Morning after our first attempt at the shock process
Mod Edit: I merged your 2 threads for continuity ... please keep your questions together. Thanks, jblizzle
I just posted yesterday with our very first pool-opening results before adding anything.
We followed the shock process last night. Our water opened clear yesterday but there was stuff at the bottom in dark clumps and I figure shocking upon opening is probably a good idea anyway.
According to the pool calculator, my husband added 4 gallons of liquid chlorine. He also has tablets in the chlorinator, which he originally had set at full power when adding the gallons of chlorine. We needed our FC at 20, according to the CYA-chlorine chart. After one hour of doing this, I checked the chlorine levels and they were exactly at 20. I got nervous that it would continue to go up since they were already at 20 only one hour later. I know they can go up a little, however. This is trial and error for us at this point. My husband assured me it would be fine but I had him lower the chlorinator flow at that point since we were going to bed soon and I didn't know what to expect with the chlorine levels. I didn't want them to shoot through the roof and cause issues with the pool equipment etc.
Again, this shock process (per your guidance) is all new to us and is the first time we did it, so please keep that in mind when reading my post, and be gentle. You only learn by asking questions, right?
I just went out this morning to check the chlorine level and pH only at this point. The pH is still at 7.2 (it rained here last night apparently so this is a mystery as to while it stayed low. It was at 7.2 before the shock process as well).
FC: 12
pH: 7.2.
This is all trial and error for us right now as we are learning this new shock process vs. what we always did with the bagged "shock." Very different. We've never monitored chlorine levels so closely, so this adds a whole other perspective and more questions. I didn't know what to expect as to how long chlorine will stay at shock level after adding so much chlorine. I was planning on doing the FC overnight test tonight to see what happens.
I thought the stuff at the bottom may have turned white this morning since we dumped so much chlorine in it if it was true algae. It looks a little more grayish to me this morning (like it may be on its way out to turning white) but can't tell.
Ok, so here are my two questions:
1. Do these results mean there is algae in the pool for the chlorine to drop from 20 last night to 12 this morning after putting all of that chlorine in and when there was no sun OR does chlorine dissipate within so many hours on its own like that?
2. What is the next step at this point? Continuously adding gallons of chlorine to stay at 20? This can get very costly as we just spent $40.00 on 8 gallons and already used 4 of them.
BTW, I read the shock process article several times, so if I am missing something here it's because I am just learning and need a little more guidance from those who are experienced.