Pool Help, Please!

[Watermom]

Well, it looks like you have been "pool-stored." That is quite a list you have there. I have had my pool for about 10 years and I can count on one hand the number of products I have used in my pool: bleach, borax, baking soda, Polyquat 60%. That's it. Only 4. And my water always looks great and is sanitized. You don't need a bunch of stuff to keep your pool maintained. But, your pool store needs you to buy a bunch of stuff to keep their cash register full!

With a CYA of 70, you are definitely gonna need that good test kit that can measure chlorine levels higher than a cheaper kit because higher cya means higher chlorine levels needed. Your cl will need to ALWAYS stay between 5-10 or you risk an algae bloom. Your shock level will be 20ppm when needed.

No more trichlor pucks or any dichlor powder for your pool. They both contain cya in them and your level is already high. Stick with plain bleach or liquid chlorine.

Your pH is ok at 7.2 but just don't let it go any lower. If it does, add a little Borax to get it between 7.2-7.8. You do NOT need calcium in a vinyl pool. Order that kit ASAP. It will be a big help to you.

Try the shot glass dilution method and report back tomorrow with your cl level.


BTW --- Who knows how old the kit may be. Your reagents may just not be good any longer. You can check the alk and CH when you get your Taylor kit.

EDIT --- Where are my manners? I forgot to say welcome to the forum! We are glad you found us!

[waterbear]

a couple of things:

You didn't say but I suspect your 6 way test kit is an HTH (rebranded Taylor) since you said the TA test was supposed to go from green to red and that the hardness test is a total hardness test.

The Orange color of the OTO test indicates a fairly high FC level (definitely above 10 ppm and probably closer to 20 ppm)

The TA test turning from blue to pale yellow instead of green to red is from the high chlorine. One of the indicator dyes was bleached out by the chlorine. The test is still valid if you stop when the test changes from blue to yellow. That puts your TA at about 110 to 120 ppm. It's fine for now.

the high chlorine is bleaching out the calcium test also. The colors are more like pink and pastel blue anyway under the best conditions. Your reagents could also be old. Don't lose sleep over this until you get a new test kit.

pH of 7.2 is problematic if your reagents are not old. The high chlorine levels cause pH tests to read higher than they really are and we know your chlorine is high. I suspect your pH is actually much lower than 7.2, especially if the pool was maintained on trichlor or dichlor.. We can't know for sure until the chlorine level drops to a normal range. As a safeguard I would pour a half box of borax into the skimmer. It will bring the pH up without have much impact on anything else. Test the pH the next day. If the pH still reads 7.2 with the chlorine still reading high I would add another half box. This is more of a safeguard than anything else and if it turns out that the pH was ok and it ends up a bit high it's not a big problem and one that a bit of acid will take care of in a snap!

One final thing. When you get a test kit get the Taylor K-2006 (not the K-2005). It can test chlorine levels up to about 50 ppm with a precision as small as .2 ppm! If you had it now your chlorine would not be "too much chlorine to get a reading".

[Watermom]

Geez -- Waterbear, I think I must have been asleep when I answered that post. Of course the high cl is affecting those tests. Duh! Where is my brain today!! That is what I get for trying to read posts, read email, cook dinner, and direct kids to do chores all at the same time.

[waterbear]

Geez -- Waterbear, I think I must have been asleep when I answered that post. Of course the high cl is affecting those tests. Duh! Where is my brain today!! That is what I get for trying to read posts, read email, cook dinner, and direct kids to do chores all at the same time.

Well, I NEVER make mistakes in a post!
(You didin't see my post about the amount of CYA in trichlor, did you? )

[Watermom]

Well, I wasn't gonna mention it .............

That is what is great about this place --- we got each other's backs!

[waterbear]

Well, I wasn't gonna mention it .............

That is what is great about this place --- we got each other's backs!

Hey, we're all family here!

[megd22]

Watermom-- Yes we have been "pool-stored," but the Taylor K-2006 kit was ordered last night so hopefully we're headed in the right direction now. After reading your post and waterbear's post, we have learned more in a day than we have in a month!! So, thank you.

Waterbearer--Yes, the test kit was the Wal-Mart HTH kit.

So today, I'm going to get diluted water to do the shot glass test and add borax to the skimmer. (My last trip to Wal-Mart I didn't see any, so hopefully I can find a place that has some.) Should I do the shot-glass test before I add the borax or should I test the chlorine and pH levels tomorrow after adding the borax?

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Just an FYI if anyone is having trouble finding borax, the company's website has a store locator within a radius of your zipcode (sorry if someone else already posted this). For the brand select laundry care: http://www.henkelna.com/henkel-store-locator-9949.htm