New Pool Test Sample, Stabilizer ?

[linnye]

Hi I just set up a 18' round 48" deep metal frame pool. Have the pool sample test results . I need to know what you think is neccesary to add. But my main question concerns stabilizer and how much to add ? I believe in the BBB method and have used it many years but i'm losing my chlorine reading overnight and am wondering if I need to stabilize. I know the alkalinity and ph are a bit high but would rather not buy any of their over priced chemicals.

Saturation 0.07
TDS 300
CYA 40
Total Chlorine 0
Free Chlorine 0
PH 8.1
Total Alkalinity 139
Adjusted Total Alkalinity 127
Total Hardness 279

[linnye]

I guess I should have added that the water temp. is 70 degrees.

[CarlD]

Your pH is far too high. Regular muriatic acid from a hardware store will lower it.

For the record, your pool has about 7500 gallons.

First, you need your own test kit. Consider the $65 to $75 for the proper one to be part of the expense of pool owning.
You can go to Taylortechnologies.com and order their K-2006 or K-2006C kit.

Or you can go to Lesliespool.com and order their FAS-DPD Chlorine Service Test Kit (Leslie's retail stores don't have and don't even know what it is). The Leslie's kit is a re-badged version of the K2006

Finally you can go to TroubleFreePools.com and link to the TF-100 test kit.

All three are the same. Even with a little pool they will pay for themselves the first season many times over in the chemicals and heartache they save you.

In the meantime, if you have a WalMart and they have the HTH 5-way Drop Test kit for about $10-$15 it will tide you over until you get one of the FAS-DPD kits I mentioned.

If you cannot get THAT, then at least get an OTO/pH test kit. Try to find one where the OTO goes to 5ppm, not 3--it will serve you better.

We do not recommend test strips. They are notoriously hard to read and frequently lead to spurious results. If you MUST have then only use either the Hach 6-way (with CYA/Stabilizer) or the LaMotte equivalent. The rest are totally worthless. I only use them as a canary in the coal mine to warn me of gross problems--like no chlorine or lots of chlorine.

Without good testing you are driving blind. Pool store testing is notorious variable and they try to scare you into buying expensive chemicals you don't need. With your own FAS-DPD kit your testing will be consistent and much more accurate--and you'll only be testing what you need to know, not irrelevant things like TDS and saturation or worse "phosphates".

Meanwhile:

I would start with 1/2 cup of acid to lower pH. You want pH to be in the 7.3-7.6 range.

Next I would "shock" the pool. You need to raise your FC to 15ppm (parts per million).

If you add 3/4 of a gallon of regular 5.25% bleach it will raise your FC by 5.25 ppm.

If you add 3/4 of a gallon of ultra bleach 6% it will raise your FC by 6ppm.

So...if you add 9/4 of a gallon of regular bleach that should do it....in other words 2 gallons and 1 quart of regular bleach should shock your pool nicely.

[Watermom]

I'm confused about something. You said this was a new pool and you thought you needed to stabilize, but, you report a cya reading of 40. CYA is stabilizer, and 40 is a very good reading. You also say you are losing your chlorine reading overnight. How high are you taking your chlorine whenever you are adding bleach? (which I assume is what you are using for your source of chlorine)

By the way, welcome to the forum!

[waterbear]

I see something in your test results that is a red flag to me. Total hardness was tested and NOT calcium hardness. This tells me that it was tested with strips and possibly a strip reader since strips only test total hardness and strips, even with a reader, are not to be trusted.
Either find a place that does not use strips or better yet, as CarlD suggested, get a good test kit and test your own water.

[linnye]

Yes I have a test kit , it goes to 3. I've been testing my water myself but did take it to have tested , don't know what method they used but will find out. I failed to mention that we have not even used the pool even once since set up , no one has been in it . This is why I am concerned about the drop in chlorine levels just overnight. I used 6 cups liquid chlorine (10%) the first dose , 3 cups the second, and lastnight I put in 4 cups , haven't teseted yet this morning . I have 1 more gallon that's 10% then I'm using 12% . So to put in a little stabilizer or not ? I am only using chlorine and algeacide at this time . I did not want to do anymore until I got suggestions here . As to the test results for today I will post chlorine , ph and alkalinity as soon as I get them.
Thanks!

[Watermom]

So, if this is a new pool and a fresh fill and you have put in only liquid chlorine, then there is no way you could have a cya (stabilizer) reading. That is why you are losing all your chlorine. It is expected that you will lose all your chlorine in a pool with no stabilizer. You do need to add some stabilizer, but just go slow with it. It takes about a week for all of it to dissolve. Aim for an initial reading of about 30. You can always add more if you need to but the only way to lower it is to do a partial drain.

One question, if you have only been using liquid chlorine, how did you ever get a cya reading of 40 in the first place?

[linnye]

I had the water hauled in so I'm not sure how I could have gotten a reading for CYA either .
If I get my alkalinity down will it also lower my ph ?

Latest Reading 8-04-08
Alkalinity 130
PH 8.0
Chlorine 1.5

[aylad]

Actually, to lower your alk, you add acid until your pH is 7.0 (which drops your alk at the same time), then aerate your water to let the pH rise again without raising the alk.

Since CYA testing is a turbidity test, if you had anything clouding your water at the time of the test, it could give a false reading. If you haven't added any CYA yet, you definitely need to--otherwise all your chlorine is going to waste!

Janet

[linnye]

Ok , so which to do first ? The Stabilizer or the Acid ? And any special instructions for either ?