Very Cloudy/Foaming issues

[Apatton]

I'm sorry for any confusion, I'd like to take the chance to clear it up. Ever since dumping copious amounts of chemicals into my pool, previous to any DE addition, my jets have been returning very white-ish water...it is most noticeable when the pool is first turned on after sitting. So, while I have done the DE test twice, the only time I truly felt my pool may have been returning DE through the jets was after the pool had been sitting and not on for several hours. It was about 5:30am before i head in to work, and it may have simply been the nasty white-ish water that has been keeping my pool cloudy for the past 3 1/2 - 4 weeks. I felt it was whiter then usual, but in hindsight I had only gotten about 5 hours the night before thanks to the newborn, and had not yet had my morning coffee.

Still working to provide you the following information, waiting on delivery of my Taylor pool testing kit. Here's what i'll be providing when i post next, hopefully I can do it during the week: 1) Give us a full set of test numbers: FC, CC or TC, pH, CH, T/A and CYA. Speaking of this, can someone break down what these are? I recognize pH and Total Alkalinity, but i'm not certain what the other items are...Free chlorine and something else? No clue what CYA is.

[Watermom]

FC - free chlorine --- the chlorine that is available to still do the work. (Needed FC is based on your CYA level.)
CC - combined chlorine --- very simply put -- it is the chlorine that has already been used up oxidizing stuff in the water. Ideally, want 0 CC.
TC -- total chlorine. FC + CC = TC
CH -- calcium hardness. Unless it is really high, CH is not a concern in a vinyl pool. In a hard-sided pool, you want 200-400.
CYA -- cyanuric acid, also called stabilizer or conditioner. It is basically like sunscreen for your pool. Without an adequate amount, an outdoor pool will lose the chlorine to the sun really fast. For most pools, CYA of around 50ppm works well.

Hope this helps a little.

[Apatton]

Alright, kit came in today, here are my findings:

FC - .4ppm
CC - 1.2 ppm
TA - 900 ppm
CH - 0
CYA - 75 PPM

Forgot pH, 7.0

It has been raining here in PHX off and one the past two days, just an FYI.

[Watermom]

Watch these testing demo videos and then try your tests again and repost. (You don't need to redo the CYA test, however.)
Use a 10mL water sample instead of a 25mL one as this will make your testing reagents last longer. You will then multiply your drop count by 0.5 instead of 0.2.

http://pool9.net/K2006-vid/

(Remember, copy the link and then log out.)

[BigDave]

That's strange.
For the chlorine tests FC and CC if you use a 10ml sample and multiply the drop count by 0.5ppm you'll save on testing reagents. Also if one scoop of DPD powder turns the sample pink, you don't need another.
You need more chlorine - alot more.
TA and CH don't look right to me - check out the Taylor testing videos at http://pool9.net/K2006-vid/. As a trial user, you'll need to copy the URL, log out of PoolForum, then paste the URL in your browser to see the page.

[Watermom]

Looks like Dave and I were posting at the same time without almost identical advice!

[Apatton]

Watched the videos, doesn't seem to be any different that what I did, but I will retest when I get home. I'll let my pool run for a couple hours before I do my testing this time and hopefully get different results.

[CarlD]

A TA of 900 meant you had to put 90 drops of the R-0009 in to get the sample to go from green to red. Are you sure that's what you did?

Review of TA test
1) Fill tube to 25ml mark
2) Add 2 drops of R-0007 and swirl
3) Add 5 drops of R-0008 and swirl--sample should turn green.
4) Add 1 drop of R-0009 and swirl
5) Repeat #4, counting drops, until sample turns red and stays red.
6) Multiply # of drops added by 10--that is your TA number.

CH:
1) Fill tube to 25ml mark
2) Add 20 drops of R-0010, and swirl
3) Add 5 drops of R-0011, and swirl. Sample should turn red or pinkish red.
4) Add 1 drop of R-0012 and swirl
5) Repeat #4, counting drops, until sample turns blue.
6) Multiply # of drops added by 10--that is your CH number.

Hope this helps.