Stranger Than Strange - or Chlorine Nirvana ?

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ride525

ride525

Gold Supporter
Jun 17, 2010
370
Pleasanton, CA
Through advice on this board, I've been adding bleach to my pool for the last year, instead of using 3" tabs. For some reason, the pool did not turn green this winter, perhaps partially that I did not neglect the chlorine level quite as much, and perhaps because I've had an intelliflo VF pump also for the last year, and it keeps the flows up, even when the filter starts to get clogged some. I finally cleaned up the fairly small amount of leaves on the bottom of the pool.

But something strange has been happening. I haven't been adding much chlorine for the past few weeks. (The pool water is sparkling, perhaps the best it has been.) Pool is in the sun most of the day, and is usually covered with a blue bubble solar cover. In fact, I haven't added any chlorine for about the past week, I think. OTO test has been 5.0 or higher. DPD test has been 3 or higher. Gosh maybe my test chemicals are too old, and causing bad results?

So I purchased a TF-100 test kit, with a SpeedStir, and it all arrived today. Still have not added chlorine in awhile. Results from TF-100
FC 5 (OTO)
FC 5.5 FAS-DPD Chlorine Test
CC 0
TC 5.5
pH 7.4
CH 580 (I ran it three times with consistent results)
CYA 90

So what happened? Is there some mysterious force, causing me to no longer have to add chlorine? This is twilight zone stuff........ :hammer:
 
With a CYA of 90 and no swcg your FC should never go below 7 ppm, so your fc is actually too low. One thing that high CYA is doing is keeping the FC from burning off by the sun.
With a CYA that high you should use the FAS-DPD at least every other day.
 
and is usually covered with a blue bubble solar cover.
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Couple that with your high CYA and (probably) light bather load and there is simple nothing organic in the pool to consume the chlorine, If you want the FC to drop, remove that solar cover and the Sun's UV will lower it.

Other than that FC being a tad low (or really, your CYA just a little too high), it seems like you are managing your pool VERY nicely!! Congrats.
 
Dave,

Thanks, no the chlorine level is fine. I just could not figure out why I don't need to add much chlorine now. And the CYA is a little high, but it's been going down, it was over 100 last year.

And I think I just purchased the TFTestKit from you, correct? It's quite a complete kit, I used it today to get the results I posted above.

Thanks for the reply, I almost thought something was "wrong" this year, as my chlorine demand has decreased considerably!
 
And I think I just purchased the TFTestKit from you, correct?
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Yes, Thank you! :lol:

If your FC consumption has dropped dramatically and CYA remained fairly stable, then either the exposure to sunlight or the exposure to organics has lessened in your pool.

All in all, that's a VERY good thing. If you averaged it over a week, would your FC loss be less than 1ppm per day?
 
A few things are different this winter. Less organics I guess. Perhaps our summer has been a bit cooler than normal as well. Not a lot of hot days so far.

1. For some reason there were less leaves in the pool this winter, and it was much easier to clean up, there was no green algae growth.
2. Using Intelliflo VF, so probably getting much more consistent flows and gallons filtered through the winter season, when the pool tends to get more ignored. But it did often get some chlorine this winter.
3. Using Fiber Clear instead of DE, although not sure if that mattered. Normally I would have to clean out the filter MANY times as I got rid of the winter's algae. With no algae this year, just one cleaning of the Fiber Clear was needed. (and the Fiber Clear comes off the grids so MUCH EASIER when cleaning.)

I have not been using chlorine tabs since last year, so my CYA has been decreasing. (It's still a bit high at 90, but getting better.)

I have not been taking accurate chlorine levels (until I got my TF-100 yesterday :whoot: ). But I would guess that my FC loss has been less than 1 ppm per day. It almost seemed near zero, that's why I thought things were strange, I started to use much less chlorine than in past years. Maybe I'm just getting my pool in pretty good balance. :party:
 
I think reasons One and Two make sense. I don't think the fiber clear helped but just having less debris in the pool certainly did.
Maybe I'm just getting my pool in pretty good balance.
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I'll bet that's the #1 influencing factor. The more you monitor and get things on an even keel, everything, including FC loss, just seems to do better. Congrats, again! You are a true BBB'r. :lol:
 

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