Excessive Chlorine Use

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Ok, I am about at my wit's end! Tuesday night at 10pm reading was 24.5ppm FC. Wednesday morning at 6am reading was 24.5ppm FC. Zero overnight loss - yippee! No chlorine yesterday as I was going to let it drift down to a normal value of about 6ppm. However, this morning at 6:45 there was only 12.5 ppm chlorine in the pool which means I lost 12 ppm yesterday!!! What the **** is going on? Yesterday was hot and sunny all day and my pool gets about 8 hours a day of full on sun. My current numbers - FC 12.5 - CC 0 - PH 7.4 - TA 130 -CYA 40. I did the cya test like three times and was seeing reflections, etc. after multiple readings (plus loss of water due to evaporation since Sunday) I tended to think it was lower than I thought - perhaps closer to 30-35. I topped off with 1/2 jug stabilizer which should boost it by about 8ppm and I replaced the water

What to do now? What am I missing? Four days of slamming for nothing and I'm at a loss for how to proceed. Dumping bleach at the pool to keep shock levels at 4-6 jugs a day is getting old fast. Please help - what else should I be looking for? Water is crystal clear, and frustration is setting in - not to mention I'm going away in a week as well!

Thanks for any input.

Gerry
 
Hi Gerry, a few days ago a couple of guys suggested to check your pool lights and ladder if you have any, but i don't see that you replied to that. If you do have a light in a niche, did you remove it to see if any algae is hiding in there? Also does your ladder hold water that may be full of algae? On the other hand, was your water ever green and algae filled to begin with? If not, would algae grow only in a dark niche, or does it need sunlight?
 
I will pull the light this evening and see if there is any growth in the niche. Ladder has been out of pool for the whole week. Like I said, added a little CYA to see if that stems the amount of FC loss. Any other ideas??
 
What to do now? What am I missing? Four days of slamming for nothing and I'm at a loss for how to proceed.
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Why do you think it's for nothing?? You are jumping to a conclusion, I think.

What are the three criteria for completing a SLAM

1. Your pool water is sparkling and there is no visible algae
2. Your CC's are .5ppm or less
3. You can hold your FC overnight without losing more than 1ppm.

Did you meet all those? That's what I certainly read from your posts.

So you are done.

That your FC dropped by 50% is not earth shaking. the loss of FC in your pool is not 2-3 ppm regardless of FC level but rather a PERCENTAGE of FC level.

So if your FC was 6 ppm, you might lose 3 ppm. If your FC was 24 ppm, you might lose 12 ppm (which you did).....same 50%

While I agree that I would have expected a little less loss your path should be to let your FC drift down to maintenance level (look at the FC/CYA chart in Pool School) and enjoy your pool.

If you dose to 6 ppm and that evening your FC is zero, that's another case but I doubt it will.
 
Thanks Duraleigh, that is what I was wondering. I figured it might drop faster than normal just because there was so much FC. I will peek behind the light tonight and we will see what tomorrow's numbers show. 15 years with this pool, 5 years on BBB and I've never had this issue before. Thanks again.
 
Ok. Update. I did have some algae under the light so I cleaned that all up last night (no niche, surface mount with only a hole for wire). Tested FC this am and only lost 3.2 ppm which is on par for my usual use (1 jug a day) so the SLAM worked. Hopefully things will stay that way and I won't go bankrupt buying bleach again!!!

Thanks again for all the input from the forum - a good bunch of people!!

Gerry
 

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