lovemypool

Thanks for all the help. Is muriatic acid better than dry acid for lowering both the pH and TA? I've been using dry acid to this point. On the CH test, if I look closely there are tiny red suspended particles which eventually turn to blue suspended particles. Is this how it's supposed to look (instead of just looking like colored water)?

Received my TF-100 test kit today and read through the Pool School. Thanks again for those recommendations. The pool store's CYA results were apparently way off. According to that (assuming I interpreted the results correctly), my results are: TA: 125 Calcium Hardness: 260 CYA: 80 FC: 5.5 CC: 0.5 PH: 7.7 Water Temp: 75 The CH test was a little confusing. Do I stop counting drops when I first detect the color changing toward purple (that's the number recorded above)? It didn't really turn blue until I added 4-5 more drops of the reagent. I'm glad I didn't add the amount of baking soda recommended by the pool store. I had added 2.5 lbs before posting my question to this forum (and didn't add any more based on dscriterium's first response). With the above results Pool Calculator is returning Saturation Index of 0.21. Is that too high? Also should I shock to get rid of the chloramines? Any further recommendations? Thanks.

Thanks again. It's plaster, in ground. Sand filter and propane heater (which we haven't used much). 14,000 gallons is based on the printed output from the pool store, which is where the previous owners of the house would go to get water tested (and also had these guys open and close for them). So I guess I'd better measure and re-estimate the pool volume, based on how good (not) it appears these pool guys are.

Thank you so much. I've gotten some clues that they don't know what they're doing based on them not being able to explain to me the basic components of the test report output. They use strips and put them into a machine with a photometer and print out a report that has Bioguard all over it (and recommends using lots of Bioguard product). The report calculates a saturation index but no one has ever explained that to me or pointed it out to me, in all the times I've been in the store and have asked tons of questions about the test report. I've looked around at test kits and will definitely get one but didn't know which would be best so thanks for the recommendations. I will check out the Pool School as well to further educate myself. Thanks for all the help!

Thanks again! The pool has been crystal clear every day since we moved in, so I guess I can stop worrying about the TA.

Thank you for your post. I feel better already. On the alkalinity, isn't it the adjusted alkalinity number I need to be concerned about? My understanding is that the total alkalinity test reads both cyanurates and carbonates/bicarbonates, so if you have high CYA, your total alkalinity will read high too, so there is a mathematical adjustment to get to the real measurement of carbonates/bicarbonates, which is what you want at around 100. Though if alkalinity really doesn't matter much for over winter I won't worry about it and will work on that in the spring when hopefully the CYA will be lower too. My main goal is to get it so nothing bad happens to the pool, pipes or filter over the winter (we are hiring the pool company to actually winterize and close the pool, so I just want to make sure I'm doing whatever is needed to balance the water). Also anything I can do now to make it easier to get the water balanced in the spring I would like to do.

Can anyone tell me what will happen if I put 10 lbs of baking soda into my 14,000 gallon pool at once? I've read in several places that you should never add more than 2.2 lbs per 11,000 gallons every 4 days. The pool store people say you can dump it all in at once, just make sure you brush it around and get it dissolved. The pool store told me I should try to get my Adjusted Total Alkalinity up before my pool is scheduled to be closed (Oct. 8). Based on my water test yesterday they said add 14 lbs of baking soda and 3 lbs of dry acid (my ph is high too, it seems it's always high, I'm always adding acid). I'm a total newbie at this (moved into the house early August, and have no prior experience owning a pool) but what I've learned so far is not to trust anything that the guys at the pool store say unless I can verify it to my satisfaction. My CYA and total hardness are also on the high end of the ranges, so I'm wondering if I need to work at draining and refilling some water before we close? The pool store says not to worry since they'll be lowering the water level anyway. So does high CYA or hardness over winter not matter? At the advice of the pool store guy I've stopped using chlorine tabs and switched to granular chlorine instead to keep CYA from climbing anymore. Here's the results of the water test yesterday: CYA: 146 Total Chlorine: 2.1 Free Chlorine: 2.1 ph: 7.8 Total Alkalinity: 106 Adj. Total Alk: 62 Total Hardness: 271 Thank you!