Whooops! Forgot to add bleach for 2 days!

UnderWaterVanya

TFP Expert
LifeTime Supporter
Jun 14, 2012
2,668
Mint Hill, NC
Pool Size
13500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
CircuPool Edge-40
My brother-in-law fell while walking down the back steps towards the pool - and he thought he had broken his leg. It's his job to do the bleach nightly... and we were all at the hospital for 6 hours until the wee hours of the morning. I went to bed about 5:45am that night. The next day I was a zombie, the AC at their house broke (2nd time in 2 weeks) and that night I crashed "early" by 10:30pm. Again no bleach was added... In the middle of the night I woke up and said to myself - oh NO! :oops: I had a massive migraine AND I had just realized we had not put any bleach in the pool for two days! :hammer: To make matters worse - I'm an absentee pool boy - I live 1.5 miles from the pool and my father-in-law and brother-in-law were not going to be happy about a middle of the night phone call about bleach!

Fast forward to this morning. I had the brother-in-law dump in 182oz of 6% just to replenish what was expected to have been used up. Daily use on the pool is about 96oz of 6%. BTW the brother-in-law was not hurt at all as it turned out - but that's another story.

When I could finally get free around lunchtime I was surprised to see a pool clear of any cloudyiness or green slime - to my surprise things looked fine except for some leaves from the torrential rains we had last night. I tested the water before proceeding further:

FC: 7.2 (25ml sample used to get more accurate CC measurement)
CC: 0 :whoot:
pH: 7.6+ (not quite 7.8)
TA: 80 (It could be anything from 70-90; I have trouble deciding if it got "redder".)
CYA: 55 (It could be lower - but I'd rather underestimate at this point.)
CH: 280 (Assumed - I didn't retest this time.)
Temp: 70 (assumed - thermometer broke - glass intact but no longer lined up with scale)

Despite the clear water and the lack of CC's I figured - better to "Nip it the bud" as Richard is fond of saying. I then added 1.5 gallons of 12.5% in an attempt to get up to around FC=22 which is what the CYA chart suggests is a good shock level. BTW Poolcalculator.com shock level is 17 and I figure > 17 < 23 is what I'll strive for. I cannot monitor the pool hourly due to work and I have not yet had time to brush. My plan is to brush this evening, retest levels of FC and CC's (10ml samples) and dose back up if below 17 to something between 17 and 22, let it mix, recheck it and perform an OCLT tonight/tomrrow morning.

Does that sound like a good plan?
 
Richard320 said:
Scoop out the leaves. Otherwise I'd have probably done the same.

LOL - I did - just so much going on I forgot to mention it. Scooped out the 20-25 leaves, 2-3 earthworms, and the smaller junk I could get manually. Plan to either set Polly (Polaris 380) free on the pool or manually vacuum tomorrow when I have a spare minute.

Oh and I set the filter to run 24x7 for today...

It's hard to cram it all into one post.
 
Just run the good 'ole OFCLT and if you pass, no need to shock...although it can't hurt. Any chance you are running borates?

Also...as Jason schooled me a few years ago, using the 25ml sample vs. 10ml sample is more precise, but both results are equally accurate :smile:

Glad to hear the pool stayed clear and hope the BiL feels better :goodjob:
 
ARGH! Not ready for OCLT. I thought I was - had the pool verified at 17ppm at 6:40 after the sun was long off the pool. Then as I was brushing I saw the dreaded green-brown clouds - faint but there. The pool water remained blue and clear but the clouds were there.

Sooooo... I put another 1/2 gallon of 12.5% in and went to pick up pizza for the family. Tomorrow night if the visible signs of algae are gone I'll try the OCLT. I skipped confirming my final FC level since I don't need the exact number if I'm not bothering with OCLT tonight - estimated to be about 22ppm unlikely to be far off based on previous dosing.
 
Checked this morning:

FC 18
CC 0

I added another 1/2 gallon (target of 22-23ppm) and went back to work.

Given the FC level of only 18 - which is 4ppm lower than my target FC from last night I seem to have lost FC overnight (or my 12.5% is really weak). I didn't measure final FC levels last night after adding the last 1/2 gallon because I saw algae and I didn't want to waste reagent or time. I brushed this morning and didn't see algae but I'll double check this evening. If there is no sign of algae, I'll do an OCLT tonight to see what's what.

Given the lack of CC's and overall lack of cloudy water, the lack of fully cleaned bottom due to fine debris I am wondering if the FC losses may be due to organic debris. I'd like to drop Polly (a Polaris 380) in and let it do the fine cleaning - Is it recommended to use or not use the Polaris in high FC?
 
1:30pm readings:

FC: 19.5
CC: 0

Added 96oz 6% bleach to get it up to about 22-23ppm.

Loss of FC during sunlight wasn't bad compared to past experience at shock levels - could be I've nipped it in the bud - if things are clean looking this evening still planning to run the OCLT but only if no visible algae...

No thoughts on the Polaris? Still wondering if it's good/bad idea to run it in the high FC.
 
Sounds like you've got a good plan of attack and know what you're doing. Keep it up !


As far as running the Polaris.. it's really up to you. I have run my vacuum when shocking and have seen no ill effects. I wouldn't leave it in there all day, just the time it takes to get the job done.
 
9:30pm measurements:

FC: 21.5 (43 drops)
CC: 0.5 (barely pink - 1 drop to clear)

Pool smells like serious indoor pool chlorine - are we certain about the whole CC's are what smells?
 
UnderWaterVanya said:
9:30pm measurements:

FC: 21.5 (43 drops)
CC: 0.5 (barely pink - 1 drop to clear)

Pool smells like serious indoor pool chlorine - are we certain about the whole CC's are what smells?

9:15am measurements:

1st Measurement:
FC: 18 :cry:
CC: 0.5 :goodjob:
Water: Clear - no signs of algae :goodjob:
I didn't do this measurement exactly the same way as last night - I dropped each drop distinctly and while it was quick and accurately dropped I deviated from how I made my benchmark last night. I decided to toss out this result and redo things the same way as last night.

FC: 21.5 (43 drops) :goodjob:
CC: 0 (Clear - no drops needed) :goodjob:
Water: Clear - no signs of algae :goodjob:
:party:
For this test I dropped 10 drops quickly, then another 10, then another 10, then 5 and then dropped the remaining drops 1 at a time. This came out exactly like last night's measurement which was done the same way. I don't really care which one is "true" but I do care that the way it was measured - when repeated - gave the same results.

Pool still smelled of chlorine but a little less strongly.

Plan is to allow the shock levels to burn off today, measure tonight to see where things are - if below 10 I'll drop Polly into the pool and let her clean the small debris up.

I may go ahead and do another OCLT at whatever FC level I end up with this evening just as an added check.
 

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After clearly telling everyone not to add any bleach until further notice... They dumped in the normal daily dose of 96oz (6%)!

FC 18
CC 0

I had hoped for 14-14.5 ppm and it looks like that's what I would have found if no bleach had been added. Oh well another day at shock. Tomorrow night maybe we will be back to 12 or so.
 
Switched method back to (fast) drop by drop which may read lower based on my results:

FC 12
CC 0
pH (read quickly) 7.5 'ish
OTO COLOR - ORANGE - like a pumpkin
CYA 55 'ish (Previously measured)
TA 75 'ish (Previously measured)
CH 280 'ish (Previously measured)
Temp - Unknown but warmer!

Kids are swimming!
 
linen said:
Even at low (but measurable) cc levels, some forms of it can still smell.

"0" CC's both times - today (still "0" CC) less smell.

(The 0 result was measured at 0.5ppm accuracy so it is possible there was > 0 but < 0.5)
 
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