Phosphate kit accuracy?

[bassadict69]

The test kit is made by Natural Chemistry.

I have been round & round with alge blooms for the last 2 years. Water always test fine as far as my clorine levels & stabilizer levels. I even tried keeping the cl higher than needed according to the charts available here & still ended up with green water after a month or so.

Nitrates have NOT been found in my pool water. Last summer, I treated for phosphates ( major pain in the butt! I only did it as a last resort) & went the next two months with clear water. I don't think I got the levels down as far as they are supposed to be but it was far enough to help control the algae.

Too bad the info from last year isn't available, I had lots of posts regarding the problem & also got quite a bit of feedback from the "pool god" Ben!

[waterbear]

Well, It seems you have found that your 'limiting factor' IS phosphates.
I've looked over the NaturalChemisty test kit myself and it seemed OK for the price. Chemisty behind it is sound! Basically the same as most of the aquarium phosphate test kits. There are liquid kits available but they are pricey! I wouldn't worry about the accuracy. You basically want to get as close to 0 ppb phosphates as you can! (no blue color) Bottom line seems to be phosphates in your fill water so their products (or other lanthenum chloride based products) should work for you! You will probably need to to the full treament (yes, it IS a major pain in the butt, but it actally works!) to get as close to 0 ppb as possible and then add a maintenance dose every week or two, espececially after adding water to your pool. Good luck!

[bassadict69]

Thanks WaterBear...I plan to pull a tapwater sample tomorrow & get the phosphates tested so I can compare their #'s to mine.

[bassadict69]

I had the phosphates checked on my tap water today. He came up with about 450ppb on 3 different tests. Only problem is, he was using strips from 3 different suppliers. I tried to find someone that could test it without using strips but drew a blank. Those here in town that could test it used strips.