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Total Dissolved Solids? Water Tested


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I went to go get my pool water checked and got these results? I'm not quite sure what total dissolved solids mean?

FC-3

TC-3

TA-3

PH-7.2

TA-110

CYA-100

TDS-Off the meter max was at 3000 I think

Should I drain the pool? I know that I might have to because the CYA but if so..how much do I drain? Can I get Away with half of the pool being drained?

Thanks for your help!

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The TDS is mostly salt. If you have a saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) pool then 3000 ppm is about right (3000 ppm salt usually shows up as around 3200 ppm TDS since there are other components of TDS that are not sodium chloride equivalent, such as calcium).

If you do not have an SWG, then you could over time dilute the water more frequently. Your CYA level is also high, but again, if this is an SWG pool then a CYA of 80 ppm is normal, though the FC should be at 4 ppm to prevent algae growth. If you don't have an SWG, then I'd do a partial drain/refill to lower both the salt and the CYA levels. A half drain should be sufficient, but you may need to do this in multiple partial steps since you don't want an inground pool to pop out due to a high water table nor do you want an above-ground vinyl pool to collapse. Usually, a 2 foot drain/refill is fine.

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Thanks for the info!

I don't have an SWG. My pool is a 35,000 gallon in ground plaster pool.

So a pool can pop out? should I go straight to a half drain and save money before the JUNE water rate increase? or should I stick with the 2ft drain refill you mentioned?

Also, Ive been trying to battle a high TA by acid and aerating. The weird thing is that before I tested it at the store, my tester said had TA of 160 (a tester from home depot). I came back and tested it again and it still says 160. Maybe my tester?

Either way I bought the expensive one mentioned on this board and still waiting for that.

I'm kinda knew here and I appreciate the help.

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Let us know what the TA is with the new kit. I got one and I really like the drop test for fc but I had about a triple high reading (needed triple the drops) for the TA test as compared to the pool store and my own other test kit.

As I am typing I have my shop vac running backwards and the hose is weighted down in the shallow end. makes a great areator. I still have it a bit high and I want to add borates tonight.

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  • 4 years later...

The TDS is mostly salt. If you have a saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) pool then 3000 ppm is about right (3000 ppm salt usually shows up as around 3200 ppm TDS since there are other components of TDS that are not sodium chloride equivalent, such as calcium).

If you do not have an SWG, then you could over time dilute the water more frequently. Your CYA level is also high, but again, if this is an SWG pool then a CYA of 80 ppm is normal, though the FC should be at 4 ppm to prevent algae growth. If you don't have an SWG, then I'd do a partial drain/refill to lower both the salt and the CYA levels. A half drain should be sufficient, but you may need to do this in multiple partial steps since you don't want an inground pool to pop out due to a high water table nor do you want an above-ground vinyl pool to collapse. Usually, a 2 foot drain/refill is fine.

When doing a pool drain for high CYA or high TDS would it work putting both a hose in pool on one side and putting pool pump on opposite side and leave them both run? Thus water level doesnt go down much yet still replaces water. Please advise. Thanks!

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If you do what you said with the pump off, then yes the water won't mix that much and your drain/refill will use less water. If you do it with the pump running, then it will take more water to dilute.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here is an awesome section that will teach you about these readings and how to correct them and what they mean

http://sacpoolservices.com/pool-water-chemistry/

There is actually a LOT of misinformation in the above link. For example, it states that liquid chlorine raises pH when in reality it is basically pH neutral on use (alkaline on addition and acidic as it sanitizes and gets converted to chloride ions for a fairly neutral net pH.) It also has a charts that shows the activity of chlorine at different pH but does not take into account that once CYA is present in the water the effects of pH become negligible. It has very misleading information on the chlorine content of different chlorine sources and does not take into account any side effects of their use or the cost of their usage (including necessary chemicals/procedures to minimize these side effects). I could go on but you get the picture.

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Here is an awesome section that will teach you about these readings and how to correct them and what they meanhttp://sacpoolservices.com/pool-water-chemistry/

There is actually a LOT of misinformation in the above link. For example, it states that liquid chlorine raises pH when in reality it is basically pH neutral on use (alkaline on addition and acidic as it sanitizes and gets converted to chloride ions for a fairly neutral net pH.) It also has a charts that shows the activity of chlorine at different pH but does not take into account that once CYA is present in the water the effects of pH become negligible. It has very misleading information on the chlorine content of different chlorine sources and does not take into account any side effects of their use or the cost of their usage (including necessary chemicals/procedures to minimize these side effects). I could go on but you get the picture.

Well I followed this chart for my pool and have never had a problem I was just trying to help

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Here is an awesome section that will teach you about these readings and how to correct them and what they meanhttp://sacpoolservices.com/pool-water-chemistry/

There is actually a LOT of misinformation in the above link. For example, it states that liquid chlorine raises pH when in reality it is basically pH neutral on use (alkaline on addition and acidic as it sanitizes and gets converted to chloride ions for a fairly neutral net pH.) It also has a charts that shows the activity of chlorine at different pH but does not take into account that once CYA is present in the water the effects of pH become negligible. It has very misleading information on the chlorine content of different chlorine sources and does not take into account any side effects of their use or the cost of their usage (including necessary chemicals/procedures to minimize these side effects). I could go on but you get the picture.

Well I followed this chart for my pool and have never had a problem I was just trying to help

If my memory serves me you are in the industry and do pool service because you had to be warned to removed the link from your signature back in March. Pretty sure this is your company since the domain for the website you linked to is hosted on GoDaddy and registered to David Randolf and your username here is drandolf. Coincidence? I think not. Please refrain from further spamming to promote your website and business and pretending you are a pool owner instead of a pool service. Before you say you were not pretending please reread the last post you made quoted above!. Thank you.

IF you would like to discuss the misinformation you have posted on your website then I (and I am sure chem geek) would be glad to do so!

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