I have a 15″ by 30″ above aground pool. Pool generally stays clear but develops some algae on occasion. My problem is all levels read low. Chlorine, PH and alkality. Because the pool was clear I wasn’t testing the water. However when the kids friends come over they always comment on the weird taste of the water. It doesn’t have a chlorine taste. I have never tasted water like this. I started testing and all levels are extremely low including the chlorine. I first added ph up and it didn’t help. I read that the alkalinity needs to be up in order to get the ph and chlorine to stay up so the last couple of days I have added 12 pounds of baking soda on two separate days. No changes have been noted on test strips. Any ideas? I worry with the funny taste the water may not be safe. Although kids swim in it all the time with no ill effects.

Question:

I have a 15" by 30" above aground pool. Pool generally stays clear but develops some algae on occasion. My problem is all levels read low. Chlorine, PH and alkality. Because the pool was clear I wasn’t testing the water. However when the kids friends come over they always comment on the weird taste of the water. It doesn’t have a chlorine taste. I have never tasted water like this. I started testing and all levels are extremely low including the chlorine. I first added ph up and it didn’t help. I read that the alkalinity needs to be up in order to get the ph and chlorine to stay up so the last couple of days I have added 12 pounds of baking soda on two separate days. No changes have been noted on test strips. Any ideas? I worry with the funny taste the water may not be safe. Although kids swim in it all the time with no ill effects.

Answer:

It is likely that the water is well below range, but registers at the lowest color block on the chart. In other words the pH might be very low say around 4.0, and even though you added pH up it is now only 6.5, still the lowest color block. Try taking a small sample of water out and making adjustments to it and making sure that the adjustments are possible and that the test is showing progress. You should be able to see a very quick reaction in a small sample (say a quart of your pool water). Then you know if you are on the right track with your chemical adjustments or if something else is not working (chemical or test strip issue?).