Thanks To All!! Clear Pool At Last

[karenkr]

Thanks for answering me.
I tried to test my hardness. Put 5 drops in and nothing happened. Did not turn red. Went ahead and added 30 drops of titrant and still no color. Does that mean I have too much hardness or none? If too much what do I do?
Thank you
Karen

[aylad]

Sounds like you don't have any....cal-hypo shouldn't be a problem for you.

Janet

[karenkr]

Thanks
Sure appreciate your quick answer. Should I try to lower my ph some? re-tested ph 7.8, TA 160, Cl 8
Karen

[chem geek]

You can try, but you may find that your pH will want to drift upward because of your high TA. My guess is that you'll have a hard time getting much below 7.5 and staying there without fighting a rising pH (and adding acid to compensate). There isn't a real problem operating at the higher pH you are at though your chlorine effectiveness is slightly reduced (not that much though, due to your CYA).

Speaking of CYA, your CYA is too high at 120. Yes, you can try and maintain a minimum chlorine level of 8, but if you pool is exposed to sunlight, then you'll be fighting loss of chlorine every day. I know you said you already drained by half and wanted to try and keep the chlorine level up, but if you find that you have a hard time doing that (because your chlorine loss is high and you are adding lots of chlorine every day), then read on.

My suggestion would be to partially drain and refill your pool water (again). This will lower the values of all of your pool chemicals including CYA and TA unless your fill water is high in TA (i.e. is very hard water). You can use your test kit to test your fill water, mostly for TA and CH (there shouldn't be any CYA in it). Since there wasn't any CH in your pool, I would guess there is no CH in your fill water and usually that would mean your TA in this fill water would also be low (which is all good).

Anyway, that's my two cents...for what it's worth.

Richard

[karenkr]

Thanks for the info.
Had thought about draining some of the water but right now we are on a water ban. I live in Oklahoma and this is the driest year we have had in a long time. I can get by on adding small amounts of water but not enough to re-fill. So for right now I have to contend with the high CYA. Next year will be different though-----------no more tablets for me!!!!!
Question: Since no hardness shows up should I do something about that? Do I need to add something?
Thanks for the help.
Karen

[chem geek]

Karen,

Is your pool plaster or does it have exposed grout anywhere (on a tile line, for example) or is it a vinyl lined or fiberglass pool? If it's a plaster or exposed grout pool, then you definitely have to have calcium in it, otherwise your pool water will slowly dissolve your plaster and grout. If it's vinyl or fiberglass, then you don't need the calcium.

By the way, if your pool is plaster or has exposed grout, then any dissolving of the plaster or grout would result in your pH and alkalinity increasing over time just as if you were adding soda ash (calcium carbonate) to your pool. Since you have high pH and alkalinity, perhaps this is what was happening with you (which wouldn't be good -- if your pool surface is plaster, does it look pitted or has it been getting rougher over time?).

Richard

[karenkr]

My pool is gunite--is that the same as plaster? The pool is an older one, I would say 15 plus years. We were told earlier in the season by my ex-pool guy that we needed new gunite at about $6000 --cant afford that at this time so we are making do with what we have. There is some pitting-nothing bad that I can tell though. What is wierd though is that if I check with strips it shows my hardness at 400, but with the drop kit the water does not even turn red.
Just re-tested my hardness with drops(added cal-hypo last night) and the water turned a very light shade of pink. After 40 drops of titrant the water turned a very light turquoise blue. So now maybe I have some hardness? When I add the 5 drops it sinks to the bottom and I have to stir to mix--is this ok?
Thanks
Karen