Loosing Chlorine, added Borates and high PH

[jeninok]

I hope this post makes sense, it feels like a lot of numbers!
We have had our intex pool for about 3 weeks now, so far so good, except for the awful filter. We have added a skimmer to the pool, and have been manually pulling out as much as possible of the dying honeysuckle vine that has been falling in it non stop for the past week and half before it sinks or clogs the skimmer.

I have been cleaning the skimmer basket daily, rinsing out the filter insert everycouple of days, and vacuuming as much as possible out of the bottom of the pool several times a week.

Intex, 15x48 ft, approx 3800 gallons. Full sun from late morning until about 6:30.

as of last week my morning test results were holding at these numbers, with adding liquid bleach to get FC up to 4 most nights before bed.
CYA 35
FC 2 ish (I then add enough bleach to get it back up to 4 before leaving so that it will be ready to swim when I get home at noon.)
TA 100
PH 7.2
CH 100

Last week I added Borax as per the Pool calculator, to raise PH to 7.8. Aeration is fairly weak, and the only swimmer over the weekend was my husband, and really he just floats. So there hasn't been much splashing. The calculator said I didn't need to add any acid based on my other results.

I was gone over the weekend, so I just had my husband put in 12 ounces of bleach before bed and try to keep the Crud out of the pool. I had vaccuumed the bottom seams and wrinkles as much as I could before leaving town too, and raised the chlorine to 12 thursday evening, since my son had a mild case of staph on his leg

Now, the temp has skyrocketed both outside and in the pool. I added 32 ounces of bleach last night to get the levels to 5, and this morning I was back down to about 2 at 7 a.m. My husband just tested and we are back down to .5 with no swimmers. The PH is also now 8.2, which is far higher than it has ever been. I vaccuumed again last night before getting out, and we both swam for a little while, but were clean and it was after dark.

The water is crystal clear, and feels nice, so I am not sure where to go from here???

I am testing using a not so great dropper kit from walmart, and also had Leslie's test a few times, there results were nearly identical to mine. I am ordering the TF kit when I finish this post and should have it by the end of the week. I wanted it sooner, but the pool install ended up running about 30% over budget, so it had to wait until I got paid again!!

 

[PSW]

When you get your TF-100 test kit, please post a full set of results. If you have high CC in your pool, then you should shock. It is possible, however, that the FC is being consumed by the direct sunlight. You could raise your CYA just a little bit if you want (which would slow chlorine consumption from sun).

Also, you should get you pH back down in the 7.2-7.5 range if you can. 8.2 is too high. Pool Calculator will give your proper dosing to get the right level.

 

[jeninok]

I lucked out and was able to borrow my bosses TF-100, we were discussing my pool and she sent me home with the test kit and an aqua broom because she got a kreepy crawley type cleaner.

My husband added 32 ounces of bleach, to get the reading back up to 5 at about 1030 this morning, this was after adding 32 ounces when we got out last night to get it to 5, and having it fall to 2 at 7 am, and .5 by the time he tested.

I just re-tested, at 1:30 with the TF-100
FC 4
TC 4
PH 7.7
TA 90
CH 210
CYA 25
Phosphates 0 (this seems wrong, we have high phosphates in our water due to lots of chicken farmers in the region., it tends to be a nightmare with my fishtanks. and cause a major Blue Green Algae outbreak at area lakes last summer)

My CYA is lower than I thought it would be, I have added it twice according to pool calculator to get the levels to 40, I know I am measuring correctly??

I also need to read the pool school and corresponding threads to make sure I understand how to add the Muriatic Acid and Borax to get it right. I couldn't test for borates, but according to pool calculator I should be at 6.5, if I understand correctly 30 ppm is the ideal range for the benefits of Borax?

But I am still loosing chlorine overnight and I can't figure out why.

Also, adding CYA lowers PH, correct? and it takes a week to fully dissolve and show up on the test, so do I need to add it, wait a week and re test before messing with borax?

 

[RobbieH]

Ignore phosphates.

50ppm is where you want to be to benefit from borates.

If you are losing FC overnight, that's a sign that you have organics in your pool, and that you need to follow the shock process in Pool School. Be sure you read "How to perform the overnight chlorine loss test" in there to make sure you are doing it right before you get to shocking.

Adding CYA won't lower pH enough to matter. And you don't have to wait after adding CYA to add borax.

 

[jeninok]

I added some more CYA in a sock, so I am thinking I will wait and see if that helps keep my chlorine levels up. I also brushed all the sides, cleaned the filter and vacuumed the bottom really well and see if that helps.

I'd really rather not shock in the next few days, our water is crystal clear, and it got really really hot!! 104 today, with up to 106 by Thursday.

But am I setting myself up for disaster by not shocking? We are going out of town again for the weekend and my husband could shock it while we are gone???

 

[RobbieH]

Sounds like our temps, where are you?

 

[jeninok]

Tulsa, just a few hours up the highway!

We spent all evening in the pool, so I added another 32 ounces of bleach and will re test through the day tomorrow. My son will be at a friends so not being able to swim won't be an issue.

 

[JasonLion]

If you are losing chlorine overnight you should shock. You might be able to put it off for a little while, but it might also turn into a full algae bloom if you ignore it.