Is lower FC ok if CC stays at 0?

[Chadwb]

I have a new pool and I've spent a ton of time on this site and follow the recommendations. I have read and understand the Chlorine/CYA chart. My CYA is around 50 and I usually bump my FC to 5 PPM each night and my CC is always 0 when I maintain 5 PPM each night.

There have been times when I've maintained 3 PPM in the evenings. When I do that, FC is usually around 1 or 1.5 the next evening and CC are still 0 or barely registering, so under .5, and once I dose it to 3 PPM, by the next morning CC is zero and the next evening my FC is back down to around 1 or 1.5.

So, my question is, even though the CL/CYA Chart says I should maintain 4-6 PPM of Cl if my CYA is 50, am I okay maintaining 3 PPM if my CC is consistently at 0 or occasionally rises to .5 or less then goes to zero once I add Cl? This is also assuming all my other numbers (Ph, TA, etc) are in line.

 

[Saturn94]

0 CC doesn't necessarily mean the pool is sanitary. IMO, you are skirting the edge of being unsanitary, a risk I certainly wouldn't take.

Just my 2 cents.....

 

[jrguzmanr]

Why would you want to do that? I would think it's to save $$$ since you will end up adding chlorine on a daily basis anyway so it's not to save time. I wouldn't want somebody to get sick because I decided to save a few bucks. One of my reputations within the family (one of the good ones) is how clean my pool always looks and feels.....and I want to keep it that way.

 

[aftrshok99]

Here's what I do based on my CYA of 50. I go about 1-2ppm above the target FC level that's recommended in the Chlorine/CYA chart. I add whatever amount (according to the pool calculator) of bleach that's needed at night to get me to 8 ppm when I test in the morning. That's my 1.5 cents on the matter.

Also my CC has always been 0.

 

[JesseSchmidt]

Those levels of FC are recommended for a reason. Being recommendations, you can take them or leave them. And I'm not as smart as the people who came up with them so I'm going to stick to them. I'll keep my FC above minimum at all times. Meaning, it never drops below the minimum by the next dosing. That way there is always enough FC to deal with anything that gets in my water.

 

[BuckeyeChris]

you could keep it lower if you could somehow guarantee that the pool's exposure to contaminants would never change or spike at any time. But since that is impossible to tightly control, best to leave some wiggle room.

 

[pooldv]

It is important to maintain FC above minimum at all times. When FC drops below minimum the pool is unsanitary because the kill rate for bacteria, viruses and pathogens is not sufficient to prevent person to person disease transmission, especially in kids. The purpose of chlorine is to sanitize the pool, it is just a fringe benefit that it also kills algae. Bacteria colonies can double in size in an hour or two without proper chlorine levels.

 

[gwegan]

As PoolDv states above its important for sanitary reasons to keep your pool within the guidelines. So I have a Stenner pump. My pool gets a measured dose of chlorine every day, exactly the same amount. My problem is that God and the clouds he controls do not have the consistency of a Stenner pump. I want to stay on the low end of the guidelines. So what I have found is that if I dose just above the guidelines I generally will not drop below the guidelines. CC is just measuring some of the products of various reactions in your pool, its a canary in the coal mine, but like the canary it means something is happening, but not what is happening.

 

[Chadwb]

Thanks all, I really appreciate the helpful feedback! I'll target the recommended levels.