Digger's Pool

[aylad]

Around here, no question is a dumb question--we're all learning stuff all the time!! You are correct: when testing chlorine with the 10 ml sample, you multiply number of drops by 0.5, and if using the 25 ml sample, multiply by 0.2. That is your result.

I'm not sure what you mean by FC levels between 11 and 12.5--do you mean that you tested twice and got two different results? Either way, as long as the CC was zero, you've pretty much achieved conversion--congratulations!! Your pH and alk are fine where they are. So.....change the sand, test for your CYA after a few more days, keep your Cl at 2-4 until your CYA registers, and at that time adjust your Cl upward based on the CYA level, and.....ENJOY YOUR POOL!!!

Janet

Edit: Just to make things easier, when you draw a sample for testing, take your cup, invert it, put it into the water as far as you can reach, and then turn it right-side up. This will fill the cup with water from deeper levels in your pool than the surface. If you'll run your tests from this, then you shouldn't have any variations in the results.

[Digger]

Yes, I tested twice and got two different results. Okay, I am SO HAPPY!!!! We put the rest of the CYA in a sock last night, I love that method, I tied it to a rock and put it by the return, I could actually see it dissolving, COOL!! Hope that is correct, that is what I understood to do. I thought I was suppose to have a CC reading, but was just reading somemore and read a 0 reading is good!! Okay, we will work on the sand next. Thanks so much!!

[aylad]

. I thought I was suppose to have a CC reading, but was just reading somemore and read a 0 reading is good!!

You want the CC to be zero. FC is the free chlorine available to fight stuff in the water. CC is combined chlorine, which is chlorine that's being used up by actively fighting stuff in the water. Those two combined = TC, your total chlorine. You want the total chlorine to be equal to free chlorine, which means there's no "stuff" in the water to fight, and therefore it's clean and sanitary.

Janet

[Digger]

Thanks to all, I feel like a got a new start with my pool, after many years of frustration. So I keep testing and make sure FC is around 3-4? I have to read somemore I know! My FC is high does that matter? Just remembered that info is in my Taylor book.Thanks again, the more help the better!

[Digger]

Janet thanks for the good explanation!! I am one of those people who HAVE to understand, not do thinks just because that is the way it has always been done, etc. I know people like me can be a pain in the bum! Plus cause myself more anxieties, but that's me!

[Digger]

Just wondering with my FC higher is it safe to swim? I am guessing so? Now I have to add water and we have hard water from limestone in area, hope it doesn't mess it up too bad?

[aylad]

With a chlorine of 11, I would be okay swimming in it, although I would wear an old suit in case of fading, and would encourage using swim masks instead of swimming underwater with open eyes. Once the sun is on the pool for another couple of hours, especially with people in it, it won't be at 11 for very long.

Janet

[aylad]

In order for you to be fully in control of your pool, you have to understand WHY you're adding something, and you can only do that if you understand what it's going to do once it gets in the water. This is why we're here--to help people understand what they're doing when they add things to their pool water so that they're adding the right stuff--not just anything the pool store told them to add. (hence the term Pool-stored! )

It is a lot of information, and it seems very overwhelming at first, but you'll find that if you stick with it and keep trying to absorb the information and make sense of it, one day you'll wake up and have that "AHA!!!!" moment that we've all had before, when the light bulb goes on and you understand it all!!

Janet

[waterbear]

It is a lot of information, and it seems very overwhelming at first, but you'll find that if you stick with it and keep trying to absorb the information and make sense of it, one day you'll wake up and have that "AHA!!!!" moment that we've all had before, when the light bulb goes on and you understand it all!!

Janet

I've been waiting for years and that STILL hasn't happened to me!

[Watermom]

I am one of those people who HAVE to understand, not do thinks just because that is the way it has always been done, etc. I know people like me can be a pain in the bum! Plus cause myself more anxieties, but that's me!

Digger, that is ME, too! I want to know why not just how! And, that is also the lesson I stress to my 140 students. Ask and understand why something works and don't just take my word or anybody else's word. OK. I'll take my teacher hat off now. (That is sometimes hard to do; being a teacher pervades all areas of my life.)