Swam for the first time this season. There is a chemical odor to the water. It doesn't really smell like CC's, it's almost a plastic kind of smell. Maybe it is CC's? I've been using BBB for a week now and the only thing i have added is some dry acid and liquid chlorine. My FC is dropping approx .5 ppm per day and my CC's have been at .5 or 0. I test every day. I'm also keeping the FC at between 7 and 9 because my CYA is at 70. My wife has also noticed it and now she thinks it's because we switched to liquid bleach. When i opened the pool i flushed the antifreeze into the pool that the pool company had added before closing. Heat pump has been running for 2 days to get up to 80 degrees from 64 degrees. Any ideas what it could be?
Chemical odor in water
- Thread starter jt100
- Start date
FC 8
CC .5
PH 7.3
TA 90
CH 100
CYA 70
pool is less than 2 years old. vinyl and 20000 gal
There is also some foaming of the water as it gets splashed. I also remembered that I added algecide right before closing. I'm not sure what it was but it was being advertised as guaranteed to keep the pool algae free until May 15. The odor isn't strong but it's definately there. I can even smell it on my skin now. If i had only known then what i know now.....
CC .5
PH 7.3
TA 90
CH 100
CYA 70
pool is less than 2 years old. vinyl and 20000 gal
There is also some foaming of the water as it gets splashed. I also remembered that I added algecide right before closing. I'm not sure what it was but it was being advertised as guaranteed to keep the pool algae free until May 15. The odor isn't strong but it's definately there. I can even smell it on my skin now. If i had only known then what i know now.....
I think you may be on to the culprit. YOur test numbers look good. Keep your FC at that level for a few days and it is very likely the smell and foaming will disappear.
jt100 said:
It's 100% definitely not that. If you're using unscented bleach, then you are using chlorine. Sodium hypochlorite = bleach = chlorine. You can pay more for it by buying it at a pool store with the name chlorine on the bottle if that make her feel better, but that's just wasting money
http://sci-toys.com/ingredients/sodium_hypochlorite.html
If you have too much you will smell like chlorine but it won't smell like a plastic/chemical.
Are you familiar with the smell of anti-freeze? Maybe they are using something other than ethylene glycol ( hope so ) . Anyway its kinda a sickly sweet smell.
Good call!coloeb said:
There is also a distinct smell to burning coolant. It's like formaldehyde or ammonia; once you learn the smell, you'll never forget it. Burning = oxidation. Chlorine = oxidizer. I'm beginning to get a suspicion here...
Yes i am familiar with the smell of ethylene glycol. It's not that kind of smell. I am 99.9% sure what they used was pool antifreeze because they left the empty jugs in the skimmers along with the gizmos. It was blue antifreeze (if that means anything). Does pool antifreeze have an odor? It's not really acrid. The only way i can describe it is if you smell the inside of a new plastic food container, it's kinda of like that. It's subtle but definately there.
No pool antifreeze doesn't have any obvious smell. I'm thinking it has something to do with the algaecide, but it is difficult to imagine that it would still have a scent after several months.
You could try a different brand of bleach. Are you using 6% Clorox Regular unscented?
Actually i mis spoke when i said bleach. It's actually Austin's Pool Tech Shock that i picked up at Bj's Wholesale. it's 12.5 percent sodium hypochlorite. here is the spec sheet I found on it. http://www.jamesaustin.com/PDFS/Pool_Tech_Shock.pdf
I still think it has something to do with the algaecide i added when it was closed. Just because of the slight foaming. I'll keep an eye on it for another week or 2 and hopefully it'll start to reduce. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and help. This forum has been a great resource for me.
I still think it has something to do with the algaecide i added when it was closed. Just because of the slight foaming. I'll keep an eye on it for another week or 2 and hopefully it'll start to reduce. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and help. This forum has been a great resource for me.