cloudiness and burning eyes

[domct203]

Was a cloudy day. The SWG would have made enough chlorine to offset any loss.

Water is crystal clear when looking at it. Only cloudy when I put my head in there. Didn't want to do that since my eyes are still irritated.


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OK, so it was not that there was no FC loss, it was that the SWG was able to maintain FC, two very different situations.

A good judge of clarity is the "quarter test". Throw a quarter in the deep and see if you can tell heads or tails while standing at the edge.

Also, there is no visible algae, dead or alive, correct?

If you want to judge the water clarity while in the water you really need a mask.

Dom

 

[Dustballs]

No visible algae, dead or alive. Will do the quarter test tomorrow morning.


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[domct203]

No visible algae, dead or alive. Will do the quarter test tomorrow morning.


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Sounds like you are well on your way to a TFP! You know, we all love pics !

While the quarter isn't the end all clarity test, it's a good indicator.

For me, if I looked up 'water clarity' in the dictionary I would expect to see that picture of chem geek's pool where the water is so clear the darn pool look empty!

To me, that is the epitome of 'crystal clear'.

Dom

 

[Dustballs]

So I had my wife take a sample to Leslie's. They also confirmed that there is no stabilizer in the water.

They also said that the chlorine has broken down. I believe chem geek mentioned something like that as the reason for not having any stabilizer.

If that's the case how can I get this all back in order? Just add stabilizer?

Thanks


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[JoyfulNoise]

Well you definitely do not want to swim in a pool with no CYA. The active chlorine level will be so high that you suits will fade and you eyes will sting (as you found out). So yes, job #1 is to get your stabilizer up to recommended levels.


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[Dustballs]

Wife will be sending a close up pic. From the distance you can see the dolphin at the bottom.


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[domct203]

That's a beautiful pool!

For chlorine to break down CYA from 70ppm to 0 over 4 or 5 weeks the FC level needs to be very high (way higher than anything TFP would recommend).

you really need to get that CYA up, but do yourself a favor, do it in two steps. There is some strange testing anomaly here and I would hate to see you over-shoot. Add enough for 30-40ppm into a sock, put it in the skimmer and re-test 3-4 days after the sock is empty. If everything goes as expected add more as needed to reach goal.

Dom

 

[Dustballs]

Thanks. I try to keep it looking good

As mentioned earlier I just completed my second slam in a month. I tested CYA before the first one and went about a week or 2 in between slams.

Reason being everyone wanted to use the pool so I let the FC levels drift back down before passing OCLT.

When I did the second slam I didn't do another CYA test and assumed no changes since I read CYA doesn't burn off. So I was slamming at 28FC and after a week I passed OCLT.

I did notice that in the first slam the water didn't turn clear, it had a brownish tint to it when doing the FC test. It's back to being clear now.

I wonder if something happened and with the high FC and no CYA, the chlorine broke down??

I will add stabilizer to bring it up to 40 ppm. Does the broken down chlorine fixes itself after stabilizer is added?


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[Dustballs]

Closer look at the pool.


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[BuckeyeChris]

what brand of pucks or stabilizer have you been using?

 

[pabeader]

Nice!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You shouldn't keep porpoises in your pool, it's not sanitary

Stabilizer protects chlorine from UV degradation and it buffers the chlorine by weakly bonding to it and holding it in reserve to be released as the active chlorine (hypochlorous acid and, to a lesser extent, hypochlorite) gets used up when it oxidizes organics or kills pathogens. When the CYA is 0, the chlorine you add immediately becomes either hypochlorous acid or hypochlorite. The hypochlorite is quickly destroyed by UV from sunlight (half life is like 20mins) and the hypochlorous acid reacts with anything and everything in the water. The harsh eye stinging is from the hypochlorous acid.

You absolutely need stabilizer in the water to moderate the strength of the chlorine or else the hypochlorous acid levels will be too high and they can sicken you. There was a thread recently of a woman who swam in a pool with no CYA and very high FC levels and she suffered intoxication sickness from the hypochlorous acid reacting with the organics from her skin (sweat) which formed chloroform.


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[JoyfulNoise]

Oh, and if you are running an SWG pool, then your minimum stabilizer level should be more like 70ppm, not 40ppm.


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[Dustballs]

what brand of pucks or stabilizer have you been using?

No pucks. Will be using the brand Home Depot sells.


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[Dustballs]

Oh, and if you are running an SWG pool, then your minimum stabilizer level should be more like 70ppm, not 40ppm.


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Yup. Will be doing it over stages.


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[pabeader]

Good plan. Don't want to overshoot if you can avoid it.

 

[Dustballs]

Pool math says I need to add 85oz of stabilizer. What's the best way to measure this considering that the stabilizer isn't liquid?


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[JoyfulNoise]

It's measured in weight. I have an old digital kitchen scale that I use which measures to the nearest 0.1 oz. i put a skimmer sock or nylon in a painters quart container and then measure out ~ 2lbs into the sock. It's a bit elaborate but it works for me.

I have found that the bioguard brand of CYA sold at Patio pools roughly measures equivalent weight to volume (since its a granular product, weight to volume ratios vary with powder size). So if I use my painters quart container then 32oz by volume roughly equals 32oz by weight.

The TFP preferred method is to measure the CYA into a sock or nylon and then hang it in front of return until it is fully dissolved. NEVER add the granules directly to your skimmer.


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[Dustballs]

Wow that's 85 oz is equivalent to 5lbs 5 oz. I'll use a bathroom scale since that's the only scale I have. Don't think I have 5 lbs of stabilizer tho.

What do you use to hang it in front of a return jet? Just so I'm not confused, earlier it was mention to put the sock in the skimmer, is this the basket by the pump? Or by where I would connect the vacuum?

Thanks


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[pabeader]

There is some debate about skimmer vs return. My preference would be return if you are able to that. I fear that skimmer is bad for the basket. But I have no scientific evidence to support this.
Skimmer refers to the one at the pool. Usually the other one is called the pump basket. No matter which way you choose, put it in a sock of some type and give it a squeeze once in a while to help it dissolve quicker.


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