DanB

Here are my last readings from yesterday. TC = 4.5 (now) pH = 7.2 TA = 40 CYA = 50 CH = 200

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow morning for 8 days. Water is pretty balanced. I just added 176 oz of 6% Cl to get it to 4 ppm. Should I put the solar cover on to preserve the chlorine and risk heating the water up too much or leave the cover off and shock when I get home. The pool is already 88-90 deg. Any other options?

I siphoned off my cover(33 ft round) and it took 36 hours to get down to maybe 10 gallons of water left.

Who has a tip for getting the cover on with no air bubbles trapped? I have a round pool with 5 holders pinned to the side of the pool to hold the cover. I was told by the previous owner to fold the cover accordian style to store in the holders. This guy must have had some talent I'm not aware of because this is next to impossible. Then when you go to load it back on to the pool, there is no way to get it flat. Any ideas?

Okay, fixed the testing issue and got at a TA of 70. According to Pool Calc, I need 200 oz of borax to raise the pH to 7.4 and 176 oz of baking soda to get the TA up to 100. Baking Soda affects pH though, so is there a different balance I should use? Or just do one at a time, assuming Borax first? Thanks for the advice.

I doubt that your TA is as high as you think given how low your pH is -- the pH test turns yellow, is that right? The simple chlorine test turns yellow. The pH turns pink, although the 6.8 reading is yellowish. The higher the pH the redder it gets. Thanks for the tip on the TA test. I'll redo tonight.

I tried to redo the TA and the drops come out very thin. Please let me know if that's typical. I put over 20 drops in. There begins to form a reddish suspension, but then swirling turns back to green. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right so I'll wait for a response.

Okay. I ordered the TFT100 test kit last week and was gone over the weekend, so the kit was waiting for me when I got home. Just got back today and checked the water. Stats as follows: TC = 3.5 CC = .5 pH = 6.8 TA = 330? - drops seemed finicky and I'm not sure if I was getting full drops in the test tube. Is this common? I'm going to redo this. CYA = 30-40 - This seems pretty subjective. If the TA is close to correct, should I be concerned? It looks like I need to find a way to aerate. The return does break the surface, so there is already some aeration. What else do you recommend?

I just started reading through the Pool School info. Just what I've been looking for. The excess contaminants comment is just based on pool store test. They tested the water after the first treatment and recommended the second. I put that in and the next test said there was a much larger problem. The second test may have been screwed up some how, I don't know. Like I said, I'm just starting to learn. The water itself looks pretty clear with just a slight tint of green. I'm away this weekend so I won't be able to do anything until Sunday. I'll start by getting a better test kit. The strips I have turn blue/purple for FC. They may be old as they are left from the previous owner. I suspected they were expired, but the numbers have loosely agreed with what the pool store was showing as far as FC and PH. Thanks for your response. It's awesome having a resource like you available.

I just bought a house with a pool and am learning on the fly. I opened it last weekend. I'm in Louisville. It is a 33ft diam round 4ft deep pool. I am working with Sun Time Pools to analyze my water. So far I have shocked it for the third time last night. Each time there is no FC after 24 hrs. Last night I put in 45 lbs of Lithium Hypochlorite broken up into two batches 3 hrs apart. I tested this morning and the test strip barely changed shade apparently indicating < 1PPM. This soon after administering, should there be FC? Does it spike when first applied then decline over time? Or does it build up over time? Some other detail: Previous owner closed the pool with about 2/3 of the water present. When I took the cover off, the water was pretty clear and a little green(not bad). Some leaves and debris got in the pool when I took the cover off. According the water test after the second shock, there were still significant contaminants in the water, enough to call for 45 lbs this time.