Afraid of too much chlorine.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Whatrymes

Whatrymes

0
LifeTime Supporter
May 30, 2011
137
E. Bridgewater, MA
I'm hoping for many responses. I think that the only way I'm going to have any confidence in my water is hearing from many people that "high" chlorine levels are not risky or uncomfortable. I'm really concerned that I might harm my grand kids et al.

All my pool life, the warnings are the same: keep chlorine levels between 1 - 3 ppm and never exceed 5 ppm. Suddenly I'm told to double that. I've pushed my numbers to go as high as seven and as low as two ppm with a CYA of 50 ppm and seem to be struggling with green algae hiding behind my ladder.

Please tell me your experience swimming with CL levels as high as 8 ppm. Any effects? Are we OK? Will we turn green, shrivel up and. . . well you know.

Every thing else is perfect.
FC = 4
CC = .2
TA = 120
pH = 7.6
CH = 250
CYA = 50
OCLT = Near zero
Sparklin' clear.

Thank you very much.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GreenNot
You really can swim at FC levels up to the shock level for your CYA. So as long as the FC is below 20 ppm there's nothing to worry about. Nothing is going to happen if you or your GK's do.
We have personally swam up to shock level and nothing has shriveled up or fallen off. Heck our suits haven't faded out even a little bit.
 
Let's see.... according to my log, roughly a year ago- 7/17/10 - my FC was 16.5 to go with my CYA of 140.

I'm still alive. Still have the same swimsuit. Had a full eye exam in the interval and nothing out of the ordinary was noted. My pool is still crystal clear and sparkly, although my CYA is now down to about 55, and FC should be around 7 right now, as I just added a quart a couple hours ago.

What else do you want to know?
 
My cya is at 50 and I keep my chlorine between 6-8 at all times, sometimes a tad higher depending on who's all in the pool, and we're all still here...lol Seriously, though, I have been using bleach since I converted from baquacil 2 years ago and I have been TROUBLE FREE ever since. I have NEVER experienced algae (except on opening), I don't know if it's because I like to keep my levels higher or not, but I'm sure not going to complain.
 
What they said

But seriously if you are that concerned about high FC levels and are going to be worried over operating at above an FC of 5 ppm the alternative is to lower your CYA level through water replacement down to about 30, of course this means sunlight will burn off your Chlorine faster and you will end up using more to maintain that sub 5 ppm level.

Ike
 
To add to your confidence, my story is the same as Pepsiholic. I am a converted Baquaciloholic (sorry about that) and have been using the BBB method for two trouble-free years. I have three beautiful grandchildren and they swim in my pool at the free chlorine levels posted in Pool School FC/CYA charts. Believe me, there is nothing more precious to me (and they are doing wonderfully!). At 50 CYA you probably need to boost your FC a little higher (with no worries). Some day soon, when you are relaxing by the pool, use your laptop to search through TFP to read some of the posts on chlorine chemistry (Chem Geek is particularly knowledgeable). I have learned enough to be totally confident (and I have an MS in Chemical Engineering).
 
I too had very high CYA and thus an algae problem before I got here. I've run my FC as high as 15ppm on a day to day basis and never had any bad experience - no chlorine smell, no faded bathing suits, no stinging eyes. My 3 year old and I swim every day during the summer. Currently my CYA is 70 and I maintain FC at 7ppm.

The key to this whole discussion is too distinguish between ACTIVE chlorine (Hypochlorous Acid) and chlorine that is held in reserve by the CYA as chlorinated cyanurates. In a pool with 0 CYA, 2ppm of chlorine will have 2ppm Hypochlorous acid in the pool. In a pool with 50ppm CYA and 6ppm FC you have less than 0.1ppm Hypochlorous Acid in the pool at any given moment.

The problem your pool is having is you have something like 0.01ppm Active chlorine in the water and the algae are able to grow at that level.

Another key thing to understand is once the chlorine gets "used up" it's converted into salt - regular table salt dissolved in water.

It's a very technical post but you can view some of the data here : pool-water-chemistry-t628.html

There is a ton of misinformation out there about chlorine and pool water chemistry in general. It's a real shame that there is no attempt to inform pool owners about the chemistry of CYA.
 
lightingguy said:
I too had very high CYA and thus an algae problem before I got here. I've run my FC as high as 15ppm on a day to day basis and never had any bad experience - no chlorine smell, no faded bathing suits, no stinging eyes. My 3 year old and I swim every day during the summer. Currently my CYA is 70 and I maintain FC at 7ppm.

The key to this whole discussion is too distinguish between ACTIVE chlorine (Hypochlorous Acid) and chlorine that is held in reserve by the CYA as chlorinated cyanurates. In a pool with 0 CYA, 2ppm of chlorine will have 2ppm Hypochlorous acid in the pool. In a pool with 50ppm CYA and 6ppm FC you have less than 0.1ppm Hypochlorous Acid in the pool at any given moment.

The problem your pool is having is you have something like 0.01ppm Active chlorine in the water and the algae are able to grow at that level.

Another key thing to understand is once the chlorine gets "used up" it's converted into salt - regular table salt dissolved in water.

It's a very technical post but you can view some of the data here : pool-water-chemistry-t628.html

There is a ton of misinformation out there about chlorine and pool water chemistry in general. It's a real shame that there is no attempt to inform pool owners about the chemistry of CYA.
Click to expand...


I have read a lot on the cya/cl relationship. I can follow it enough to understand the point but what makes it all so unbelievable is that NO one mentions it outside of TFP/pool solutions. Not one who trusts very easily I suppose.
 
I have a pair of bright teal trunks that I use every time I swim in the pool. I hang them to dry when I get out. They are never rinsed during pool season. No fading whatsoever after 6 years in my 5ppm FC water.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Just noticed another thing. If I'm running my CL levels between 4-8 ppm I'm going to need to test with my fas-dpd almost exclusively. By the way, that's a good thing, I'm looking for an excuse to use it all the time. Need to justify the expense you know. :twisted:

Sorry, forgot to mention, I'm now shocking the pool, raised the CL level to a little over 20 ppm (CYA = 50), and will maintain this until:

CC = < .5 ppm
OCLT = < 1.0 ppm
and water looks clear.
 
Whatrhymes,

You are absolutely on the right track. Your water will soon sparkle and this gets much easier. Ask lots of questions and be reassured that there is a lot of good science behind the methods taught here.
 
Believe it or not but I think this method is eventually making progress outside of here... Although not recommended here, Aquachek the maker of test strips has cya in their test and if you buy the package with the laminated card it also contains a booklet that goes into similar theory.

http://www.aquachek.com/faqs.asp

Someone is listening.. I could not be happier as a pool owner for 15 years to finally learn how to control it. This site and the folks here at the best of the best.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply