Daily bleach usage

[meber]

This is my first year on BBB, and my pool looks great, thanks to TFP. My question is, I am having to add 1.5 gal of Aldi tundra daily to maintain 6ppm fc, the water temp is 70 deg the daily temp is averaging 65 deg and there is no bather load, is this excessive? Can I reduce this demand by adding the borates? thanks for the help.

fc. 8.0
tc 8.5
ph 7.4
ta 110
cya 50

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Re: Daily bleach usuage

I would recommend you perform an overnight FC test with your FAS-DPD test to see if there is something else going on.

Test after dark, record the results. First thing tomorrow morning, test again and compare the two. If you lose more than 1ppm overnight, you should shock your pool.

Hope this helps.

One other thing to consider, users don't report problems with Aldi's bleach, but there is always the possibility that it's the Aldi bleach, that's not the full 6%, somehow the bleach lost some of it's strength...

 

[duraleigh]

Re: Daily bleach usuage

Yeah, do that overnight test. I'll bet you find you lose more than 1ppm....indicating some algae developing in your pool and the need to shock.

The Sun typically won't consume that much FC with your CYA level so organics (algae) is the only other suspect.

 

[HarryH3]

Re: Daily bleach usuage

Just to give you a data point for comparison, we have borates in our 26K gallon pool and 3 quarts of 6% bleach per day keeps the pool sparkling all summer long. Over the winter it only needed about 3 quarts per week. (No closing for the winter down this way).

 

[meber]

Re: Daily bleach usuage

If I do loose more than 1ppm tonight, how long should I hold shock level?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Re: Daily bleach usuage

Until it holds overnight. So if the level on the morning's test has dropped more than 1. Shock the pool, and keep it at shock level through the day and evening. You may have to add bleach frequently to hold it there. After sunset make sure the pool is at shocklevel, by testing and adding additional bleach if neccessary (test again to ensure shock target was reached) then test again in the morning and compare. You have to keep the pool at shock level until an overnight test shows it holding. This could take one day, two days or several days. Impossible to predict.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[cubbybeave08]

Re: Daily bleach usuage

PoolMom
I noticed that Meber is from Centra Kansas...I noticed that they have been having lots of heavy rain over the past week wouldn't that have something to do with Chlorine loss on a daily basis? Just wondering if that isn't what is causing the loss.

Beave

 

[meber]

Re: Daily bleach usuage

I have not had any heavy rain untill yesterday and last night, therefor I am waiting to do my overnight fc loss untill the heavy rains stop.

 

[meber]

I did the fc overnight loss last night, after dark it was 5.5 and the same this morning. So I am usuing about 4ppm during the day, is that normal or am I still missing something? Thanks

 

[JohnT]

I did the fc overnight loss last night, after dark it was 5.5 and the same this morning. So I am usuing about 4ppm during the day, is that normal or am I still missing something? Thanks

It's not insane, although it's more than I'd expect with your CYA at 50ppm.

 

[chem geek]

If you went from 8 ppm to 4 ppm during the day (is that what happens?) then this is a 50% drop which is often what is seen in summer with 30-40 ppm CYA. So as John says, this isn't insane, though is higher than one would expect this time of year and with your higher CYA level at 50 ppm. Remember that the FC loss during the day from sunlight is proportional to the FC level -- that is, a percentage drop.

 

[meber]

It is more like 9ppm to 5ppm per day, so not quite 50%. If I add the borates, will I use less chlorine or am I able to run at a lower fc level?

 

[chem geek]

That's a very interesting question and depends on exactly what is causing the 4 ppm FC drop. Since there doesn't appear to be a drop overnight, it looks like the drop is almost all from breakdown from sunlight and I do not believe Borates will do anything to help that. Having the CYA level be higher can help, but then you need to maintain a higher FC -- though experiments Mark made and experience from several pool owners has shown that it still results in a net lower FC drop.

The use of Borates can help prevent algae growth so might reduce chlorine usage associated with such growth. I believe I am seeing that in my own pool since I've added Borates recently, but it's too early to tell (I'll be measuring in the next weeks and let y'all know). It's possible that nascent algae growth that chlorine is inhibiting happens more during the day so the Borates might help there, but it wouldn't be by very much -- possibly 0.5 to 1.0 ppm FC at the most.

Richard

 

[korinian]

I use 1.5 gallions of bleach a day when my pool is balanced. It's a big pool though.