Got the new test kit. Here are the numbers. Tell me what to do.

[rfreeman]

16x32 vinyl IG pool.


Got a Taylor 2600 kit. Tested the water yesterday.
TC - 0
FC - 0
CC - 0
PH - 8.0
TA - 250
CA - 30 or less

Added 10.5 gallons of bleach to superchlorinate. Tested again this morning.
TC - 1.4
FC - .2
CC - 1.2
PH - 7.8
TA - 240
CA - 30 or less.

I need to add some more bleach to get FC to 5, right? Then add some acid to drop PH a little, which should also help my TA numbers, huh? Am I on the right track? Thanks in advance. - RF in LA

[cruzmisl]

I am NOT an expert in this area but it seems to me the FC should be much higher than .2 after adding 11 gallons of bleach.

It's possible that the chlorine residual is high enough that the DPD agent is bleaching out giving you a false reading. I presume it's a DPD kit. What is the concentration of the bleach added? Possibly very old bleach?

[waterbear]

How many gallons is your pool? If it is a rectangle pool with a 5 ft. average depth then it should be about 19000 gal. If you added 1.5 gal of REGULAR (not ULTRA) bleach then your FC levels should have been around 30 ppm! (WAY too high for a sinyl pool!) You really don't have any CYA in the pool so it is possible that the chlorine was burned off by the sun before you retested or you might have a huge chlorine demand from something in the water (Your high CC seems to support this) but I think you need to review your testing procedure. The Taylor K-2006 uses the FAS-DPD titration test and is not prone to bleach out if you add enough of the DPD powder.

Is your water clear or green. Is there any visible algae in the pool?

[rfreeman]

I added the bleach at night. The water was green, and happened seemingly overnight, so I assumed I got an algae bloom. When I tested this morning and got such low numbers, I saw that as proof that there was algae present in significant amount. Was I incorrect? I added the DPD powder until the solution just started to change color. Should I have added more? I'll test again when I get home tonight. Thanks for the Help!!!! - RF

[waterbear]

Green water is your answer. The algae is creating a chlorine demand. You need to bring it to shock level AND KEEP IT THERE until the pool clears and you are holding chlorine. With 30 or below CYA this is 10 or 12 ppm and you will need to test and add bleach at least morining and evening. 3 times a day is even better.