High use weekend

[tooclosetosee]

It is my 30th birthday today and my wife and I are celebrating by having pool parties on both Saturday and Sunday with we assume a decent amount of people getting in the pool.

This site has been perfect with all of the recommended chemical levels and other advice and the water has been in perfect to really good condition the whole summer so far.

My CYA is around 50 and my chlorine is consistently around 7 without too much trouble. However, I am wondering what most of you do for pool parties. Do you add chlorine to shock level (or quite a bit higher) before or after the pool party? I don't want people to complain about a high chlorine level, but then again I don't want to have my chlorine drop too much either.

 

[Isaac-1]

In general most of us bump the FC some before things start, then again when the party ends, not to anywhere near shock level, just and extra 3-5 ppm FC your ballpark CYA level. Of course this means testing to confirm before and after the pool party.

 

[woodyp]

Noone should even notice the higher FC level.

 

[BoDarville]

I would dose FC to the high point of the recommended range for your CYA - maybe a point or two higher if there will be a significant number of little kids joining the party. There is no need to go as high as shock levels, though IMHO. I would also suggest checking pH before the party as well as that is often more responsible for "red-eye" issues than is chlorine. For parties, I keep the pH in a narrow range of 7.4 - 7.5.

This is the process I have followed whenever we have pool parties and it has worked out well. I even had a couple of people ask me if I had any chlorine in the water since their eyes were not irritated.

Since your party is spanning two days, I would test FC on Saturday night and dose as needed to stay at the high point of the range for your CYA (or a point or two above it) and let the pump run longer than normal. On Sunday morning about an hour or so before bathers get in, I would test both FC and pH and adjust FC as needed to remain in this slightly elevated range and pH to around 7.5. At the end of the weekend, retest FC, dose as needed, and give the pump some extra run-time. If you are so desiring, you could run an OCLT on Sunday night - Monday morning. If you pass the OCLT, then you can let FC levels drop to the target amount (6 ppm) for your CYA of 50 ppm.

Oh...BTW...Happy Birthday!

 

[pwrstrk]

Yep. Bump the FC up before and after the party.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[tooclosetosee]

Thanks guys, that is kind of what I was thinking as well, but a search left me empty and I don't think I had stumbled upon anybody asking about a high volume weekend.

I have been having pretty good luck at keeping my chlorine at 7PPM even after being away a couple days and I have never noticed a high smell or taste of chlorine in the water. Anybody have an idea what public pool waterparks try to keep their chlorine level at? You know the ones that you can smell the chlorine in the water park from about a half mile away, or is it just the volume of water that causes that?

Hopefully I am in a good enough state of mind to remember to look after the pool on Saturday after a long day of grilling, drinking and hanging out at the pool.

 

[257WbyMag]

Lots of CC in waterpark pools and features due to swimmer load would probably explain the odor. These systems are also always introducing chlorine into the system so you have that as well.

 

[scott.MI]

One person-hour of swimming in 10,000 gallons is around 0.1 ppm FC chlorine demand assuming no one intentionally urinates. One cup of urine is equivalent to 6-7 person-hours of swimming. So in most residential pools, bather load can be ignored unless you have a swim party or have kids (or others) urinating in the pool).

Quoted that so you realize you don't need to go crazy worrying about your chlorine. With your 20,000 gallon pool, based on the above.....you would need 20 person hours of swimming for 1 PPM chlorine demand, at least that's what it means to me.

I would think target of 8 would be plenty even 10 if your gonna be worried about it ruining your enjoyment.

 

[chem geek]

Anybody have an idea what public pool waterparks try to keep their chlorine level at? You know the ones that you can smell the chlorine in the water park from about a half mile away, or is it just the volume of water that causes that?

Some of the waterparks don't use CYA in the water so the FC level is not moderated in strength so is very strong. With bather load, this can lead to very irritating and smelly nitrogen trichloride.

 

[DKT113]

Our pool gets its heaviest load on the weekend ~ more kiddos entering the pool with the possibility of sneaky bladders
I bump mine up a bit to compensate.

These two weeks my one older son is home on leave and his friends are over & into the brew so with the possibility of drunken bladders I have bumped mine up a bit to compensate.

I do this for me more so than any other reason. I test the waters before everyone swims and after and even when we have had the most people in the pool nothing has taken a left. Most people shake their head when they see me going with the BBB Method. It sits with them funny. In saying that they cannot deny that our waters have an edge as it relates to comfort and clarity. It doesn't feel, look or smell like pools they are accustomed to. When they see me using Bleach opposed to pool chemicals ~ they do scrutinize more so because of that me kicking it up a bit just allows me the comfort of knowing when I see folks getting in and out of the waters they aren't swimming in a large outside porta-john.

 

[DKT113]

I hit submit before I forgot to mention something important

Happy Birthday & Enjoy the Weekend Celebration