Itchy Skin: How's my water chemistry?

[D2creative]

Long story short, i seem to be the only one in the family experiencing what appears from my research to be "chlorine rash". Immediately after spending some time in the pool I get itchy areas on my skin, which turns into a bumpy rash from itching. And it's fairly symmetrical on my body. If it's on the right elbow, it will be on the left elbow, etc. Sometimes my eyes are a little itchy but not always.
What's odd is that I've never had a chlorine reaction before in home pools or public pools, traditional chlorine or saltwater. So besides going to the doc (started yesterday) I'm trying to see if there is anything going on with my water chemistry. It's just me, no one else, but maybe my skin is just more sensitive.
This is a brand new pool for us this season.

Here are my current levels using my Taylor kit...

FC - 2.4 (this is down from 6ppm when this first started and I thought maybe FC was too high)
CC - .2
pH - 7.2 (this is down from 7.8 when this first started and I thought maybe pH was too high)
TA - 60
CH - 250
CYA - 65
SALT - 2600 (my salt chlorinator display says 3400)

Thanks!

 

[Bperry]

Long story short, i seem to be the only one in the family experiencing what appears from my research to be "chlorine rash". Immediately after spending some time in the pool I get itchy areas on my skin, which turns into a bumpy rash from itching. And it's fairly symmetrical on my body. If it's on the right elbow, it will be on the left elbow, etc. Sometimes my eyes are a little itchy but not always.
What's odd is that I've never had a chlorine reaction before in home pools or public pools, traditional chlorine or saltwater. So besides going to the doc (started yesterday) I'm trying to see if there is anything going on with my water chemistry. It's just me, no one else, but maybe my skin is just more sensitive.
This is a brand new pool for us this season.

Here are my current levels using my Taylor kit...

FC - 2.4 (this is down from 6ppm when this first started and I thought maybe FC was too high)
CC - .2
pH - 7.2 (this is down from 7.8 when this first started and I thought maybe pH was too high)
TA - 60
CH - 250
CYA - 65
SALT - 2600 (my salt chlorinator display says 3400)

Thanks!

Many times CC is what causes skin reactions. Your FC number is pretty low. Keeping the FC up a more appropriate level may help clear out the CC. If you have a pool cover, removing it would help with that as well. With 70CYA you should keep FC at absolute minimum of 3 and ideally 5-10. Don’t let the pH go below 7.0. Other than that the numbers look ok.

 

[D2creative]

Many times CC is what causes skin reactions. Your FC number is pretty low. Keeping the FC up a more appropriate level may help clear out the CC. If you have a pool cover, removing it would help with that as well. With 70CYA you should keep FC at absolute minimum of 3 and ideally 5-10. Don’t let the pH go below 7.0. Other than that the numbers look ok.

ok, i'll bring the FC level back up. And to be clear, after I test for FC and then add the next drop for the CC test, the sample shouldn't turn pink at all?

 

[proavia]

Use the FC/CYA Levels to determine the appropriate FC level for your CYA.
The CYA scale is logarithmic, not linear. It isn't possible to read a CYA of 65. If the CYA reading falls between any two lines, round up. Your CYA is 70.

What you are describing is usually a LACK of sufficient chlorine or high CC. With your CC being only 0.2, it probably isn't the issue.

Using the same water sample - immediately after the FC test is complete, add 5 drops of R-0003. If the sample turns even the slightest shade of pink, titrate using the R-0871 until clear (each drop is 0.2 with a 25ml water sample and 0.5 with a 10ml water sample). If you let the sample sit too long, it will turn pink again - the test is complete the FIRST time the sample goes clear. After adding the R-003, if the sample stays clear, you have no CC.

Consider using a 10ml sample for the FC and CC test. It will save on reagents and is accurate enough for our purposes.

 

[Newdude]

Everybody wants to blame the chlorine, but the pool is less harsh than your municipal water which has no CYA and up to 4 ppm FC. If you developed an aversion to chlorine, you'd feel it in the shower long before noticing it in the pool, if you noticed it in the pool at all.

It's generally the lack of adequate chlorine that causes irritation and rashes.

 

[D2creative]

Using the same water sample - immediately after the FC test is complete, add 5 drops of R-0003. If the sample turns even the slightest shade of pink, titrate using the R-0871 until clear (each drop is 0.2 with a 25ml water sample and 0.5 with a 10ml water sample). If you let the sample sit too long, it will turn pink again - the test is complete the FIRST time the sample goes clear. After adding the R-003, if the sample stays clear, you have no CC.

That is exactly what I do. It turns pink but one drop turns it back to clear immediately.

CYA is kinda hard because you are watching for that black dot to disappear. Its always hard to tell when its just at that point of being gone.

 

[proavia]

That is exactly what I do. It turns pink but one drop turns it back to clear immediately.

CYA is kinda hard because you are watching for that black dot to disappear. Its always hard to tell when its just at that point of being gone.

For the CYA test, try this.

• Mix up a 50-50 solution of pool water and R-0013
• Outside, back to the sun
• Fill the tube to 100 line
• Hold tube at waist level at the top with just your thumb and index finger
• Glance into the top of the tube - glance, don't stare
• If you see the dot with a glance, fill to the next line on the tube
• Rinse, repeat until you can't see the dot.
• If you can see the dot at 70 and can't see the dot at 60 - your CYA is 70 as we round up.

You can pour the solution back into the mixing bottle and do the test numerous times to get a better feel for it.
Some do this method three times and take the average.

Remember - DON"T STARE looking for the dot.... just GLANCE.