I hate being Color Blind - Strange Test Results

[aylad]

I have some serious doubts about the accuracy of your Leslie's results. Is there another pool store that you could have test for you for comparison or, even better, a neighbor that could read your results from your own test kit?

Based on your numbers, if your pool is clear, the first thing I'd do is get some chlorine in there. I have a hard time believing you used trichlor for a week and still get "low" as a CYA result. Did he give you a number to go with the "low"? What was your CYA level before you went on vacation? You need a CYA number to know how much chlorine you need to keep in the pool, but for now at least get 3-5 ppm chlorine in there so you don't start having algae problems.

You also need to get that pH up--anything below 7.0 is acidic and can do damage to a liner pool. Keep aerating it for now, but you have a decision to make, and to make it you need an accurate TA number. Borax will raise the pH without a substantial rise in TA, but if your TA is really 10 (which I seriously doubt) then you need to use washing soda instead because it will raise both TA and pH. Either way, you need to get the pH up. Since you added a box of Borax without any change, that tells me your TA is actually quite high (in which case it's going to take a good bit of Borax to get it above 7.0) or that your pH is actually lower than the 6.8 that he read from the test, which is entirely possible--trichlor is very acidic and the lowest pH the test block reads is 6.8, so your pH may be still lower than that, which adds to the urgency to get it up higher.

Ignore the TDS and Leslie's advice about it--it's just the latest and greatest way to take money out of your pocket without doing any discernable improvement in your pool--TDS is only going to become important if you have an algae problem that has withstood all other forms of eradication.

Hope this helps!

Janet

[tabjraxa]

Janet,

I had much the same result with the TA test when I did it at home. But I didn't know what it meant.

Put in the 2 then the 5 drops and the water turned a strange color ... the Leslie's guy described it as gray/black ... thus the reason he said the TA was low.

Does this color mean anything to you?

Thanks,
T.

[tabjraxa]

Oh ... side question:

I have a Fiberglass Pool.

And, should I divert the water away from the Heater while this TA is goofy and the PH is low?

Thanks,
T.

[aylad]

The TA test should go from green to red or sometimes blue to yellow (have you used any non-chlorine shock?) so I'm not sure that gray means there is low TA. Did you add any of the reagent to see if there was a color change from the gray? I don't mean to insult you, but have you checked to make sure that you're adding the right reagents and how old are they? Have you tried checking the TA of your fill water to see if you get the same result?

I've never had it turn gray or black, but I'm still not convinced that just means the TA is low......

And yes, if you can divert the water away from the heater, I would until you get the pH and TA straightened out.........

Janet

[tabjraxa]

Janet,

Don't worry about my ego ... I've been color-blind all my life ... so I'm kinda used to these questions.

As for the testing ... I did the test last eve, with new reagents, and the wate turned the same color as they did in the store when he tested them today.

But, I'm going to go home and try again. I'll also try to test the tap water to see what happens there.

Check back in an hour or so ... I'll have new results. I didn't trust the results either, thus my reasons for asking here.

Thanks for your help ...
T.

[aylad]

I'll check back in a little bit--the kids are headed to the pool now......I'll be interested in seeing what your tap water does vs. your pool water....

Janet