Test Results are in :(((

[Pappy]

If your CYA is really 200 ppm, you will need to dilute your pool water to get readable results. Carefully measure and mix 1 cup of pool water with 1 cup of tap (your drinking water will have no CYA in it) or distilled water. Double the reading you get. You may need to add 2 cups of tap/distilled water to 1 cup pool water to get a useful reading, if so, multiply the reading by 3. There are some videos on the test kit you should watch before you start testing. I don't have the links right now, but I'll find them.


Are you going to do a complete drain and refill? If you're doing a partial drain & refill, you don't need the dichlor. If your pool's pH tends to drift down, like mine, you may never need MA.

Pappy

[MattinAZ]

If your CYA is really 200 ppm, you will need to dilute your pool water to get readable results. Carefully measure and mix 1 cup of pool water with 1 cup of tap (your drinking water will have no CYA in it) or distilled water. Double the reading you get. You may need to add 2 cups of tap/distilled water to 1 cup pool water to get a useful reading, if so, multiply the reading by 3. There are some videos on the test kit you should watch before you start testing. I don't have the links right now, but I'll find them.


Are you going to do a complete drain and refill? If you're doing a partial drain & refill, you don't need the dichlor. If your pool's pH tends to drift down, like mine, you may never need MA.

Pappy

Today I have received my Taylor K2006 test kit I bought from Amazon.
I have tested the CYA levels. On a 50% diluted sample (as suggested by Pappy) CYA Level was 100 which corresponds to 200.

Looks like HTH machine result is confirmed. I decided to go ahead drain the pool. Both chlorine and ph and bromium levels are high too as I was adding 10 % bleach to get rid of the algae in any case.

So tomorrow is the big day. Will discharge the pool, power wash and fill up. For a 10,000 gal pool to bring the CYA levels to required 50 ppm what do I need to do ?

I still have some 3 inch trichlor tablets if I am to use them approximately how many tablets I would need before switching to use bleach? Is there a rule of thumb ? Or shall I hold off using tablets and start with bleach or some other product ?

[BigDave]

8lbs of pure trichlor will get your CYA to just under 50ppm, 10lbs will bring to just over 60ppm. Be prepared, trichlor will push pH down, pH below 6.8 can damage your pool's surface.

Have you tested your fill water?

[CarlD]

Be VERY careful with the power washer and use it on the lowest setting. I've seen mine actually strip the stain and even rip wood off my cedar fencing and decking--you do NOT want to damage your finish! Personally, I'd rather see you brush the pool with a pool brush.

When you refill, Tri-Chlor tabs and Di-Chlor powder WILL add CYA to your water--Di-chlor will add both chlorine and CYA faster than the Tri-chlor tabs.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think 1 lb of Di-chlor SHOULD give you an initial FC of about 6.6ppm to 10,000 gallons of water. (which means roughly 6ppm of CYA). I'm basing this on Chem_Geek's post that 24.1 oz of Di-Chlor will add 10ppm of FC to 10,000 gallons.

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...ight=chem_geek

[PoolDoc]

PF of a 10k pool is 12.

Available chlorine of dichlor is usually either 61% or 55%. Assuming 61%, 1lb x 0.61 x 12 = 7.3 ppm FC per lb of dichlor in a 10k gal pool.

Dichlor adds about 9 ppm of CYA for every 10 ppm of chlorine, so 7.32 x 0.9 = 6.6 ppm FC

==============

Each pound of 61% dichlor will add 7.3 ppm of chlorine and 6.6 ppm of CYA to a 10K pool

[chem geek]

Pretty much all Dichlor you get in pool stores is the dihydrate that has 55% Available Chlorine (pure Dichlor dihydrate would be 55.4%, but product is usually around 99% pure). The anhydrous form of Dichlor (if pure) has 64.5% Available Chlorine but it's not normally sold because as shown in this post, the anhydrous Dichlor is a Class 3 oxidizer similar to Cal-Hypo at > 50% concentration while the dihydrate is a Class 1 oxidizer similar to Trichlor. So to avoid the additional storage, shipping, and warning requirements associated with a Class 3 oxidizer, the dihydrate form is pretty much the only one sold for pools and spas.

So Carl's calculation is correct that 1 pound of Dichlor (dihydrate) in 10,000 gallons would yield 6.6 ppm FC and 6.0 ppm CYA.

[MattinAZ]

Here is a follow up on the situation,

Bur, first of all many thanks for all the replies I have received. I really appreciate it

I have drained, cleaned and filled the pool. I didn't use the pressure washer cleaned the pool with brush while draining. Also replaced the filter cartridges.

While filling the pool I have added house hold bleach at intervals about 2 - 2.5 cup at a time.
It took about half a bottle (half of 3.78 qt jug)

Once the pool is full I took a sample and test with my Taylor K2006 kit. Here are the results

FC. 1.2 ppm
CC O
PH. 7.8
TA. 120 ppm
CH. 110 ppm (Calcium Hardness)
CYA. 0

My plan is either

1) to use 3 inch tablets until I reach the needed CYA level and then switch to BBB method.
Also it looks like I need to build CC and lower the ph a little, which I guess the tablets will help with that too

Or

2) I can skip the tablets, buy conditioner to raise the CYA level and continue with Bleach as needed

I'll appreciate your comments/suggestions

Thanks very much

Matt

[BigDave]

1a) You are using BBB - it's not a recipe, just a catchy name for using only the chemicals your pool needs and finding them at reasonable prices.
1b) If you have the trichlor tabs I recommend you use them up. How much do you have on hand? You won't be able to measure CYA level until you've used about 5lbs (10 3" tabs) so don't waste the reagent. If the trichlor dissolves too slowly to maintain FC, supplement with bleach. Don't pour the bleach on the trichlor. The trichlor will tend to push pH down - keep an eye on that and add Borax if it gets to 7.0.
1c) You will need calcium to protect the finish. About 20lbs of calcium chloride should get your 11K gallons to 300ppm.

2) If you have the trichlor already, why buy stabilizer (conditioner) and then have to get rid of the trichlor?

.