Pool is gross but not ready to open it yet...

[mikemilr]

Ok, Ben...got the kit (Taylor K-2006) and took readings today... I'll try to give extra details...just in case I screwed something up.

Rained hard for a bit today...but pump was running after that for about 2-3 hours. I think it was running for 4 hours before I grabbed water in a cup about 1.5 feet under the surface...away from the jets.
[Granted, the pumps don't seem to be pushing as much water...but filter might need to be sprayed again]

Chlorine Test: Aborted...because
Did 25ml test...put 6 dippers of DPD Powder and STILL didn't turn pink. Thought I'd try the other tests first then

pH test:
44ml of water
Color appears to show pH above 8.0 but not by much.
3 drops of "acid demand" seems to put it around 7.8-8.0
4 drops total of "acid demand" seems to put it around 7.0

CYA test:
did the 7ml pool water, 7ml of cyanuric
then dropped in to small comparator tube. Filled to top and could still see black dot clearly. My guess is that CYA is near 0

Alkalinity Test:
Did 25ml test
6 drops changed color but not really to pink or red.
7th drop definitely changed it to red
so, 60-70 ppm total alkalinity

So, I didn't run chlorine test again since without CYA I'm guessing that chlorine is probably non-existent in the water. But I'll try again if you tell me too.

As a reminder...this is a salt-water pool. I'm trying to keep the junk out of the pool but can't see the bottom...

I still need to check Home Depot/Lowes/BJ's for dichlo or trichlo

Sounds like I could use one of those first to get CYA up...that's if I follow the different info I read on this site.

[Watermom]

Hi Mike and welcome to the Pool Forum. Since it appears that you have no chlorine and no CYA, dichlor might be a good option for you for awhile until your CYA level is where you want it. Then, you'll need to switch to an unstabilized form of chlorine like bleach or liquid pool store chlorine if it is cheap. (Even though trichlor is stabilized, it isn't a good choice for you right now because you can't shock with trichlor.)

Unless I missed it, I don't think you told us if it is a vinyl liner pool or gunite, or plaster or ????

Good decision to buy the K-2006. It will make things a lot easier for you!

[PoolDoc]

OK.

On the DPD chlorine test . . . if you don't get pink with 1 dropper full, you won't get pink at all: you have no free chlorine. The ONLY time you might need 2 droppers full would be if you had extremely high chlorine (>30 ppm) and it initially turned pink, but then bleached out.

HOWEVER, if you have zero with the powder alone, it's still possible you'll have a reading once you add KI (DPD reagent #3 -- potassium iodide) since adding the iodide will expose any chloramines present (or any non-chlorine shock, or some other stuff -- unlike the DPD #1, it's not a super-specific test.)

Otherwise, it sounds like you're gotten reasonable results. Go ahead and buy a gallon of muriatic acid, to lower the pH, and if you can get a 50# bucket of dichlor at Sams, they usually have a super deal on it, around $2/lb, which is less than wholesale. But, I don't think they have it in stock in this area, yet.

Alternatively, you can buy bleach which, at $2/gallon for 6% is about the same price comparing actual chlorine content. Once the dichlor comes in, you can switch to that. But go ahead and lower the pH a little now. Use only a pint of muriatic at a time. Do NOT measure it -- eyeballs are good enough. But DO read this page:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...Your-Pool-s-pH
so you do it safely. Muriatic acid is cheaper and better for your pool, but you do need learn to handle it safely.

[PoolDoc]

Watermom, you posted while I was writing! ;-)

[mikemilr]

Thanks for the great info.

Vinyl pool, inground pool. Roughly 25,000 gallons.

[mikemilr]

So here's an update on my pool.... cleaned out the debris in pool and replaced filters...that helped a lot.

Ran tests this morning and here's what I got:
SWG, 25K gallons

Chlorine:
FC: 5ppm
CC: .5 ppm
pH: around 7.0-7.1
CYA: 35ppm
TA: 40ppm

Guess I need to get CYA up higher for CWG pool.

Can't really find buckets of dichlor here... I can find tri-chlor and calcium hypo
I can find dichlor at $3/lbs in 5lb box

So, any advice?

[PoolDoc]

I'd rather use my Best Guess Chart, here;
http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/best...ine-chart.html
not just because it's mine rather than TFP's, but because I don't like the 'fake' precision implied by the TFP version.

Even with the K2006, you cannot reliable distinguish 70 ppm CYA from 100 ppm!

As far as getting your CYA up, don't do it till
(1) your water temp is 70 or more &
(2) you have fully cleaned up your pool.

The reason the SWCG makers want higher CYA levels is they their units are too small to maintain chlorine levels at lower CYA levels -- which is a bit sneaky. However, I do NOT recommend using your SWCG to clean up your pool -- do that with bleach or what have you. Use your SWCG *only* for day-to-day clear water operation.

Since you can access to trichlor inexpensively, get a couple of floaters, and use trichlor. That will raise your CYA, by the time you open!

You can put trichlor tabs in the skimmer, but if you do so, you MUST leave your pump on 24/7 -- otherwise, the chlorine solution in the skimmer will get too concentrated, and can damage a variety of things.

BTW, if you have a friend who has a Sams or Costco membership, you should be able to get BOTH trichlor and dichlor there very inexpensively in their "PoolBrand" brand. And, it's plain dichlor or trichlor, with none of the goop the other companies are adding these days!

Oh, and buy some borax -- several boxes -- and use it to raise your pH a bit. With both dichlor and trichlor, your pH is going to tend to drop. With your pool, you can dump a box -- not too fast! -- into the skimmer, with the pump running. This will not only raise your pH, but will (over time) build up a borate levels that is algistatic.