.1
Cc:0
Ph:7.4

Tonite:
Fc: 6.5
Cc:0
Ph7.4

[PoolDoc]

Last night :
Fc:21.5
Cc:0
Ph:7.7

This morning:
Fc:13.1
Cc:0
Ph:7.4

Tonite:
Fc: 6.5
Cc:0
Ph7.4

OK. You've got working stabilizer, but still have some chlorine demand. Continue to add large PM chlorine doses, till you hold chlorine levels overnight.

Meanwhile, vacuum up any debris, and then CLEAN your filter, to make sure you're not chlorinating stuff that you could just flush down the drain. Cartridge sticky here: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?18044