Pool test kit result... Please advise.

[Chuckles78]

Thanks for all the advice! I feel comfortable now to try this myself.

At JD pools they sell Dichlor and two products ph+ and ph-.

Funny though... I wanted to increase my ph from 6.8 to 7.6 and she recommended ph-

I will go back on monday to have another look and pick up some baking soda too.

[Anthony5]

Thanks for all the advice! I feel comfortable now to try this myself.

At JD pools they sell Dichlor and two products ph+ and ph-.

Funny though... I wanted to increase my ph from 6.8 to 7.6 and she recommended ph-

I will go back on monday to have another look and pick up some baking soda too.

I had a look on JD pool website and indeed it says pH- is to decrease pH. No idea what it is but I expect it to be dry acid.

You will not need it for your purpose, and it will probably also a multiple of the price of HCI, which does exactly the same.

To increase your pH you would need Soda ash, which will cost not more than 150 -200 Baht for 5 kg, and will be the same as pH+ but which will cost probably a multiple only because of it's fancy name.

Keep in mind that you will only need little bit of soda ash to increase your pH, and you should not increase or decrease pH by more than 0.4 in one time.

Always use the pool calculator to calculate how much of a certain chemical you have to add to get the required result.

I wouldn't purchase Dichlor, before you have tested for CYA, but go for un-stabilized chlorine instead.

Same applies for baking soda, don't increase your TA before you have measured the level. Bring up your pH to something like 7.3 - 7.4 then watch it closely. If it rises by more than 0.2 a day, without adding any chemicals, the TA is probably too high and you will have to lower it. If TA is too low it will have the adverse effect on your pH or widely swing up and down. Always give it a few days time to settle.

One of the forum sponsors, SwimmingPoolsThailand, I think would be a better choice to purchase your chemicals as JD pools.

[jacko45k]

Thanks Craig. I have a test kit, above is the result of my last test. We have a pool company looking after our pool as i have been away.

I saw JD pools selling increase pH and decrease pH product on their website aswell as regular chlorine and one for shock treatments.

My question, do you guys get the pH and chlorine levels perfect here? As my pool guy says the above test result is as good as he can get it.

I do have acid and soda ash for my chlorine pool, but never seem to need to add any.

Very slightly alkaline is optimum, it is supposed to match your natural eye's ph.

Hard to tell with your picture but it looks like a slightly low ph, to raise it, add little sodium carbonate.

You need surprisingly small amounts, obviously based on pool size.

I have a ruddy great sack of the stuff that I never use.

Beware of getting a bit obsessed with testing, as I said mine seems to hold where it should and I only add occasional chlorine, and a bit of the clarity chemical and algae killer now and again.

It seems to get harder to keep clear in the hot season, now it is great.

You only add occasionally chlorine??

Then how does the chlorine get in your water, or do you have a chlorinator? Because an outdoor pool with a 3 ppm chlorine level would be completely depleted of chlorine in less than a week if not any added on regular base.

I only meant chlorine added by my pool service some days, perhaps I should have said regular..... likely less than once a week though.

[Anthony5]

Thanks Craig. I have a test kit, above is the result of my last test. We have a pool company looking after our pool as i have been away.

I saw JD pools selling increase pH and decrease pH product on their website aswell as regular chlorine and one for shock treatments.

My question, do you guys get the pH and chlorine levels perfect here? As my pool guy says the above test result is as good as he can get it.

I do have acid and soda ash for my chlorine pool, but never seem to need to add any.

Very slightly alkaline is optimum, it is supposed to match your natural eye's ph.

Hard to tell with your picture but it looks like a slightly low ph, to raise it, add little sodium carbonate.

You need surprisingly small amounts, obviously based on pool size.

I have a ruddy great sack of the stuff that I never use.

Beware of getting a bit obsessed with testing, as I said mine seems to hold where it should and I only add occasional chlorine, and a bit of the clarity chemical and algae killer now and again.

It seems to get harder to keep clear in the hot season, now it is great.

You only add occasionally chlorine??

Then how does the chlorine get in your water, or do you have a chlorinator? Because an outdoor pool with a 3 ppm chlorine level would be completely depleted of chlorine in less than a week if not any added on regular base.

I only meant chlorine added by my pool service some days, perhaps I should have said regular..... likely less than once a week though.

I think I understood you right, and that will also explain your last sentence in your previous post.

It seems to get harder to keep clear in the hot season,

Time to sack the pool service I would suggest, as he has no idea about water balance. Chlorine should be kept at a stable level, not extremely high on Monday and then let it degenerate for a week.

It will also explain why your other chemicals aren't used.The pool clarity and algaecide should only be needed when you have a problem, so if your water is rightly balanced you should never need it.

However I have a saltwater chlorinator, which makes it much easier to maintain the correct levels at all time, my pool has the same clear water 365 days a year. And that is how a properly maintained pool should look like.

[jacko45k]

I do have acid and soda ash for my chlorine pool, but never seem to need to add any.

Very slightly alkaline is optimum, it is supposed to match your natural eye's ph.

Hard to tell with your picture but it looks like a slightly low ph, to raise it, add little sodium carbonate.

You need surprisingly small amounts, obviously based on pool size.

I have a ruddy great sack of the stuff that I never use.

Beware of getting a bit obsessed with testing, as I said mine seems to hold where it should and I only add occasional chlorine, and a bit of the clarity chemical and algae killer now and again.

It seems to get harder to keep clear in the hot season, now it is great.

You only add occasionally chlorine??

Then how does the chlorine get in your water, or do you have a chlorinator? Because an outdoor pool with a 3 ppm chlorine level would be completely depleted of chlorine in less than a week if not any added on regular base.

I only meant chlorine added by my pool service some days, perhaps I should have said regular..... likely less than once a week though.

I think I understood you right, and that will also explain your last sentence in your previous post.

It seems to get harder to keep clear in the hot season,

Time to sack the pool service I would suggest, as he has no idea about water balance. Chlorine should be kept at a stable level, not extremely high on Monday and then let it degenerate for a week.

It will also explain why your other chemicals aren't used.The pool clarity and algaecide should only be needed when you have a problem, so if your water is rightly balanced you should never need it.

However I have a saltwater chlorinator, which makes it much easier to maintain the correct levels at all time, my pool has the same clear water 365 days a year. And that is how a properly maintained pool should look like.

Well I really don't want to be doing the vacuum and cleaning stuff myself.

I was doing badly a year or so ago, my chest hair and toenails were taking on an obvious green tinge.

I was turning into a goblin!

I watched the guy doing the testing and he appeared to be economising adding drops to the test tubes, and when I got a kit and tested myself got overly high chlorine results.

Yes a salt-water chlorinator would be better, but an expensive initial installation, I don't like to taste the salt but the water surely feels better and the lower chlorine levels and ease of maintenance are obvious benefits.

[Chuckles78]

I finally got my advanced test kit. My results:

Total Hardness: 250ppm

Total Chlorine: 0.5ppm

Free Chlorine: 0.5ppm

pH: 7.2

Total Alkalinty: 40ppm

Cyanuric Acid: 100ppm

From all advise above i summarise the following:

- Total Hardness is acceptable.

- Total Chlorine and Free Chlorine are just a little bit low.

- pH acceptable.

- Total Alkalinity is too Low, should be around 90-125.

- Cyanuric Acid is way too High! Should be between 30-50.

So i plan to raise total alkalinity by adding baking soda (so as to not move pH much).

Cyanuric Acid is way too high, problem is the pool shops around hua hin don't seem to have un-stabalized chlorine which is what i need. I only have Trichlor. I will try and order some.

[Anthony5]

ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect Thailand1424155393.951106.jpg

I finally got my advanced test kit. My results:

Total Hardness: 250ppm

Total Chlorine: 0.5ppm

Free Chlorine: 0.5ppm

pH: 7.2

Total Alkalinty: 40ppm

Cyanuric Acid: 100ppm

From all advise above i summarise the following:

- Total Hardness is acceptable.

- Total Chlorine and Free Chlorine are just a little bit low.

- pH acceptable.

- Total Alkalinity is too Low, should be around 90-125.

- Cyanuric Acid is way too High! Should be between 30-50.

So i plan to raise total alkalinity by adding baking soda (so as to not move pH much).

Cyanuric Acid is way too high, problem is the pool shops around hua hin don't seem to have un-stabalized chlorine which is what i need. I only have Trichlor. I will try and order some.

Dieter, I assume your chlorine is 5 ppm instead of 0.5 ppm, right? Otherwise it is more than a tad too low, especially with the cyanuric acid level you measured.

Have a look at the CYA > Chlorine chart I posted earlier in this thread.

Be careful with raising your TA levels, as the ideal level depends on a load of factors. My TA level is ideal around 50 ppm, anything higher and the pH will raise by 2 points a day.

Check a few days if your pH level changes before increasing TA. When you add, unstabilized chlorine it will be normal that your pH increases slightly.

You can use liquid chlorine since that one is unstabilized, or if you can't find now, use bleach for the time being as that is the same thing.

[Chuckles78]

Hi Anthony,

My Total chlorine really is 0.5. I just re-read your posts and see it should be around 2.0 so guess i'm quite low.

I've sent off some e-mails looking for liquid chlorine and your idea of bleach in the meantime is good.

[Anthony5]

Hi Anthony,

My Total chlorine really is 0.5. I just re-read your posts and see it should be around 2.0 so guess i'm quite low.

I've sent off some e-mails looking for liquid chlorine and your idea of bleach in the meantime is good.

Dieter, with a CYA level of 100ppm, your chlorine should be around 7ppm.

The CYA buffers the chlorine, so releases only part of it. Chlorine should also be measured at the end of the day, before you added chlorine, and at that time should be at recommended levels.

The poolshops in Pattaya have liquid and unstabilized chlorine in powder form.

Edited February 17, 2015 by Anthony5

[Chuckles78]

Ok thanks Anthony. I will check the levels again this evening. Perhaps I made a mistake my first time.

I'll go pickup some bleach just incase.

Unfortunately I'm in Hua Hin, but I've contacted some pool shops to see if they have unstabilized chlorine.

I'll lock the trichlor and dichlor away!

[Chuckles78]

Rightio. I tested again last night and those really were the correct readings. I had too little chlorine and too much cya from the pool guys overuse of trichlor.

I added baking soda to bring up total alkalinity and this morning I added bleach to top up the chlorine.

A test just now (evening)...

Hardness: 100-250ppm

Total Chlorine: 3

Free Chlorine: 2-3

pH: 7.2

Total Alkalinity: 80ppm

Cyanuric Acid: 100ppm

Edited February 18, 2015 by Dieter78

[Chuckles78]

After two days all the chlorine was gone from the pool. Is it normal to go so quickly? I thought the 100ppm of CYA would protect it a bit longer.

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[Anthony5]

After two days all the chlorine was gone from the pool. Is it normal to go so quickly? I thought the 100ppm of CYA would protect it a bit longer.

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CYA buffers the chlorine, something like time release, and 3 ppm will be gone after 2 sunny days .

With a 100ppm CYA level your 3ppm chlorine level will also not be very effective.

[Chuckles78]

After two days all the chlorine was gone from the pool. Is it normal to go so quickly? I thought the 100ppm of CYA would protect it a bit longer.

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CYA buffers the chlorine, something like time release, and 3 ppm will be gone after 2 sunny days .

With a 100ppm CYA level your 3ppm chlorine level will also not be very effective.

Cheers Anthony.

Before you mentioned at 100ppm CYA my chlorine should be at 7ppm. But isn't that a bit high for swimming in? Last evening I had my total chlorine between 3-5ppm and I could smell the chlorine in the water already.

I am thinking about dumping some of the swimming pool water but weighing it up as my lease here expires in 2 months. I've bought a place that has a salt pool so I'm looking forward to that.

Edit:

I understand what you mean now (I did some more reading on CYA).

I need to compensate the chlorine with higher levels as the high CYA in my pool makes the chlorine less effective at combating organisms etc.

What is your advise regarding the pool water? Should I dump some of it to reduce cya considering in 2 months I'm handing this house back? Or is it safe for todlers to swim in?

Edited February 22, 2015 by Dieter78

[Anthony5]

After two days all the chlorine was gone from the pool. Is it normal to go so quickly? I thought the 100ppm of CYA would protect it a bit longer.

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CYA buffers the chlorine, something like time release, and 3 ppm will be gone after 2 sunny days .

With a 100ppm CYA level your 3ppm chlorine level will also not be very effective.

Cheers Anthony.

Before you mentioned at 100ppm CYA my chlorine should be at 7ppm. But isn't that a bit high for swimming in? Last evening I had my total chlorine between 3-5ppm and I could smell the chlorine in the water already.

I am thinking about dumping some of the swimming pool water but weighing it up as my lease here expires in 2 months. I've bought a place that has a salt pool so I'm looking forward to that.

Edit:

I understand what you mean now (I did some more reading on CYA).

I need to compensate the chlorine with higher levels as the high CYA in my pool makes the chlorine less effective at combating organisms etc.

What is your advise regarding the pool water? Should I dump some of it to reduce cya considering in 2 months I'm handing this house back? Or is it safe for todlers to swim in?

If you hand back the house in 2 months I wouldn't bother with draining the pool to reduce CYA levels, since it will cost you quite a bit and is time consuming.

The poisoning risk with CYA is actually high when combined with melamine, or when your child would really consume the pool water, which you can watch out for of course. Taking in consideration the short period of time before you move out, I wouldn't bother with it.

The chlorine smell has nothing to do with the CYA levels, but is because your combined chlorine level is too high ( to much chloramines in the water), and your chlorine is not effective. To solve this issue you need to shock the pool, which again is quite time consuming and will cost you if you want to do it right.

The reason that it starts to smell is because your water was out of balance already, and with adding high amounts of chlorine now, you only worsen the problem.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Where to purchase good pool test kits?