we had a deluge yesterday in Houston....

[DMS2014]

I spent the day in a windowless conference room with no idea what was going on until I got home and saw the water all the way up past the tiles to the coping! I started draining water and I am STILL draining some this morning.

However, I did a quick test on the pool and chlorine is only 1ppm. I dumped what was left of our concentrated bleach in. I have to go to work and I don't have time right now to research how to fix it - usually the husband does it but he's out of town.

Shouldn't the SWC be taking care of this?!!

We are supposed to get more rain today.

 

[Texas Splash]

Your SWG should be generating the required amount of chlorine (FC). 1ppm is of course quite low. You probably need it around 3-5. If you added regular bleach, that probably helped, but it may go low again later. Perhaps your SWG has a "boost" feature to help get you through the day until you return?

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If you suspect that the SWG is having problems and you can't do anything until your husband returns, you can always keep a couple gallons of bleach on-hand and add a few cups periodically as needed to keep the FC between 3-5.

 

[DMS2014]

thanks - it has NEVER been that low - that I can remember. We just had our SWG looked at - it's new but it wasn't working right after the last deluge we had Memorial Day weekend. it was recalibrated. Obviously all the rain diluted the SWC. I have no idea how hard or fast the water came - maybe it just needs time to catch up? IDK.

The pool looks so weird when the water is up so high. I've got it down to a manageable level now so the skimmers can work.

I have been testing the water regularly. I have everything written down. When I have more time, I will do a complete test but I wanted to wait until after the rain passes. If it doesn't rain, I will do it. It's not looking so good now...

 

[DMS2014]

I just looked at the SW chlorine chart again. Our CYA has NEVER been above 60. Our chlorine has pretty much been 3. we test every week. Our pH has always been a little high too. We find ourselves adding acid. just sayin....

 

[jblizzle]

The SWG is dialed in for normal chlorine maintenance ... when something unusual happens (like a big storm putting debris in the water or a big party) it will not automatically add extra FC to compensate ... that is why you test and adjust often. Just supplement with bleach and hopefully the SWG will be able to maintain levels.

 

[Texas Splash]

Please do as Jason recommends, and also consider watching your CYA level closely. The reason TFP recommends a slightly higher CYA rate for SWG systems is to help protect that relatively low FC level and to save service life of the SWG cells so they aren't working exceptionally hard to create more FC. TFP recommends a CYA of 70-80 for SWG pools. Hope all of this makes sense and helps.

 

[DMS2014]

I called PB yesterday and he told me to put the SWC on super chrlorinate for 2 hours. Did that for an hour something before pump shut off for the night. My bad. Anyway, husband is back. FC is 1.5. CYA is 40. We now need to add bleach, I am guessing, to raise the chlorine up.

 

[Texas Splash]

Yes, definitely try to get that FC up quick. Regular (HEB or Wal-Mart) generic bleach is fine. It's crazy hot again today here in TX and it won't be long before algae sets-in at a low FC level. You can do that until you "crack the code" on that SWG and get it dialed-in the way you like. Don't forget to raise that CYA slightly to 70-80 as well to protect your free chlorine. Enjoy your weekend.

 

[DMS2014]

husband is off to buy more bleach and some CYA as we speak and yes it's hot! I just inspected the pool for algae. So far i don't see any to to the naked, sunglassed eye

 

[pooldv]

I find it is generally easier to supplement with bleach from time to time rather than tweak the SWG so often. When we have pool parties or higher than normal chlorine usage I just add a few ppm of bleach. Then only adjust the SWG as the seasons change.