New Pool Questions

[KurtV]

Far from an expert; I just hired a bad pool builder so I had to keep checking up on the right way to do things vs. his way.

[md_rider]

Well, I re-checked everything this morning. Here are the results:

Cl - 3
pH - 7.2
TA - 20
CH - 210
CYA - did not really register

Seems like things are starting to come together. I guess it's not bad after 1 week of water.

I added 2 more Chlorine pucks to the skimmer, the first 2 were just about gone. I figure I will wait a few more days before I try and raise the TA, let things settle out more. Seem reasonable?

[KurtV]

md rider,
You should probably check with your builder or the manufacturer of your plaster on how long you're supposed to keep your pool in the "high-acid" state before adjusting the alkalinity. At least for DiamondBrite, high-acid essentially means zero alkalinity.

[md_rider]

Kurtv: We just have regular white plaster. The builder never mentioned anything about a "high-acid" start-up. Just said to keep an eye on the pH because of the plaster curing and add acid as necessary. I will check to make sure. Thanks.

[md_rider]

I checked the water again this morning. I have a question. The Calcium Hardness was 210 a couple days ago. When I measured today, the solution did not turn red when adding the first drops, just turned a pale yellow. Does anyone know what this means? The CL, Alk and pH were all in the good range. Didn't check CYA again, ran out of reagent.

Thanks Again!

[sunofthebeach]

The same thing happens to me with the Walmart 5 way test kit. I think there is something in the pool water that throws off the results and gives that pale yellow color.

Test some tap water and the test will work correctly, so its not the test.

I have not really been able to figure it out and I have seen a couple of threads on this on the old board.

[waterbear]

The same thing happens to me with the Walmart 5 way test kit. I think there is something in the pool water that throws off the results and gives that pale yellow color.

Test some tap water and the test will work correctly, so its not the test.

I have not really been able to figure it out and I have seen a couple of threads on this on the old board.

check out this thread
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=131

the walmart kit is a bit different. I have one also and sometimes get that pale yellow color. I beleive the instructions say to put 2 drops of the indicator in the water. Try putting as many as 10 drops in and I think you will find it will work. I suspect that the problem is either metals interfering with the test (they can be pre-chelated out as per the thread I posted above) or some other interference (pH maybe?) I almost believe that the walmart kit is testing total alkalinity and not calcium alkalinity since the test sample is not made very alkaline first to remove the magnesium interference, but that is just a guess on my part.

[md_rider]

Thanks, I'll give that a try tomorrow.

Can't wait to be able to turn the heater on. It was near 80 degrees today, but the water temp is still at 59. A little too cold for me.