Chlorine Rash????

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benhiers

Active member
Jul 20, 2011
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We have had pools for a few years, bought a new house this year with a 28 foot round above ground pool. opened it a few weeks ago. Previous owners used Pristine Blue. I drained most of the water down to less than a foot of water and started back with chlorine. Water was good but cloudy. Notices a haze on top of water found out it was pollen, shocked pool got chlorine level up to about 10, most of the pollen was on bottom. Vacuumed it to waste to get it out. Water is great now really clear. Water reading are good. Here is my problem. when my 12 year gets in the pool he breaks out in a bad rash with red welps and itching bad. he can shower and take benadryl and it goes away. I an using the liquid chlorine from wal mart the pool essentials brand. PH was high when I started so added some muratic acid, I do have a chlorine puck in the skimmer.

my readings are
fc 5.7
tc 5.9
cc .14
ph 7.6
hardness 106
alk 100
cya 60
copper .5
iron .2
phosphate 1055

please help. I have read the is such thing as chlorine allergy, but it is very rare. not seeing much in the way of chlorine free pools. I cant have a pool in the yard and tell a 12 year old he cant swim.
 
Try keeping your FC level within the ranges based on your CYA. If your child still gets a rash and dry skin, etc., then I would recommend going to a dermatologist. Also, you can try a sunscreen to protect his body as this may help. Of course, you will go through a little more chlorine usage. Most people do not have sensitivities to higher chlorine levels.

Here at TFP, we do not put too much emphasis on phosphates.
 
It looks like you are trying to rely on pool store testing. That has been proven over and over again to be a bad idea. To really understand your pools water you need to invest in one of the recommended test kits and start taking control of it yourself.
 
Those look like pool store results. Besides the fact that we don't trust them, they can be very wrong depending on travel time. If the sample sloshes around a lot on the drive over, the pH will rise. If it sits in the sun, the FC & CC may dissipate. Your pH could be too low which can irritate skin and eyes, or your CC may be higher than tested.

If you maintain the FC/CYA ratio where we suggest, the actual active chlorine is less than what is allowed in drinking water! So it's probably not really the chlorine that's causing the rash if your son doesn't get it from bathing in tap water. That rash is a common enough problem that the CDC has even named it. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/swimmers/rwi/rashes.html

Most likely the culprit is Combined Chloramines, CC for short. Bleach (or pucks or powdered pool chlorine) is an oxidizer. Combustion also oxidizes things. Consider pool chlorine to be a flameless combustion. If your fire isn't hot enough or isn't getting enough oxygen, it smokes. CC is like the smoke from oxidizing organics in the pool. How do you stop a fire from smoking? Blow on it. More oxygen. Ever seen a blacksmith's forge? To get rid of CC, you give it more bleach. That and sunlight will eradicate the CC. As an aside, that "chlorine" smell you've experienced in public pools and locker rooms? That's CC.
 
jblizzle yes sir,you are correct those are readings from a pool store, I have used this site for a while and do know I need the Taylor test kit just haven't really had problems so thought I didn't need it. But now here I am. I am ordering the kit today.

Catanzaro- will bring chlorine up some tonight. we did take him to the doctor, all they said was it must be a reaction to something..... REALLY would have never guessed that


Richard320 you saying I need more chlorine? that the rash most likely from Combined Chloramines which is from the chlorine working? I see on the chart that my chlorine is a little low based on my cya. but that cya reading is from a pool store.

Rollercoastr- puck coming out tonight soon as I get home. do all pucks have cya in them? I looked at ingredients on these and it is not listed.

Am I good with the liquid chlorine from wal mart? it cost a little more than bleach, but is 10% vs bleach at 6 %?


thank you all. I love this site. I have learned a ton here. when we bought the house they told us the pool was on pristine blue. first thing I thought was I read on TFP that stuff is no good.
 
benhiers said:
jblizzle yes sir,you are correct those are readings from a pool store, I have used this site for a while and do know I need the Taylor test kit just haven't really had problems so thought I didn't need it. But now here I am. I am ordering the kit today.

Catanzaro- will bring chlorine up some tonight. we did take him to the doctor, all they said was it must be a reaction to something..... REALLY would have never guessed that


Richard320 you saying I need more chlorine? that the rash most likely from Combined Chloramines which is from the chlorine working? I see on the chart that my chlorine is a little low based on my cya. but that cya reading is from a pool store.

Rollercoastr- puck coming out tonight soon as I get home. do all pucks have cya in them? I looked at ingredients on these and it is not listed.

Am I good with the liquid chlorine from wal mart? it cost a little more than bleach, but is 10% vs bleach at 6 %?


thank you all. I love this site. I have learned a ton here. when we bought the house they told us the pool was on pristine blue. first thing I thought was I read on TFP that stuff is no good.
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Probably. Can't really say without reliable test results taken quickly after drawing the sample.
 
thanks again guys, will get the kit and post the results of it.
there is no chlorine odor from pool at all

its just weird, he has been in pools since before he could walk, now this is happening, and its him only. both me and my wife have been in it and we are fine.
 
benhiers said:
Am I good with the liquid chlorine from wal mart? it cost a little more than bleach, but is 10% vs bleach at 6 %?
Click to expand...

Some quick math will tell you if it's a good value, but there are two other considerations: age and storage. If it's been stored outside in the sun, and/or the production date is long ago, it's likely that it will have degraded enough to impact the value and effectiveness.
 

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I am not an expert and recommend listening to the expert advice here. Get a test kit and don't trust the pool store. My nephew seems to have a chlorine allergy. He will break out in rash each time in a public pool. He never had problem until last year or two but figured out each time he went swimming in hotel, public pool, etc he was itching afterwards, complained of burning, and then would end up in rash. We have found since I follow guidelines from this site he can swim in my pool typically or last longer than he can in other pools where he re-acts right away. He won't even go to the indoor pool at the healthclub that is brand new and has all kinds of kid stuff since he reacts so much. They have a well at home so water is not chlorinated in regards to bathing. We found a vitamin C spray that he uses right after getting out of the pool that sometimes helps with the reaction in case he tries to swim in my pool for long periods of time.
 
swimcmp said:
You might look into going with SWCG. I had a customer that the 8 year old daughter was allergic to chlorine but was ok with salt chlorination
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Chlorine is chlorine, whether or not it's coming out of a bottle, a tablet, or an SWG. Something else was at play there.

Before suggesting spending a lot of money on a salt water chlorine generator, the OP should explore the correct dosing of chlorine vs. CYA to see if perhaps their child can do alright in a well balanced pool and eliminate the common problems in public pools - that of overchlorination, high levels of CCs, pH imbalance, etc.
 
a little update
I have ordered a the Taylor 2006 kit, will post numbers when it gets here

I let my chlorine drop really low, like 2 ppm according to my walmart chlorine ph test kit, my son got in the pool and still had a rash( but not even near as bad) But then I tested my tap water its almost as much as pool has now. He does not get the rash in the shower. Gonna keep trying different thing to find out why he is breaking out. Going to a friends pool this weekend and see if he does it there.
 
The key is to avoid CC. That is what irritates people and makes people think chlorine is the problem. Chlorine actually solves the problem by eliminating CC. Keep FC above minimum for your CYA at all times to keep you pool sanitary and CC free. [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
 
Finally got my Taylor test kit. Here are results
Fc 1
Cc .5 was barely pink one drop turned clear
Ph 7.6
Ta 120
Ch 160
Cya 45

After test put in a gallon of 10 percent chlorine.letting it run a while and test chlorine again. And then again in the morning.

But after all this think sons rash was from some antibiotics. Pool was just making them worse.
 

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