Trouble clearing pool

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midwestpool

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Jan 27, 2014
23
Hello I'm fairly new to TFP. I appreciate all of the helpful people here. My pool is now 3 years old and I'm switching to the BBB method this year after my CYA got out of control last year. This year I started with little CYA. I started the slamming process 5 days ago and the pool has turned from green to a blue color, but I still cant see the bottom of the deep end. My numbers are confusing me so I thought I would get some feedback. Can that CC # be correct? I'm using the Taylor k-2006 kit.photo 2.jpg

PH 7.2
FC 30
CC 30
TA 420
CYA <20
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

That CC is theoretically possible, but highly unlikely. Can you describe how you did the FAS-DPD chlorine test?

Also, why did you raise the FC up do high? That is not good for your liner. If your CYA is under 20ppm, then your SLAM level for FC is only 10ppm: See the FC/CYA Chart.

Your TA also seems abnormally high, how new is the test kit? Did the drops for the TA test seem smaller than the other tests?
 
For the chlorine test I followed the instructions on the box. I filled the container to 10mL sample and then added the 2 dippers of r-0870. It turned pink and then I added 60 drops of r-0871 until the it became colorless. I understand the free chlorine is too high for my CYA now. I got my test kit toward the end of last summer (maybe August). The TA was verified by the pool store as well.
 
Does not sound like you finished the FAS-DPD test. Did you then add 5 drops of the R-0003 and then count drops to clear the water again with R-0871? That is how you get the CC.
 
I did complete that step as well. I'm losing a little faith in my reagents now though. I remeasured my FC and it is now 13. Combined is still well above that. I didn't want to waste any more drops trying to figure out exactly what the reading is. Is it possible that the DPD Powder r-0870 is bad or expired? I just bought the 8-0871 today so I know its fine. Whats also curious is that I have 2 types of test strips and neither one shows any FC. I even diluted a sample using 1 part pool water and 10 parts tap water thinking maybe it was just bleaching the strips out, but still nothing.
 
How old is the R-0871? Just because you just bought it does not mean it has not been sitting on the self for years. The powder does not generally go bad.

So, you add the powder, water turns pink. You add R-0871 and the water clears after a bunch of drops. Then add the 5 drops of the R-0003 and the water turns pink again. And then you add a bunch of the R-0871 and the water does not clear up to give you a CC reading?

With your low CYA and very high FC, the chlorine is going to be lost to the sun VERY quickly ... like upwards of 60%+ in a day. If you CYA was 0, then you would lose 50% of the FC every hour.
 

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Here are my new results.

PH 7.3
FC 15
CC 25
TA 370
CYA <20

I haven't added any chlorine since yesterday morning. With very little cya I'm surprised it's holding up although last two days very little sun. The pool is a little clearer than yesterday. Still don't understand the CC number?



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jblizzle said:
So, you add the powder, water turns pink. You add R-0871 and the water clears after a bunch of drops. Then add the 5 drops of the R-0003 and the water turns pink again. And then you add a bunch of the R-0871 and the water does not clear up to give you a CC reading?
Click to expand...
Did you ever confirm that this is what you are doing?

So in your latest set of tests, you added powder, then 30 drops to clear it to get FC. Then 5 drops of R-0003 made the water pink again? And then you added 50 more drops of R-0871 to clear the water to get your CC?
:scratch:
 
midwestpool said:
Here are my new results.

PH 7.3
FC 15
CC 25
TA 370
CYA <20

I haven't added any chlorine since yesterday morning. With very little cya I'm surprised it's holding up although last two days very little sun. The pool is a little clearer than yesterday. Still don't understand the CC number?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
That CC number makes no sense, unless your CYA turned to ammonia over the winter or something.

Think of it like this: Chlorine is the fuel. If it burns up completely, there's no ash, no smoke, no charcoal left behind. If it burns up halfway, you get charcoal, ash, and smoke. That's CC. Halfway used chlorine. When you did the test, it took 30 drops to turn clear? Then you added 5 drops of the other stuff and it turned pink again? And it took another 50 drops of the R-0871 to go clear again?
 
That's correct Richard. After it clears I add 5 drops. On the very first drop it's completely pink almost red. Last year my CYA was out of control. Maybe 150 or so. I found this out after I couldn't keep FC in the pool. At the end of the year I sort of gave up on it and let the whole thing go. Then when I opened this year cya was gone. I know I need to raise FC to burn off CC, but can I really do that at this low CYA. Thanks.


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It sounds like you might be one of those rare "CYA turns to ammonia" cases. You seem to fit the profile though....in ground pool with high CYA and no FC over a winter.

You're correct. With your low CYA level you definitely don't want to raise FC yet. Sunlight will help break up the CCs, but it'll take some time, because that's a lot. The SLAM will work, so keep at it, but only aim for 10, and hold it at 10. The CCs will do what they do. You don't want to fade that liner.
 
Ok, I've been searching for an answer to my question about why the strips say no chlorine and the the reagent test says high chlorine even though I haven't added any for 48 hours and I think I finally found it. http://www.aquachek.com/faq/#78

This came from the FAQ of the Aquacheck website. "Q: I have added a significant amount of Chlorine and the AquaChek test strips still read 0 ppm for Free Chlorine-why?

A: If testing for Free Chlorine using a DPD test kit, be aware that high levels of combined Chlorine, or Chloramines can cause false positives when using DPD #1 test for Free Chlorine. In order to confirm this is taking place, take a small sample (3-4 cups of water) out of the pool. Add a small amount of Chlorine (e.g. a teaspoon of bleach or several dichlor granules) directly to the sample to be sure that a Chlorine residual can be established. You should be able to measure the Free Chlorine right in the sample almost immediately after the Chlorine has been added. This is representative of the rest of the pool. If a Chlorine residual can be established in a small sample, then you will know that the actual pool can be treated in the same way. Additionally, the DPD or OTO test will measure the same as the strips at this point confirming that the combined Chlorine was causing a false reading for the liquid/tablet test."

I did this test and lo and behold I have free chlorine again on the test strips. I believe that my high combined chlorine was giving me a false reading on the DPD test. Now I have to research how to handle this without damaging my liner because I'm going to have to add a lot of bleach to get the free chlorine reading.
 

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