Chlorine Block

[Gkrea]

Hi all,

i am am new to this site and am so glad I found it. I have a 38,000 gallon in ground pool with a sand filter , vinyl liner, and salt generator. When I opened it it was green, it is now cloudy and the stores tell me I have a chlorine block, high copper and low alkalinity. These are my most recent water test results:

free chlorine .23ppm
tot. Chlorine. 2.12
combined chlorine 1.89
ph. 6.3
hardnesd 47
alkalinity 9
cyn acid 54
copper 1
iron .3
phophate 320

i was told to add 60lbs of alkalinity, mineral stain out and non-chlorine shock. I would greatly appreciate
any advice. Thank you!!

 

[AimeeH]

HI. Welcome to TFP

There really isn't any such thing as "chlorine block." And unfortunately we don't trust pool store test results much. To clear your water you need to SLAM the pool. You will need a proper test kit to get through the process.

Shock
Level
And maintain

Have you had a chance to browse any of the articles in pool school. I reccomend these.

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Pool School - Test Kits Compared

Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain

 

[welbo]

Hello Gkrea! Welcome to the forum!

I am not an expert, but just a beginner here but I've seen the responses to new folks that I can get the ball rolling...

First, you need a good test kit - Taylor TF-100 with XL or K-2006C will do it. The tests in the cheap I kits just won't be accurate enough. I learned the hard way.

Second, the pH, if that is correct, is waaaay low. My method for fixing it would be to add baking soda and aeriate the water. But that may be low enough to warrant a more drastic fix.

The high CC tells me your chlorine is working hard and needs help- from more chlorine. Get to the pool school and read about the SLAM method to get the chlorine level up to shock levels and clear the water up.

That's some first steps. I know the experts will chime in shortly with more precise directions.

 

[AimeeH]

Baking soda will raise TA with little effect to PH.

Yes both those numbers in your post are extremely low which is one reason I'm suspect of the test results.

I think usually you can find a test kit to test PH and TA locally retail. But what you'll be missing is the fas-dpd and CYA tests. Both of these tests are imperative to maintaining your own water and clearing it up. That is what we advocate here. Yes, you'll spend money on a test kit up front but you will never need to blindly throw away money on chemicals while not understanding why the pool store is telling you to add them.

There will be many people here to answer questions if you need it.

 

[Gkrea]

Thank you all for the advice. I will read the suggested articles and pick up a good test kit today.

 

[tim5055]

Thank you all for the advice. I will read the suggested articles and pick up a good test kit today.

You are not going,to find one of the recomended test kits locally. They need to be ordered as no pool,store stocks them. They will tell you what they sell is all you need, or what they sell will work. They are wrong.

As to the pH, they are generally close on that. I'm going to,guess you use 3" tabs to chlorinate and shock the pool each week with powder. Both of those are acidic,and have driven your pH way too low. You need to use 20 Mule Team Borax to gat that number back up in the 7's.

You really need to order a test kit today so you have it ASAP.