Total Alk. test.

[Number6]

Hello, all.
I have been battling constant rain in my 32k gallon, SWG, vinyl lined pool.
When I tested for "total alk." the vile went from geen to light blue to a yellow instead of from green to dark green to red. This reaction is a first for me. Do I need to buy "fresh" testing chemicals? Or, is there no alkalinity in my pool?

Any thoughts?

[aylad]

If your reagents are less than 2 years old, and have been kept in a cool, dark place, then I doubt it's the reagents. Have you tried testing your tap water to see what it does? You could test a glass full of tap water, then add a couple tablespoons of baking soda and mix, then test again--that should tell you whether the reagents are the problem.

Janet

[polyvue]

Hello, all.
I have been battling constant rain in my 32k gallon, SWG, vinyl lined pool.
When I tested for "total alk." the vile went from geen to light blue to a yellow instead of from green to dark green to red. This reaction is a first for me. Do I need to buy "fresh" testing chemicals? Or, is there no alkalinity in my pool?

Are you using Taylor reagents? The following may be of interest to you.

4. When I add my total alkalinity reagent I get a yellow endpoint instead of a red endpoint. Has the indicator gone bad?

Possibly. Outdated total alkalinity indicator can cause this problem as can excess chlorine in the sample. If in doubt about the potency of the reagent, replace it. When a high level of chlorine is present, add an extra drop of thiosulfate reagent to the sample to remove the chlorine interference then follow the test procedure as written.

Source: Excerpt from Taylor Chemistry Topics - Seeing Colors