No Chlorine a day after opening?

[foxrunbrent]

Hey guys,
I had a pool company come out and open my pool as this was the first opening and i didn't feel comfortable doing it myself. i unfortunately was not able to make it home to watch them do it- so here are my questions. They opened Wednesday and when I checked the chlorine o nThursday, it was zero??? Shouldn't it have been around 3 ppm? The pool smelled of chlorine, which I found odd, but there was none when I checked. Also, the polaris has been collecting a ton of what looks to be salt in the bottom of the pool. I have a SWG, but opened the pool as chlorine untilt he weather warms up. can someone help me understand what this might be?

 

[Bama Rambler]

welcome to TFP!

If it smells like chlorine it sounds like you have CC's and will have to perform the shock process. In order to do that properly you'll need a good test kit. You can get info on both from the links in my sig.

You'd be wise to spend some time in Pool School (see upper right button) and learn the basics of properly caring for your pool.

 

[RobbieH]

Your Polaris won't pick up salt. Salt would be dissolved in your pool.

 

[foxrunbrent]

I have a TF100 test kit, so i am good to go there. i added chlorine and got it up to 3ppm last night, but am still baffeled as to why there was no chlorine and there were salt like granules on the bottom. What they heck were they???

 

[msgtdan]

Welcome

Your getting good advice. I opened mine a couple of weeks ago and had a little algae on the bottom, about 4 days of the shocking process and I was good. You need to read pool school! If you have organics in the water it will eat up the chlorine fast. You need to know what your CYA level is to know what your shock level is. I kept mine at 14-16 ppm during the shock process and had no problems. I have now let it settle back to 3-5 ppm. I'm also upping my CYA from 25 to 35 so chlorine lasts a little longer in sunlight. I'm not going on up to 40-50 right now as I intend to use tri-chlor pucks while on vacation.

 

[duraleigh]

but am still baffled as to why there was no chlorine

Chlorine is CONSTANTLY being depleted from your pool by two things.....sunlight and organics. If the sun didn't get it, then chances are you had organics in your pool which did.

The 3ppm you put in there yourself will soon deplete and must be replenished.

 

[foxrunbrent]

So here is what the pool guy said:
Okay, I talked to Steve and he said that the only chemicals they added at the opening were the products in the chemical kit, which consists of an algaecide (liquid) a stain & scale (liquid) and 2lbs of chlorinating granules (powder.) He did mention that you have a plaster pool and also the salt water chlorine generator which would make your water chemistry have a consistent high pH reading which isn’t good for the plaster because it etches away at the calcium hardness levels so the granules that your cleaner is picking up is particles of plaster. So that being said you just need to test the water and adjust the pH level down and add some calcium hardness and the granules should “go away.” Let me know if this makes sense to you or if you need anything else.

The granules I am seeing are clear or white and look like salt. Could this be from the plaster? BTW- the water is crystal clear right now, so do I still need to shock?

 

[foxrunbrent]

Thanks for the fast replys guys...

 

[msgtdan]

I'm not sure what the granules are. Post a full set of numbers and we'll see what we can go to help you. Whether ph or something else is affecting your plaster depends on where your CSI is at. Pool calc can figure your CSI but it needs the full set of numbers including water temp.

 

[foxrunbrent]

Got it. i wil post in about an hour and a half...

 

[Bama Rambler]

Since you have a TF-100 post a full set of test results. That'll tell us a lot.

I'd also bring it to shock level and run an OCLT.

 

[foxrunbrent]

Thanks guys. I will post and we will see what needs to be done.

 

[foxrunbrent]

Ok here we go. Pool is crystal clear and most of the granules are gone. Numbers are:
Cl 1
Ph 7.3
Ta 60
Ch 280
Cya 40

I think that is pretty good- right? Anything i am missing? Anyones thoughts?

 

[foxrunbrent]

Water temp is 63. Was 57 last night.

 

[linen]

I would still bring it up to shock level (15 ppm FC for 40 ppm cya per poolcalculator.com) with bleach/liquid chlorine and do the OCLT with the swg off.

 

[foxrunbrent]

Just so i know, why would i want to do that?

 

[linen]

Good question...I think some of us (at least me) are thinking you may have algae since the chlorine the pool service put in disappeared in one day. You may be lucky and the low temperature may help, but any time a pool goes to 0 ppm FC, it is at high risk for algae. The OCLT is the best way to confirm either way since if you lose more than 1 ppm FC overnight, that is a sign that something is in the pool.

 

[foxrunbrent]

Thanks linen. It is raining here so i will do the oclt test tomorrow night and see what happens. Thanks a ton!

 

[Butterfly]

What was the FC and CC?

Did you bring the water to room temp before testing for CYA?

Just trying to get details.

 

[foxrunbrent]

I dont know how to determine fc and cc. Also didnt see anywhere that said to bring cya to room temp.