Free Chlorine at 20 after a Shock and not coming down. Help!

[GolferNate]

Hey guys and gals,

Moved into a new home about 3 months ago and been learning a ton about pools and water chemistry and have had a beatiful crystal clear pool for about a month. I have a good Taylor test kit and check the water daily (probably too often).

About a week ago I found a couple dead little mice in the pool so I figured it would be a good idea to shock, or what the Leslie's pool store said was "Super Chlorinate". They sold me 6 bags of Pow Pow Powder I think it was called to achieve a full sanitation of the pool from the dead mice.

Most pool is about 12,000 gallons (not that big) and it has a salt system (Intellichlor)

I put put all litte 6 bags in the pool yesterday afternoon and swept it all in many times yesterday and had to multiple times today also as I kept finding areas of white powder on the bottom of the pool.

I turned the salt system generator down to 0% before adding the shock as I knew there was going to be a ton of chlorine so no need to make more.

Its been about 30 hours and the pool has over 20 free chlorine (checked with Taylor kit). It had over 20
after the shock and it still has 21 ish or so.

Crazy high FC Water irritates my arm just to check the FC.

Weather is supposed to be warm this weekend and the wife and daughter want to swim. What should I do?

Also, is this over 20 level way to high for a shock? They know my pool measurements and said I needed 6 bags for full "super chlorination".

I know th pool isn't safe to swim in At the moment but is there anything I can do to get it back quickly?

over 24 hours of this high of chlorine should have killed whatever was in there from the mice right? So now I can bring it back, but what's the best way?

Did I overkill with this treatment? It already had FC of 4 all week so whatever was in the pool from the mice was prolly already gone. Or maybe this much shock was the way to go?

Also how quickly do I need to act on this? Pool is a Fiberglass pool. Can over 20 FC for a few days damage the pool?

my pool filter rarely needs backwash it's always at 15. After I did this it raised to 20. So maybe I need to backwash?

Thanks for any help u guys and gals can give a newbie!

 

[Texas Splash]

:calm: Hello and welcome to TFP! Everything should be fine.

Weather is supposed to be warm this weekend and the wife and daughter want to swim. What should I do?

Do nothing. The sun will do the work for you and lower FC naturally. Actually, an FC of 20 is not as bad or crazy as you might think when you look at the Chlorine/CYA Chart (link below). But a lot depends upon your current CYA level. That's what is really important in regards to your current FC and it being safe.

So what is your current CYA? Next thing ... stay far away from the pool store. You have a Taylor test kit ... which one? K-2006? Rely on YOUR testing, not theirs. They are in the business of selling products - it's what they do. Hang around here long enough you'll see how take care of your independently. Nice to have you with us.

 

[GolferNate]

Thanks a bunch for the reply! Test kit I use is k-2006.

CYA I believe was around 60-80 before this shock.

Ill Check it again tomorrow. Do you think the 6 bags was too many and way overkill for finding a few dead mice in pool? We live on the water so if they are in the pool often I don't want to have to go through this shock each time. messes up the pool chlorine and having wait for it to come down and not to mention 6 bags of that stuff was $30

i asked if I could just turn my salt system to 100% for a few days to disenfect from the mice and they said that doing it to 100% is not near as effective as adding all this shock to disenfect the pool. I agreed with them as it made sense but I know they are in the business to sell products.

if and when I find another mice in the pool this summer what should I do if all my other levels are good? Shouldn't 1-3 bags of this shock be enough? Or really need 6? Or just turn salt cell up to 100% for a day or so?

also, what should I be expecting now from this big shock from all my other levels. What levels would have been effected the most from this shock other than chlorine over 20.

My ph is going to be real high I bet. Anything else?

Thanks for taking the time to help me out and appreciate any and all questions you can answer for me in advance!

 

[Texas Splash]

Next time you should find a critter in the pool simply remove it. If you caught it early like the next morning, not much happened. You can increase FC if it makes you feel better, but it's not like it was decomposing that fast. If it was in there several days then we might have an issue. 6 bags? Yeah probably a bit overkill. But with a CYA of lets say 70, you could actually go all the way up to an FC of 28 and still be safe to swim. In the future though, for the sake of accurate FC targeting, I would verify your CYA to try and narrow it down better than 60-80. That way you can be sure of your daily FC target range. With a SWG, it should be between 70-80 so you're probably there.

When you do have to increase FC, just use regular liquid bleach if you need to augment the SWG. It's clean and pure with almost no side effects. The bags you added might have increased CYA or CH, I'm not sure without looking at the ingredients. When in doubt, refer to the TFP "Recommended Chemicals" link below in my sig.

Your pH will show a false "high" when FC is over 10. SO right now it's showing high temporarily. When the FC drops below 10, you can test/adjust pH as needed. Hope that helps. Have a great weekend.

 

[GolferNate]

Helps tremendously. Have a great weekend also!

One last question I had my CYA around 60-80 and my free chlorine hung around 4-5 even with salt generator at 15% for about 5 days. Is 4-5 too high and should turn salt generator to 0 when its 4-5. It was 7 when the salt generator was set around 35%. Is 4-7 too high and I should turn it off and try maintain under 3 FC or those numbers are not anything to worry about?

Thanks Again!

 

[PAGirl]

Start here:
Pool School - Salt Water Chlorine Generators

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Pool School - Recommended Levels

 

[MarianParoo]

And also you need to keep your FC in the proper ratio for your CYA at all times. Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

 

[GolferNate]

My CYA test seems to be about 60 I did this morning. I hate this trying to figure out when the black dot disappeared from eyesight to determine the number. Just not super accurate. At least to me anyways.

i think I'm right around 60 though.

With my chlorine this high is it safe to swim in for the little one this weekend?

 

[pooldv]

It is safe to swim when
FC is above minimum and below shock level for your CYA, Chlorine CYA Chart
PH is 7.2 to 7.8
Water is clear

Glance at the dot and then look away. Here are some reference pics, https://www.taylortechnologies.com/ChemistryTopicsCM.ASP?ContentID=36