New To Process

[BrooksPiggott]

Hi all, been reading tons of posts for months while we had our pool built. Thanks so much for all of the great information here!

We started with the Rainbow chlorinator, but now that CYA is around 45 it sounded like a good time to turn off the rainbow and go full BBB. (That and I didn't want to turn the pump up higher or run it longer just to keep up)

Here were my test numbers using TF-100 kit:

FC: 2
CC: 0
pH: 7.5
CYA: 45
TA: 110
CH: 250

Per pool math I dumped in a 121 oz jug of bleach to get from 2 to 7. Tested about an hour later (ran pump on high and brushed a bit to get it mixed) and now my FC is reading 10. PH went up a bit too, but I'm assuming that's because the FC is high.

Do I assume that the bleach hasn't dispersed fully yet and I tested too soon, or am I missing something else I should have taken into account?

 

[Texas Splash]

The bleach should be mixed fine within about 15-20 min. You might want to double-check the percentage you used in the Poolmath Calculator. You have to manually enter 6%, 8.25%, etc, depending on what you used. From there, watch and compare each test you do when you add bleach, or acid, to see how the levels respond to your projected goal/target. Perhaps the volume of your pool is a little larger (or smaller) that initially anticipated.

By the way .... WELCOME TO TFP! and thanks for becoming a supporter.

 

[BrooksPiggott]

Ok, it was 8.25% bleach from Sam's that we bought today. Poolmath says 111oz, and I added the whole jug of 121oz, which should have added 5.3 FC, but it went up 8.

The pool is around 16k gallons... it may be 15 or it may be 17, but according to poolmath it would have to be only 10k gallons to have that large of an effect.

I'll test again here in a bit and see if I can repeat.

 

[MarianParoo]

My pool takes longer to circulate (at least an hour and sometimes even two). Perhaps you hit a hot spot. Is there a date code (5 digit number) on that bleach?

 

[BrooksPiggott]

Retested several times from different parts of the pool. Got readings of 12 and even 13 in some spots. The chlorinator still had pucks in it but was turned off... just in case I removed pucks. We were also filling from hose, but I tested that water and got zero FC. It's certainly possible it was adding some at some point over the last hour, but still even with the chlorinator on and FC coming from city water, going from 2-10 in an hour, and then to 13 in another hour seems off to me.

Bleach is Clorox 3 pack from Sam's club 8.3%. Code stamped is A5 16 070 TX-1 06:52.

Pool is approx 16x32 4.5" depth with another 80 square feet of 9" tanning ledge, so my estimates put that around 16k gallons.

Maybe the bleach is all sitting on top of the water and not getting mixed in? I try going a foot down, but maybe I'm still not deep enough.

 

[MarianParoo]

Naw, the bleach would circulate. Is 4.5 the actual water depth?

 

[Richard320]

Retested several times from different parts of the pool. Got readings of 12 and even 13 in some spots. The chlorinator still had pucks in it but was turned off... just in case I removed pucks. We were also filling from hose, but I tested that water and got zero FC. It's certainly possible it was adding some at some point over the last hour, but still even with the chlorinator on and FC coming from city water, going from 2-10 in an hour, and then to 13 in another hour seems off to me.

Bleach is Clorox 3 pack from Sam's club 8.3%. Code stamped is A5 16 070 TX-1 06:52.

Pool is approx 16x32 4.5" depth with another 80 square feet of 9" tanning ledge, so my estimates put that around 16k gallons.

Maybe the bleach is all sitting on top of the water and not getting mixed in? I try going a foot down, but maybe I'm still not deep enough.

Today is Day 100 of 2016, so that bleach is pretty fresh. They tend to make it a little overstrength to allow for some losses during shipping and warehousing. I wouldn't worry about the high FC level; you're still well below shock level and it's safe to swim in.

The pH could easily have jumped that much because you have fairly high TA. Test again tomorrow and adjust it down to 7.2.

 

[BrooksPiggott]

Thanks all. I tested again this morning and it's still at FC 10. At this point I'm going to assume it was just stronger than normal bleach. Will keep an eye on future bottles.

I lowered PH to 7.0 and am aerating to lower TA.