Newbie Need help with Combined Chlorine

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doublewide6

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May 30, 2012
243
Allentown, PA
So I just opened the pool last week. I have been depending on the pool store for pool help the last 3 years. I really liked reading about the BBB Method, but have not used it yet. Please help convert me to the BBB. I had combined chlorine and the pool store told me to add cya and 8 lbs. of shock. Well the water looks nice, but I still have combined chlorine. I would like to convert to the BBB now and also treat the CC. Also just got a new taylor 2005k testing kit to try to have a better handle on the pool.

By the way this forum is really an awesome resource for people like me.

PH 7.2
TA 130
FC 2.0ppm
TC 5.0ppm
CC 3.0ppm
CYA is below 30ppm
 
Ideally you would want to get your CYA to at least 30ppm and then follow the Shocking Your Pool process using liquid chlorine.

Also note that you would be best served to add the FAS-DPD chlorine test (K-1515-A) to your K-2005 kit (this is why we recommend the K-2006). This will allow you to measure FC over 5ppm.
 
Grudgingly, yes turning up your chlorinator will increase the CYA a little more quickly ... although still pretty slowly.

Do you plan to continue to use the puck in the chlorinator? If so, do you understand the relationship of CYA to the required FC levels?

As far as the number of bottles of bleach ... 46 the answer to everything ;)
Really no way to know ... it take as many as it takes ... just keep adding bleach to stay above shock level.
 
Thanks for your help Jason.

If I do not use the hockey pucks what should I use? Yesterday I added about 2lbs of cya to the skimmers. As for the relationship between cya and chlorine from what I understand cya keeps the chlorine from dissolving, right? As far a bleach I am going to walmart do I need 10 gallons, 20, 30.... 75? I am looking for a rough number so I do not have to keep running to the store it is about 12 miles from my house.
 
CYA buffers active chlorine in the water and helps prevent its loss when exposed to UV/sunlight, this is a double edged sword, you want it high enough to help maintain free chlorine levels in sunlight, but not so high that it prevents that same chlorine from being effective killing things that try to grow in your water. If you read over pool school in the upper right corner of any page here it will help explain the matter in more detail. You should also be aware it can take a week or more for CYA to show up on the test after it is added to the water.

Ike

p.s. one more question, what kind of "shock" did you use, different brands contain different chemicals, all have secondary effects
 
The shock I use is bioguard burnout 3 58% calcium hypochlorite.

I have been reading the pool school stuff and can't figure out how much shock to add. At the pool store they say just add 8 bags. I have been trying to use the calculator with my numbers and it says to add 96oz of bleach. I don't see anything on the calculator about TC or CC, so I am sort of stuck. I don't know much about pools and am trying to learn. Am I missing a chart or why is this so difficult for me?
 
I think you should step back and start reading Pool School from the top before adding more chemicals. You need to grasp what the different acronyms mean and what they are in the pool chemistry.

Cal-hypo adds calcium (CH) and at too high levels this too will cause problems.
 

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doublewide6 said:
The shock I use is bioguard burnout 3 58% calcium hypochlorite.

I have been reading the pool school stuff and can't figure out how much shock to add. At the pool store they say just add 8 bags. I have been trying to use the calculator with my numbers and it says to add 96oz of bleach. I don't see anything on the calculator about TC or CC, so I am sort of stuck. I don't know much about pools and am trying to learn. Am I missing a chart or why is this so difficult for me?
Click to expand...


I'm a noob too but I'll try to help.

You'll end up needing/wanting the FAS-DPD test that comes with the Taylor K-2006.

There isn't TC or CC on the calculator because with properly balanced water your TC should be equal to your FC and you CC should be zero. If either of those isn't true then you need to shock so the actual TC and CC numbers don't change what needs to be done to the pool.

I think having a product called "shock" confuses many people. I prefer to look at shocking as the state of having the pool water FC at or above shock levels for a certain amount of time. If the pool needs to be shocked then putting the correct amount of "shock" in the pool 1 time will seldom fix the problem.

The reason to switch to bleach is that it simply cuts down on the chances of adding something that you don't need. In your case CH. Once your CH is where it needs to be then switch to bleach for your chlorine needs.
 
Use the Pool Calc. Once you enter all the info above, then the targets, it'll tell you how much to add. Since your CYA is 33 (lets call it 40) your shocking level will be 16 ppm FC. That's your target. That's 4½ gallons of bleach. The biggest issue you're gonna have is that you're not going to be able to hold it at the shock level as you should without a good test kit.
 
doublewide6 said:
They are calling for 15lbs of shock.
Click to expand...

Did they ask how big your pool is, or just throw that out there? Adding 15 lbs of 58% cal-hypo would skyrocket your FC by 47 ppm, which is way too high, and wouldn't hold long enough in a one-time application anyway.
 
Depending on what they are calling shock that could cause some real headaches, well really regardless of what they are calling shock, it can.

If they are selling Cal-Hypo as "shock" it would raise your CH along with adding chlorine, yours is in a good range now, but much more and it would be time to worry.

If they are selling Dichlor or Tri-Chlor then it will add CYA as well as chlorine, yours is just about right now, 15 pounds of dichlor would put your CYA well above an acceptable range and you would likely end up having to drain a large portion of your water to fix the problem.
 
Bama,
This is most likely a stupid question, how did you calculate that my target amount should be 16 for FC? I was able to use 16 as my target and figure out that I needed 4.5 gallons of bleach using the calculator. I am going to see if any of the pool stores carry that test kit.
 
I looked at the chlorine/cya chart in pool school. It lists the shock values associated with the amount of CYA you have in the water. Given that you have as much CC's as you have, you need to perform the shock process.

Nobody will carry the TF-100 but a very (and I mean very) few stores will carry the K-2006. Don't let them sell you the K-2005 and tell you it's the same. Make sure the kit has the FAS-DPD chlorine test and not just the DPD test.
 
It sounds like you may not have set up the pool calculator yet. At the bottom of the pool calculator, set your pool stats. Choose TFP for a source, surface=plaster, and chlorine=bleach. It sets the calculator for the values associated with those parameters.

Another point about the test kit; if you're not sure if it has a FAS-DPD test, look for a little bottle of POWDER. If there's no powder in the kit, only drops... it's not the one you need.
 
Bama,
Thanks for the info that helps me out. I am going to order the K-1515A to add to my k-2005 kit. Is there anything else I would need as far as testing kits? So what should I do in the mean time with my pool? Add the needed bleach, shock with burnout 3, or wait until I get my test kit?
 

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