Chlorine issues, please help

[jdakeller]

Hello everyone....my first post. Thanks in advance.

New pool owner as of May 2013. No issues until middle of August 2014. Pink mold on my ladder and skimmer. Went to the pool store and was sold United Chemicals Pink Treat. Listened to the directions given to me and poured away. Pink mold was gone but so was my chlorine. Until that time I would test using test strips and everything was nice and easy. So I began to read and read on the internet, this site a lot. Closed my pool, and read more over the winter months here in West PA. What I think is that I turned my pool into a bromine pool. I can kick myself for pouring that pink treat....but its done and over with. This was my game plan for this May, open the pool and drain half the water out and use a better test kit. I did this and I am still having problems. Water is clear.

Here is what I just tested with this morning.
Total Chlorine .05
Free Chlorine .05
ph 7.2
Total Alkalinity 110
Calcium Hardness 200
CYA 100

When I tested a week after I added all that fresh water I had a CYA of 20, I added stabilizer. I am also going thru one -three inch puck a day to maintain my .05 chlorine reading.

Please help me...I don't want to get an algae attach again with the low chlorine level. My chlorine will hold overnight, at the .05 level but I am using way too many 3 inch chlorine pucks then I have ever did. Please let me know if you need further information. Thank you!

 

[tim5055]

Welcome to TFP!!

What better test kit did you decide to get?

 

[jdakeller]

Thank you. Looking forward to getting my pool on the right track.
I brought the taylor k-1004. Should I have gotten the k-2006?

 

[tim5055]

Should I have gotten the k-2006?

At least.
Better would have been the Tf-100.

The K-1004 is a DPD kit limited to 5FC and has no CYA or CH test.

 

[jdakeller]

I will look into that kit. I just ran outside to double check my kit again because it has the CYA and CH test in it. I thought it was a taylor brand one but it is a HtH brand. Either way I am willing to do whatever is recommended to get my pool on the right track.
Thanks

 

[tim5055]

Well, understand that 100 is the limit of the CYA test, so at this level we are unsure if it is 100 or some number above 100. At this point I would recommend at least a 33% water exchange to get the CYA down. If you do 33% and still test 100 we know you were extremely high.

AF vinly pools do not have issues with the liner floating, but the water is what gives them a lot of their stability. You can take you level way down, some even totally empty them - but be aware of high winds once the level gets low - it may push over a wall.

 

[jdakeller]

I can't do a water change until the weekend. Should I just keep moving forward with everything I do and using thru the pucks like crazy.

 

[Beens]

The pucks are raising your cya. The more you use them the more water you're going to have to drain. You should be using only liquid chlorine (aka Bleach) at this point.

 

[Divin Dave]

jd,
the pucks are the root cause of your problem. They contain a large amount of stabilizer which is CYA.
CYA buffers the effect of chlorine. It knocks down the potency of it... so ... the higher the CYA is, the more chlorine needs to be added in order to overcome that buffering effect.

for every 10ppm of FC added by the pucks, they also add 6ppm of CYA. So over a relatively short period of time the CYA climbs and climbs, the FC cannot keep up with the CYA, and you end up with algae.
This is why TFP recommends to only use liquid chlorine or a saltwater generator as your primary source to provide FC.

The FC/CYA relationship is percentage based. FC target level is always 11.5% of whatever the CYA level is. (so with 100 CYA, your FC needs to be 11.5).

 

[kimkats]

Good for you for finding and reading TFP! It is the best pool site on the net!

Order your test kit.

Until your test kit comes in lower your water by 30% and refill.

Take out ALL pucks as they are what has started all of this.

Use ONLY bleach/chlorine. Go shopping to find your best price for bleach. For some it is Walmart's greater value (8%), Sam's clorox 3 pack, for me it is the local ACE hardware (11%)others it is the pool store (11%).

Just make sure it is "fresh". Some stores like Lowes and such have older bleach and it is not as strong due to heat and age.

Kim

 

[jdakeller]

I will order the better test kit and do the water change this weekend. I will shop around and find the best bleach for the pool.

However, does anyone think the pink treat product containing sodium bromide made this issue as well. (I emailed United Chemical for some advice regarding their pink treat. They gave me a direct line to call a person back. )