Bleach eater...

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bellinibean

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May 30, 2012
10
Hello everyone! I have a couple questions about using liquid bleach, but first a little back ground. My setup is in my signature. This summer I began to use the perma salt system less and less and transition to the preferred method suggested by this fine forum. I will say the water, this summer, has been absolutely beautiful. Very little maintenance and very little cost! Upon opening this spring we had a pretty significant algae bloom that we cleared up without any complications. From then on it has been smooth sailing.

On to the issues: The pool is eating bleach like no other. Suddenly, my FC levels drop to zero almost within the hour when i bring them to ~4ppm. Since it's too cold to swim now, I decided to drop about 360oz of 7.9% bleach and bring the FC level to about 17ppm. Within 3 hours, FC was at zero. Is this something I should be concerned about going forward?

I will admit I do not have a proper test kit, so I can report only FC, ph, and Alk levels. PH and Alk are both in line with where they should be. Also, the copper chamber is running but the levels are below recommended due to me supplementing chlorine.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
If you're losing FC that fast then it's time for a SLAM. Since you don't have a good test kit, that's the first thing you need.

You will absolutely need to know what your CYA is and you need the FAS-DPD test in order to perform the SLAM correctly.

I might trust the pH you get but I certainly wouldn't trust the TA. However, that's not an issue you need to worry about.

Where are you located?
How much longer before you winterize?
 
I'm in Middle Tennessee, the winterization is done minus a cover that is going on probably this evening, maybe tomorrow. Water temp is 56 degrees, so she is ready to button up. So should I conduct the SLAM upon opening then? This off season I will order the proper test kits for sure. What would cause CYA level to rise other than the powders that raise CYA? I haven't used powder chlorination since probably April.
 
Since you're that far along with winterization, I'd go ahead and cover it and fix it next year.

CYA is only added when you purposefully add it or when you add chlorine products that contain it. If you knew exactly what and how much you've added you could come pretty close to figuring out how much you have. Since you need a good kit anyway, you can test it next year when you open.
 
Only 2 things consume FC, organics in the water or the sun. If your CYA is high and the FC is too low, then you likely have organics. If the CYA is near zero, the sun could consume the FC very quickly, thus making the FC too low and allowing something to start to grow.

In general, our feelings about copper is that it is rarely needed and generally a bad idea as it can cause more problems than it is worth.
 
Im intrigued as to why im burning so much chlorine. I just can't believe that there are that many organics in a perfectly clear pool. No residue on returns, stairs, liner, etc. As stated before, without the proper test kit, we may never know until the spring.

As far as my views on the copper, of course the pool store put agreat sales pitch on and my wife and I bought it. Looking back, I should have done my homework PRIOR to going to the pool store. The first summer with the Perma Salt was perfection from a clarity and maintenance stand point. I started to second guess things when I bought the next summers load of Perma Salt components at $379.99 for chemicals (copper chamber included) and another nearly $100 for a the 30 pound bucket of what they call Preparate, which I believe is a bunch of sodium tetraborate with some fragrance and dye to put some lipstick on the pig so to speak. Anyways, no more perma salt for me. Do I get a ribbon? :)
 
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