I appreciate I’m not offering exact figures but CYA is showing to be low and FC reasonably high?
Advice on reducing high chlorine levels
- Thread starter Sephy
- Start date
Appearance of pool though is a big indication - blue, clear, etc. You said green and not clear which is not normal pool color
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
As mentioned earlier, do you know how they are chlorinating this pool?
If its with stabilized products (trichlor, dichlor) those are highly acidic & tend to tank ph & ta.
The higher fc levels can bleach out the strips so there could very well be quite a bit of cya in the water even though the strip says otherwise.
With the water clarity/color issues you’re describing it sounds & looks like there is an algae problem.
The interim answer is add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine to the pool each day to keep things from getting worse until they have a proper kit & can get accurate results to determine if there needs to be any adjustments before then doing the
SLAM Process to eradicate the algae problem.
Unfortunately that’s about all we can extrapolate from your current data.
Using liquid chlorine won’t adversely impact the ph or ta like other forms of chlorine. I feel they must be adding something or there wouldn’t be any fc left/it would be falling quickly if there truly is no cya & there is an algae problem.
I personally would decline swimming in this pool & cannot confidently say that it is safe to swim in with the info you have.
I would suggest pointing your friend to tfp and we can help guide them on getting their pool back in order. Although you obviously mean well, You are missing alot of important info so its very hard give accurate guidance.
If its with stabilized products (trichlor, dichlor) those are highly acidic & tend to tank ph & ta.
The higher fc levels can bleach out the strips so there could very well be quite a bit of cya in the water even though the strip says otherwise.
With the water clarity/color issues you’re describing it sounds & looks like there is an algae problem.
The interim answer is add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine to the pool each day to keep things from getting worse until they have a proper kit & can get accurate results to determine if there needs to be any adjustments before then doing the
SLAM Process to eradicate the algae problem.
Unfortunately that’s about all we can extrapolate from your current data.
Using liquid chlorine won’t adversely impact the ph or ta like other forms of chlorine. I feel they must be adding something or there wouldn’t be any fc left/it would be falling quickly if there truly is no cya & there is an algae problem.
I personally would decline swimming in this pool & cannot confidently say that it is safe to swim in with the info you have.
I would suggest pointing your friend to tfp and we can help guide them on getting their pool back in order. Although you obviously mean well, You are missing alot of important info so its very hard give accurate guidance.
Looking at the water, it does look a bit more like algae today.
There is someone visiting tomorrow with a decent test kit to see what’s going on.
The chlorine that’s being added is this stuff
- May 3, 2014
- 58,506
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Dichlor
Quite acidic as well as adding cya
Use
PoolMath effects of adding tab to see each dose’s effect on ph, fc, & cya
I can appreciate that you’d like to use the information you’re getting from the test strips but right on the face of it they are giving you conflicting information. It’s highly unlikely that you have low CYA. If you did, it would be very unlikely that your high chlorine level would stay high. When I first started my pool, I had no CYA. I put chlorine in to shock it. I forget the number but it was double digits. It went down to practically nothing in hours on a sunny day. So your test strips reading high chlorine and low CYA is a contradiction. It will be interesting to see what you get when you get your friend’s test kit over there.
I would take the advice from above and put some liquid chlorine in there asap so the algae doesn’t get out of hand.
Since it’s not your pool, this will be a good time to get the owners familiar with TFP and the value of a good test kit. My fear is that they have extremely high CYA and they’re looking at having to drain some of the pool to get things back under control. Wishing you the best in this endeavor.
I would take the advice from above and put some liquid chlorine in there asap so the algae doesn’t get out of hand.
Since it’s not your pool, this will be a good time to get the owners familiar with TFP and the value of a good test kit. My fear is that they have extremely high CYA and they’re looking at having to drain some of the pool to get things back under control. Wishing you the best in this endeavor.
Just had a family friend come up with a decent (professional?) test kit - he took samples, dropped the glass container into a digital reader.
The results were identical to the test strips I posted above (although much more accurate), oddly low CYA, high Free Chlorine and low pH.
He’s recommended we backwash a % of the water out, top up with clean water, run the filter 24/7 for around a week, review the chemicals again and then consider adding what evers required.
Also given a jolly jel flocculant to add into the pump filter, not something I’ve seen before.
The results were identical to the test strips I posted above (although much more accurate), oddly low CYA, high Free Chlorine and low pH.
He’s recommended we backwash a % of the water out, top up with clean water, run the filter 24/7 for around a week, review the chemicals again and then consider adding what evers required.
Also given a jolly jel flocculant to add into the pump filter, not something I’ve seen before.
Thanks for the update. Unfortunately, I think it will be difficult to help based on the information provided. One, it’s inconsistent; but more problematic to this forum is that we’re not able to see a complete set of test results from a test kit we feel comfortable with.
A couple things I’m comfortable advising is that running the pump for “around a week” will not be necessary. If the change out of the water does do anything, 24 hours of running the pump would be plenty. Also, flocculant is not recommended by this group. I’ll be interested in hearing from some of the experts, but that is my input based on what I’ve learned here over the past few years. Wishing you well.
A couple things I’m comfortable advising is that running the pump for “around a week” will not be necessary. If the change out of the water does do anything, 24 hours of running the pump would be plenty. Also, flocculant is not recommended by this group. I’ll be interested in hearing from some of the experts, but that is my input based on what I’ve learned here over the past few years. Wishing you well.
Do you know if you can vacuum that FLOC out of the pool, and not into the filter? What type of filter is it (sand, cartridge or DE)??
Maddie
Maddie
Do you know if you can vacuum that FLOC out of the pool, and not into the filter? What type of filter is it (sand, cartridge or DE)??
Maddie
Sand filter and vacuuming is possible
- Jun 1, 2018
- 13,775
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Floc is a bad idea & a bandaid at best, it does nothing to kill the algae, it just allows you to mechanically remove what sticks to it making things look better temporarily if it even works. (Usually it doesn’t & makes an even bigger mess).
Floc should never be run through filter media it will ruin it.
The live algae will continue to proliferate. The same holds true with filtering- while important, that is simply mechanical removal of particles, it doesn’t address the live algae that continues to proliferate, you need adequate fc for that.
The
SLAM Process with liquid chlorine is what is needed to eradicate the algae & prove it is gone.
www.google.com
I find it very hard to believe there is no cya with the stated use of dichlor - for every 1ppm of fc dichlor adds it also adds roughly 1ppm of cya. The fc gets consumed constantly but the cya remains in the water until it is replaced with fresh water.
As mentioned earlier dichlor is also highly acidic which tanks ph & ta in short order.
Halting its use is recommended.
Liquid chlorine doesn’t have these effects.
The previous suggestion remains, use 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine each day until a proper titration kit comes in then proceed with the slam process.
In the interim, if you trust the ph & ta results, the pool is quite acidic which is not good for surface’s & equipment.
Use
PoolMath to calculate how much baking soda or washing soda (soda ash) is needed to get ta to 50/60
Then let circulate 30 minutes or more, test again & then use borax if needed to get ph in the 7’s .
Floc should never be run through filter media it will ruin it.
The live algae will continue to proliferate. The same holds true with filtering- while important, that is simply mechanical removal of particles, it doesn’t address the live algae that continues to proliferate, you need adequate fc for that.
The
SLAM Process with liquid chlorine is what is needed to eradicate the algae & prove it is gone.
Flocculant - Further Reading
www.google.com
As mentioned earlier dichlor is also highly acidic which tanks ph & ta in short order.
Halting its use is recommended.
Liquid chlorine doesn’t have these effects.
The previous suggestion remains, use 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine each day until a proper titration kit comes in then proceed with the slam process.
In the interim, if you trust the ph & ta results, the pool is quite acidic which is not good for surface’s & equipment.
Use
PoolMath to calculate how much baking soda or washing soda (soda ash) is needed to get ta to 50/60
Then let circulate 30 minutes or more, test again & then use borax if needed to get ph in the 7’s .
cfherrman
TFP Guide
What was the friends test kit?
I assure you, there is only one way to test things for pools and if your not using it it cannot be relied on! If it's not a Taylor 2006 or tft or equivalent those test results go straight into the trash. Oto can be relied on for 0-2 fc, after that you don't know if you have 2 or 20.
One thing you can do is take your dirty hand and cup some water into it and take it to your nose. If you smell choline you have some, if not you don't have any. The chlorine will oxidize the dead skin cells on your hand and give off ccs which is the chlorine smell.
If your pool had 0 cya your chlorine would be cooked out by the sun in a few hours, 100%
If your eyes hurt from swimming your pH is too high or too low, low in your case because of diclor or high because you haven't added any in awhile thinking it was too high.
I assure you, there is only one way to test things for pools and if your not using it it cannot be relied on! If it's not a Taylor 2006 or tft or equivalent those test results go straight into the trash. Oto can be relied on for 0-2 fc, after that you don't know if you have 2 or 20.
One thing you can do is take your dirty hand and cup some water into it and take it to your nose. If you smell choline you have some, if not you don't have any. The chlorine will oxidize the dead skin cells on your hand and give off ccs which is the chlorine smell.
If your pool had 0 cya your chlorine would be cooked out by the sun in a few hours, 100%
If your eyes hurt from swimming your pH is too high or too low, low in your case because of diclor or high because you haven't added any in awhile thinking it was too high.
I didn’t see the make or model of the test kit, but it looked similar to this, water in a glass tube with a tablet and then into a similar device for the test result: Palintest PoolTest 4 Lumiso Photometers
I can def smell Chlorine and his test confirmed slightly high free chlroine although I didn’t see the reading.
The pH is extremely low, we did add some pH increaser this morning and will retest later this evening.