Chlorine out of whack...I think.

[Ripper70]

Hello All,

First off, thank you all at TFP for this invaluable site. I reference it all the time for all manner of things from testing, to chemical balance to pool product information. As a first time pool owner in my first season, I couldn't handle my pool without this resource.

Here are today's test results:

Ph - 7.5
TA - 60 ppm
FC - 10.4 ppm
CC - 0.2 ppm
CYA - 40
CH - 30

I can't figure out why my FC is so high and my CC is so low. My pool gets used almost every day by my two kids and most of the kids in the neighborhood. I have a few small leaks so between that and evaporation I add about 150 gallons of fresh water daily.

Pool water is crystal clear and there don't appear to be any issues but these chlorine results seem out of whack, don't they?

I use liquid bleach and occasionally TriChlor pucks to maintain my CYA levels or to cover me when we're away from home. I just want to make sure I don't get a sudden algae bloom when my back is turned.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[pabeader]

Okay.....How much Liquid bleach are you using? how many pucks? How much sun?

Have you checked your fill water?

Are there pucks in the feeder? Maybe someone put some in there without telling?

 

[Ripper70]

Liquid bleach added as per TFP Calculator recommendations. Not too much, though. Maybe a gallon a week. I'll throw 3 pucks in the chlorine feeder every 2 weeks or so. Direct sun from about 8:00 a.m. 'til 4:00 p.m.

As for fill water, what would I check for?

 

[jaduck]

I think you levels look pretty good to me...you could let your FC drop a little. You will waste a small amount of FC at your current level, but I see no major issues! Just get in and swim!

I do recommend that you stop using the pucks! Use them when you are out of town or on vacation. Just dose with bleach and test until you get a good idea of your FC consumption. I would target a FC of 7 ppm.

Reading you post again I see you are losing some water, so maybe the pucks are OK after all.

 

[singingpond]

You sound a bit concerned that "CC is so low" - low CC is a good thing - is there a reason you are concerned about the .2 CC measurement?

As for why your FC is high, you're in the best position to figure that out since you're the one putting chlorine in the pool... Not trying to sound facetious...

Any chance the pool volume is smaller than you have been assuming? Since your pool is free-form, it would be more difficult to calculate volume accurately.

 

[Ripper70]

Reading you post again I see you are losing some water, so maybe the pucks are OK after all.

That's why I've been using them and not worrying about exceeding the recommended CYA levels.

As for the CC, shouldn't that be higher? Like in the 0.4 to 0.5 range?

 

[pabeader]

No really CC should be 0. you don't want it get above 0.5 That signals a problem sometimes.

Remember CC is the 'used' chlorine. So a 0 means the water is pretty clean.

 

[Ripper70]

Any chance the pool volume is smaller than you have been assuming? Since your pool is free-form, it would be more difficult to calculate volume accurately.

That may very well be. I'll re-check the measurements and see if I'm overestimating the volume. Pretty sure I'm close but want to make sure.

Thanks.