New pool owner, trying to get my chemicals balanced

[mitchryan912]

1. Get a K2006, so you can test it yourself. It actually sounds like you may be one of the very few who have found a pool store that tests water accurately . . . but the only way to know is to DIY. http://pool9.net/tk/ (Please ignore the booklet and wheel in the kit, at least till this fall!).

Working on ordering one, as NO ONE in town carries Taylor kits (one I don't frequent can get the 2006... for $99!) Yeah, I think the guy who did my first couple tests knows what he's doing, but then I went to the sales counter and was told to change the order of operations:

Test guy:
1. Shock the pool (3 gals chlorine)
2. Raise TA (15 lbs baking soda)
3. Raise CH (5 lbs CaCL2, 3 doses @ 8 hour intervals)
4. Adjust pH (1 qt muriatic acid)
5. Stabilizer (5 lbs CYA)

The sales guy's suggestion:
1. Adjust pH (3 qts muriatic acid, and I already had a gallon at home, so he didn't make an additional sale here.)
2. Shock the pool (3 gals chlorine)
3. Raise TA (15 lbs baking soda, all at once)
4. Raise CH (5 lbs CaCL2, 3 doses @ 8 hour intervals)
5. Stabilizer (5 lbs CYA)

I'm not sure what's the preferred order of operations here, as I've read conflicting things about what works? All I do know is that the store has a sheet they fill out when testing, and that the sheet says to go in the order of each item (maybe I'll scan it so you can see what I'm seeing.)

2. Transported samples of pool water may not have the same TA or pH as the same water in the pool, due to heating / cooling / aeration. See http://pool9.net/alk-step/ for an (indirect) explanation. Basically, if you want an accurate test of pH you must collect the sample in a bottle leaving ZERO head space (ie, cap it underwater) and (b) keep the sample temperature stable.

It's a 30 minute drive to this particular pool store, but I often am heading straight there after I take a sample.

3. Depending on how they tested, the testing error for CYA levels at the low end can range from plus-minus 10 ppm (K2006 with experienced user) to plus-minus 50 ppm (eye-balled test strips). I don't know your pool volume, so I don't know what your CYA should have been after you added 5# . On a 30k gal pool, 5# would add 20 ppm. BUT, it dissolves slowly. People often 'lose' it backwashing before it dissolves. This most often happens when your pump is timer operated.

I think I've gotten myself frustrated because I just bought some AquaChek yellow test strips, and was told these should get me in the ballpark but wouldn't be totally accurate. My test strip shows pH 6.8 while my cheap pH test (with phenol red) shows pH 7.6. Granted this is after adding acid and chlorine over the past 24 hours, so I don't expect either of them to be accurate, but was hoping for them being close to each other.

I have a 26,000 gallon pool, and was told to not backwash for 3 days after adding CYA. I've been backwashing, rinsing, and sending out extra water to waste (lots of rain lately) before I do any major adjustments, so I don't lose anything I've just added and so that my skimmer actually skims.

Also, I don't have a timer, so the pump runs 24/7. I don't know if this is a bad thing for anything outside our electric bill? I don't have a way of changing it to add a timer unless I revamp ALL my home's electrical paneling (I'm a former electrician, and the main panel is ancient and wired WAY out of code, much less the "sub panel" the pool pump is wired to.)

Next time, dissolve it in a sock in the skimmer OR use dichlor (9 ppm CYA for ever 10 ppm FC). (I know that doesn't add up; not going to explain while I'm behind on new users.)

. . . membership updated.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot next time.