Hello from Southern Indiana (Louisville KY area). I'm new to the forum. If I've got this set up right, most of the info about my pool is in my signature. This is my 3rd season opening pool - my first pool. Replaced liner first season so its just a couple years old. Had no problems opening last year. This year had tons of algae in pool and it took lots of chemicals and vacuuming to get it cleaned up. Now the water is clear, pool is clean, but has 0 free chlorine. Chlorinator seems to be working normally. Total chlorine is 4.1, CYA is 19. My local store did some kind of extended analysis on my water that says I need 49 bags of shock - that my water has some kind of issue with bacteria consuming all the chlorine and they are recommending draining the pool significantly, adding fresh water and testing again. Does any of this make sense?
New to TFP and chemistry question
- Thread starter donleo
- Start date
Welcome to the forum. NO.....it doesn't make sense! You need to order one of our recommended test kits and read up on how to SLAM that rascal in Pool School. I'd keep 3 to 5 FC in there using liquid bleach until your test kit arrives. The PoolMath radio button at the top is your friend. Any idea what your PH is? We'd fix that first.
You've been "pool-stored", a borderline criminal act to steal your money.
Pay close attention to this website and spend your money on better things. First thing is your own test kit with the speed stir option, best pool money you can spend.
Pay close attention to this website and spend your money on better things. First thing is your own test kit with the speed stir option, best pool money you can spend.
I forgot to mention that I did add 5 bags of shock and next day, still 0 free chlorine, but there was dead algae in bottom of pool.
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Sorry - yes 7.0
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Sorry - yes 7.0
The test kit is always the first suggestion, sometimes hard to swallow the expense right away but to me its like driving a car at night without headlights. Yes, you can do it but it is slow, painful and could be really expensive. You are only able to react to the situation vs. being able to be proactive and head off issues and problems before they take over your pool and free time. You will not regret the test kit and understanding your pool better.
Good to see your pH is in a safe place. I would take woody's advice, buy some liquid bleach and try to raise FC until the test kit arrives.
Good to see your pH is in a safe place. I would take woody's advice, buy some liquid bleach and try to raise FC until the test kit arrives.
Thanks. I'll get the test kit on order right away and start adding bleach until I get some FC to register on my strips.
you won't regret it.
My pool opened clean and I ordered the test kit, used it and became a supporter....
I will probably take a sample to my local dealer once my pool is dialed in, just to mess with them
then again, my TA is 250 so I am sure there will be some crazy product they will want to sell me....in all reality, they haven't been bad and since they installed last year, gave us all the chemicals for free.
Sounds like a plan! I spent a week or so down in Princeton, IN area last fall, nice area. A ways west of you, but i could still smell the bourbon a little
So, I'm back. Still having issues - here is what I have done. I did drain about 1/3 of the water and replaced with fresh. Got the test kit. It was very helpful in that it did show me that I have 0.5 FC, not none, as I had thought. Starting point was CC - 3ppm, CYA is low - near 0. Water temp is 64 degrees (we've seen 2 days of sunshine all of May in Louisville with average temps 20 degrees below avg and constant rain - 5 days of of every 7 - but enough whining about the weather). Over the last 2 days I have added 4 gal of liquid chlorine (pool shock strength, not regular bleach). Today is finally sunny and here are the readings from today: FC - 0.5, CC - 0.5 (today is very sunny - finally - so with my low CYA it is not surprising that the total chlorine is way down), CYA - still very low Since I refilled the pool (a couple days ago) I have had the chlorinator cranked up to 5. Tablets are being consumed ,but at a slower rate than I would expect turned up to 5. Curious to me that CYA is not going up (hasn't since I started testing a couple weeks ago) since everything I read about tablets is that they are supposed to raise CYA.
Water is crystal clear and looks great. When I shock it, after a while, a little bit of dead algae shows up in the bottom of the pool, but not much. What is bothering me is that it seems like no matter how much chlorine I put in, and no matter what form (tabs plus liquid) the FC won't budge, and is not up to where it should be. Should I worry about this, or should I just leave things alone for a while.
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Forgot to mention - I got the TF-100 test kit.
Water is crystal clear and looks great. When I shock it, after a while, a little bit of dead algae shows up in the bottom of the pool, but not much. What is bothering me is that it seems like no matter how much chlorine I put in, and no matter what form (tabs plus liquid) the FC won't budge, and is not up to where it should be. Should I worry about this, or should I just leave things alone for a while.
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Forgot to mention - I got the TF-100 test kit.
Quit shocking, it doesn't do what you need to do.
Start SLAM-ing now that you have a test kit.
Start SLAM-ing now that you have a test kit.
