Pool Help, Please!

[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

[aylad]

Whether you do the chlorine test before or after the Borax doesn't matter, the Borax won't interfere with it. I would wait until after the Borax has been in for a couple of hours before retesting pH, but keep in mind that if the Chlorine is still higher than 10 ppm you're still likely to get a falsely high pH reading.....

Janet

[waterbear]

Glad we can help. I have found that borax is often sold out and does not come in for several weeks so I pick up a box or two to keep on hand when I see it. (We use it for LOTS of things around the house. It truly is a miracle product!)

BTW, the name is waterbear, not waterbearer! Google it!

[megd22]

Waterbear--my apologies...I must have read waterbearer in my haste

So yesterday around 6pm I added a half box of borax. I can already see further down past the ladder than I did yesterday. About 5 minutes ago I tested pH and chlorine:

With the shot glass method I had to do 2 shots of distilled water and 1 shot pool water. With that I got 5...making it 15

For pH it looks to be about 7-7.2

Also, how much water loss/evaporation should I be experiencing each day? From yesterday to today we lost about an inch. Yesterday was about 90 degrees. We’ve been in the upper 90s-100 all week. So is this normal?