Free chlorine too low and won't budge

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TOMNGIAMOM

0
Jun 5, 2009
19
Here it is from the beginning...I opened my pool and 1/2 the water was gone. I added it back. When the cover was removed my water was slightly green tinted with algae on the walls and sporatic on the floor. I shocked with powder pak plus (leslies) i used 12 bags as well as brushed the pool for days. Finally the water was clear and algae gone. I have no slime and water is still clear however... I have what looks like de powder in clumps all around the floor. When i brush it it dissipates into a cloud and makes the water hazy until it settles back down again. Nothing of the walls just the floor. How do i know if this is dead algae or de powder and my filter may be damaged? I used my dolphin to clean the pool and it sparkled. Once the filter went back on 1 hour later the powder substance was back. When i cleaned the bag of the vacumn it was caked with thick mush. After hosing it out i noticed it dried on my deck like a whitish powder. I hosed it off later....... but here is my real major problem. I cannot get a fc reading past 0.5 It has been at 0.5 Since i opened the pool. I have trichlor 3" tabs in floater as well as in inline chlorinator. My cya was 0 i added conditioner and it is now at 30. (Prioir to the terenchal rains my other readins were good . Fc 0.5 Cc 0.5. Leslie said maybe chlorine lock so iadded fresh n clear non chlorine shock... Nothing moved. Last night i added 5 jugs of 6% bleach at 182 oz per jug.(Last night it poured) 1 hour after adding chlorine still no change. How do i get my fc up? And how do i know if the bottom stuff is dead algae or de powder? I will try to post the picture..... Thank you in advance i am in need of help desperatly.

22X44 ingrnd approx 40000 gallons,vinyl liner
hayward de filter with inline chlorinator
fc 0.5
Cc 0.5
Ph 7.0
Alk 60
ch 100
cya 30
please describe in detail how to super shock and overnight fc test i have seen this mentioned but do not understand it. I d not know how much de to put in my filter i put about 3 coffe cans. I do nto know the filter size i bought the house and it was here no book nothing!! I think it is a micro clear duralon/permaglass

Edited for capitalization. JasonLion
 

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Re: FREE CHLORINE TOO LOW AND WON'T BUDGE

Wow. OK. You seem to understand some of the concepts in Pool School, but not all of them. If you've completely read it once, read it again. I was in the same spot: I bought a house with a black/green pool in the back and no idea how to take care of it. So read Pool School at least twice, it seems us noobs don't really comprehend all if the the first time through.

I don't know anything about DE filters, but with your FC so low and dropping so fast, I'm willing to bet the white debris you are seeing is dead stuff.

To get your FC up, you need to keep adding bleach. If it keeps disappearing, keep adding more. There are no gremlins stealing chlorine out of your pool while you sleep, it is getting used killing stuff in your pool and the sun is neutralizing some during the day. 40k gallons is a lot of water, so it is going to take a lot of bleach to get your FC up and keep it up.

Welcome! Read pool school, be persistent with the bleach, and try to be patient. :-D
 
Re: FREE CHLORINE TOO LOW AND WON'T BUDGE

where do you live? that algae will come right back if you don't raise and keep the chlorine raised. actually it probably is in there, just hasn't totally bloomed yet. it doesn't sound like you have your own good test kit, which you really need (and the overnight test will be more clear once you see the tests that are in it). pool store testing won't cut it.
 
Re: FREE CHLORINE TOO LOW AND WON'T BUDGE

I am on long island in ny. To claify my fc is not dropping it is not going up or down. It sits at 0.5. How much bleach can i possibly add at one time. Would it be more beneficial to use liquid shock since the bleach is 6% and the liquid is 12%? I have researched pools since i took this house over 2 years ago. I have learned allot and have read pool scholll probably 5 times over. It says you cannot add too much bleach but i need a guid to how much to start off if i already did 5 jugs 182oz of 6% and nothing moved. Is there a way to test if this is algae or de powder? I have reservation about my filter. I do not want to leave it off to see after i clean it that nothing settles. When i begin the filter again i am afraid it might be coming from the return jets. The only way i can determine that is by not running the filter after the pool is clean. I am sure all the rain we had last night has thrown off alk and ph should i readjust that before beginning the beach again?

Edited for capitalization. JasonLion
 
Re: FREE CHLORINE TOO LOW AND WON'T BUDGE

Ohm_Boy said:
If the test results never change, the problem could be the test. How are you testing your water?
Click to expand...
To see if whatever method you are using is at least capable of measuring more than .5, you can get a cup, put in some water and a dash of bleach. It should read something then.
 
Re: FREE CHLORINE TOO LOW AND WON'T BUDGE

Welcome to TFP. Please don't post in all caps, its very hard on the eyes. Also your picture is a bit oversized, we recommend using Photobucket.com or similar sites to make the pictures easy to upload and the appropriate size for the forum, makes navigating your post easier too.

If you opened to a swamp, and your FC was at 0 as well as your CYA....there is a very good possibility that you had an ammonia situation develop where the CYA was converted to ammonia because of bacteria present in the water. When Ammonia is present, it causes a short-term but very high chlorine demand.

You will need a lot of bleach, and an FAS-DPD test, which is included in the test kits recommended on this site. It will allow you to perform the overnight test.

You will need to add bleach, test after 30 minutes and if you haven't reached YOUR shock level for your CYA of 30, you need to keep adding the bleach until you do. Eventually your FC will hold, but you will use a lot of it. I would recommend you not add any poolstore chems and just stick to Clorox, generic bleach (not dollar store or Big Lots) or 12.5% liquid chlorine if you can (less jugs to carry, lug around).

You are not going to get the chlorine readings you need from trichlor tablets, and they lower PH and raise CYA eventually the CYA will get too high. Note the CYA Chart - and the corresponding FC levels. Avoid granular shock products for now, stick to liquid. If you do a google search (bottom left) for Ammonia - you'll see what I mean about the chlorine demand....
 
Re: FREE CHLORINE TOO LOW AND WON'T BUDGE

how much bleach should i start with? 6% is all i can find for now. then how much should i add and when in increments? I just vacumn and it is clear now powder but the water did gdt a bit foggy. floor is pretty clean now so lets see what happens. also i use stripes from aquacheck.
 
Re: FREE CHLORINE TOO LOW AND WON'T BUDGE

TOMNGIAMOM said:
how much bleach should i start with? 6% is all i can find for now. then how much should i add and when in increments? I just vacumn and it is clear now powder but the water did gdt a bit foggy. floor is pretty clean now so lets see what happens. also i use stripes from aquacheck.
Click to expand...

You need to get a TF 100 test kit, or the Taylor K 2006 something that allows you to use powder and titrating chemicals in a droper to accurately test your FC, CC and TC. If you are using test strips you are wasting your time...I used to use them and they always said I had enough Chlorine when I didn't have any at all. They are useless. Get one of the kits I described...The Tf 100 you can order through this site...or you can get a Taylor on line or at some pool stores...Leslies Pools has them online as well. But either way...you probably want to go and get a simple test kit one that tests by color comparison the amount of Chlorine you have. Your strips are probably bad, and they are not accurate even when they are good.
 
Re: FREE CHLORINE TOO LOW AND WON'T BUDGE

frustratedpoolmom said:
Welcome to TFP. Please don't post in all caps, its very hard on the eyes. Also your picture is a bit oversized, we recommend using Photobucket.com or similar sites to make the pictures easy to upload and the appropriate size for the forum, makes navigating your post easier too.

If you opened to a swamp, and your FC was at 0 as well as your CYA....there is a very good possibility that you had an ammonia situation develop where the CYA was converted to ammonia because of bacteria present in the water. When Ammonia is present, it causes a short-term but very high chlorine demand.

You will need a lot of bleach, and an FAS-DPD test, which is included in the test kits recommended on this site. It will allow you to perform the overnight test.

You will need to add bleach, test after 30 minutes and if you haven't reached YOUR shock level for your CYA of 30, you need to keep adding the bleach until you do. Eventually your FC will hold, but you will use a lot of it. I would recommend you not add any poolstore chems and just stick to Clorox, generic bleach (not dollar store or Big Lots) or 12.5% liquid chlorine if you can (less jugs to carry, lug around).

You are not going to get the chlorine readings you need from trichlor tablets, and they lower PH and raise CYA eventually the CYA will get too high. Note the CYA Chart - and the corresponding FC levels. Avoid granular shock products for now, stick to liquid. If you do a google search (bottom left) for Ammonia - you'll see what I mean about the chlorine demand....
Click to expand...

What did the weather turn bad again???
 

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WE HAD RAIN SO HARD WITH THUNDER AND LIGHTENING AT 3AM THEN IT RAINED MOST OF THE MORNING WITH HEAVY CLOUDS AND CHILLY. NOW ITS 78 DEGREES AND HOT AND SUNNY. I have about another 3" of water added to my pool from just last night and this morning. i dipped the strip in the bleach and water cup and walla ... purple...

i am going to start tonight so i can keep on top of the algae. I think its DE powder as i vacumned the deep end i notice small particles of dirt shooting from my return jet. now I have that powder stuff again only in the shallow end by the jet area.... Anyone know where to get a good hayward at a decent price with installation?
 
okay it has to be my filter is broke. as I was vacumn the pool i sa3w dirt specs shotting from the return jets. so I put a pair of white panyhose over the return and within 5 minutes caught dirt pieces that should never pass thru my filter. knowing this does it seem more that the gunk in he book is DE and not dead algae. after i vacumned i did not back wash and very minimal amounts became on the floor again. after backwash and recharging DE I am covered. ...

How long after superchlorinating should I see FC . unfortunatly I am getting my taylor test today and could not wait I am getting desperate to get the fc up as the weather is getting warmer and sunnier. :rant: I am sooo fustrated I am ready to give up I swear this is because th eCompany that closed my pool did not do the winter chemicals.. Never did I have this problem
 
Hubby is getting fustrated too he put in 8lbs of sodium dichloro caled green out) its a shck treatment ans superchlorinater 35% avail chlorine.)last night they said guarenteed to give me free chlorine reading within a few days shouldn't I have some kind of a raise in fc by this morning? Now my Ph is off and my cya looks like it lowered!!!! :grrrr:

everything is low even alk... what should i do I can;t wait for my test kit.
based on strips which are hard to gauge so give or take

ph 6.2
fc .05
alk 40
stabalizer between 10-25

my water is crystal clear other than some DE powder in shallow side mostly by jets.
Is it hard to install a new filter myself they want 1/2 the cost of the filter to install it.
boo hoo I am so ready to break down
 
You need to decide if you are going to follow the pool store advice or follow our advice. Adding 8 lbs of dichlor was a rather bad idea and is already causing problems that you now need to fix right away. If you keep doing what they tell you to do, I suspect things will get much worse from here.

Your PH is way too low and your TA is also way too low. You need to get PH up to at least 7.0 right away and TA up to at least 70 right away. The best way to do that is to add soda ash/washing soda/PH Up. Low PH can damage the pool, this needs to be corrected right away.

Dichlor will also have raised your CYA level dramatically. You need to know what your new CYA level is before you can know how much chlorine to add. It seems like the CYA test you are using, or the pool store is using, is not at all reliable. To solve this problem you need reliable test results, a clear plan, and the patience to follow through on your plan without doing anything inappropriate along the way.
 
I promise to keep him away. I need somone to explain in detail what I need to do my head is spinning. I added 5 jugs of 6% bleach at 182oz per jug (last time) according to the pool calc i needed 3.25 jugs to bump fc from .5 to 5. I tested 1 hour later still 0.5 2 hours later 0.5. I will adjust my ph and alk now then prepare for bleach attack tonight. please tell me how much and and what time intervals also when i should see a reading. I ordered a kit but I think I will go buy one and refuse shipment on the other so I have it on hand for tonight. IF you stay with me thru the day(later evening) I will follow you like gospel. by dinner I will have my ph and ta up to your sugesstions. HOw much bleach should I have on hand for tonight. :hammer:
 
I FOUND LIQUID SHOCK THAT IS 12% sodium hypochlorite I know bleach is 6% sodium hypochlorite . Can i use the liquid shock so its less bottles to lug around? how much should i get of either one. the shock is the same price as buying 1.5 gallon bleach.

thanks
 
Yes, liquid shock is good. Chemically it is the same as bleach, but more concentrated, so less carrying.

You really need your own test kit. Right now we need a reliable CYA level, and I don't trust the pool store results at all. It is also very handy to be able to get reliable FC and CC numbers while you are shocking.

I would add 3 ppm of chlorine once a day in the evening, until you get a reliable CYA reading.
 
i am not sure if i am doing the pool calc right.

to go from .5fc to 12 it says add 3 gal 3quarts of 12% bleach.. what is my goal?
on the bottom suggested fc levels are....normal 3 to 7
shock 14
mustard algaeshock 14

what does all this mean.
 
Until you can get a reliable CYA reading, you should just add 3 ppm of chlorine each evening. You can figure out how much bleach or liquid chlorine that is by using my Pool Calculator. Setup your pool size, set the bleach percentage to 6 or 12 depending on using bleach(6) or liquid chlorine(12), set FC now to 0 and FC target to 3, and it will tell you how much bleach to add.

You don't know what your real FC target levels are until you can get a reliable CYA reading.
 

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