Chlorine EATER

[Fussebd]

Pool has always been easy to keep up until this spring when I cound not get the FC level up. The CYA was way up at like 120 so drained off down to the second step and refilled. Cloudy. Changed over to the BBB system but vacation was the following week.

I believe that some of the kids put some soap in because not if you splash it makes lots of bubbles. Cloudy. So cleaned the DE filter really good and replaced three broken Hayward plates.

Anyway the Chlorine goes away over night after putting 5 of the 194 oz bottles of bleach in last night and ran the filter all night and this afternoon nothing. A big ZERO on the FC. But Same thing was happening when using pool store shock powder.

Put 3 punds in FC level went up to above 10 using the distilled water. I am going to try to get the FC level up to shock level like 30 or more and see what happens. I have read in here shoch until you only loose 0.5 ppm of FC over night and all is clear.

Any suggestions would be great, thanks Fuzzy

FC - 0
TC - 0
CH - 330
CyA - 60
TA - 110
pH - 7.6
TDS - 1350
Pho - 0


25000 Gallons
Divining Fun

 

[frogabog]

First off, I think this should be in another forum. The mods will move it I'm sure.

Second, CYA at 110 is difficult to manage, and going to shock level is going to be expensive.

Your test results don't show what the combined chlorine is, so get some bleach in the pool, wait half an hour or so and re-test. That will tell us more about combined chlorine, 0ppm readings can't do that.

The best thing you could do right now is to drain 50% and refill. That's a tough thing to do of course but it will make everything you do afterwards more efficient and faster, and especially cheaper.

Even with a 50% drain, your CYA will still be around 55ppm. A little high actually, unless you're in a very sunny hot location.

You are partially correct about shocking. The overnight test is passed when you loose less than 1ppm. That is only one of the criteria for completing shocking however. There should also be less than .5ppm combined chlorine (the difference between TC and FC), and of course the pool should look clear. All three are involved in the decision to stop shocking.

The symptoms you describe indicate that you need to shock, FC and TC numbers (after adding bleach) will most likely confirm it.

Shock for 110ppm CYA is actually 26ppm. That should sit a little cheaper for you if you decide not to drain.

What test kit are you using?

 

[Fussebd]

The numbers at the bottom are for a couple of days ago. When the CYA was at 110 we did drain about 1/3 or down to the second step. So I just put anther 1140 oz of 6% bleach in so will test tonight and in the am. Using an new Walmart 6 way kit.

Thanks for the help,
Fuzzy

 

[frogabog]

Did you re-test for CYA after the fill? Have you entered that number in the pool calculator's "now" column? It will be less than 30ppm to shock, less than 26ppm actually if you drained 1/3 already. Might want to take a peek, and if you haven't re-tested CYA go ahead and do that now. Unless you use pucks or powdered shock, that number should remain constant until you do another drain and refill or add much additional water.

The HTH 6-way (really a 5-way, bromine # is useless for chlorine users) is an ok kit but you need to supplement it either with the FAS/DPD and CYA tests or get a whole new kit, either the Taylor k-2006 or TFTestkit's TF100.

Cheapest would be to buy FAS/DPD and CYA from TFTestkits although for about twice as much you could have a full brand new TF100.

HTH works, and the reagents should last you all summer if not longer so you don't really need a whole new kit but the Taylor reagents are more advanced than what HTH uses. Basically, it seems like HTH kits are the old Taylor k-2005 style with only OTO chlorine testing (no TC) and a measly 2 CYA tests.

I've read that the dripless or specialty bleach can cause bubbles due to the additives these products contain. Maybe check your bleach bottles to make sure it's straight up bleach.

Pool calculator is your friend... get friendly with it :~}

 

[Fussebd]

I am baffled this year at all the problems with getting the clorhine up to level out after 6 years of just normal maintance shocking every week and using the old pool store chems.

We did test the CYA after the 1/3 drain off and I got 60 ish testing and the pool store got 60. And yes it is smoking hot down here in Houston this summer. That is Smokin hot!

I did not get to test the water today until about 6 PM and it was just about zero to 0.5 clorhine and PH 7.5. I put over 1100 oz of plane old 6% Wally world bleach in yesterday about 6PM which should have brought it up to 22 and ran the filter all night. The pool is sparkling clean looking and the water feels ok. On my way to buy more bleach at wally world.

So should I try to take it up to 28 using the pool calc and see if any stays over night? I am looking for help. Thanks Fuzzy

 

[frogabog]

Something is eating all your chlorine. You need to shock the "process" way, as described in pool school. It takes regular testing and adding bleach so that you maintain shock level all day long. 24 hours with a pool that needs every bit of bleach you added will use all of it.

The test kit is essential for your situation, you need to test hourly at first while shocking. Have you located one yet?

Use the shock level that the calculator gives you when you enter 60CYA into the now column. Then maintain it hourly, then bi-hourly... after a while you'll see less and less lost per hour and you'll get ahead of the consumption. When you go to 0, you're setting yourself backwards every time.

Maintaining chlorine while shocking is considerably less expensive than having to raise it to shock from 0 regularly.

 

[Sportsman]

you need to read the instructions for shocking properly. You need to maintain a shock level, not just dose up. It's hard to do with work but at least in the hours you're home you need to be testing every couple hours and adding more bleach to get your FC back up to shock level.

Once you've defeated this algae, you need to keep records written or in you head about how much chlorine you need daily. My usage varies with the season but I know I need to add two cups of 10% bleach after dinner and then add two cups the next morning (added by kids around 1000) to stay above minimum. My CYA is a little low for the amount of sun I get. One evening dose is sufficient most of the year. Bottom line is I test daily BUT if life happens and no one in the family has time to test, we can just add 2-3 cups of chlorine and know we're good to go. Whole family is trained as well which helps greatly.

 

[Butterfly]

..........Once you've defeated this algae, you need to keep records written or in you head about how much chlorine you need daily. My usage varies with the season but I know I need to add two cups of 10% bleach after dinner and then add two cups the next morning (added by kids around 1000) to stay above minimum. My CYA is a little low for the amount of sun I get. One evening dose is sufficient most of the year. Bottom line is I test daily BUT if life happens and no one in the family has time to test, we can just add 2-3 cups of chlorine and know we're good to go. Whole family is trained as well which helps greatly.

okay now, I just love that :-D

 

[Fussebd]

Thanks everyone, I think I am understanding better what shocking really means and the importance of holding FC at a given level based on CYA levels.
So for my For CYA 60 needs to shock at 24 I believe and keep it there until it stops dropping. Or do the over night test. I will go at it all weekend starting tomorrow night. Cheers to sparkling pools! Thx again, Fuzzy

 

[frogabog]

YAY! Pool School works!

Shock time peeps... :elephant:

(couldn't locate popcorn... so I chose elephant)

 

[Butterfly]

page 3 of emoticons

::

 

[Fussebd]

Well it is looking much better and there was still about 5ppm this morning. Thanks again Fuzzy

 

[Butterfly]

Sounds like you are making progress

You don't have to wait for it to get sparkly before you post a pic

We like the before/after pics!