cant hold chlorine

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Jluke120

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Jun 20, 2016
72
Feasterville/PA
I bought my house 4 yrs. ago that has an inground pool. I am a novice pool owner and did not have any problems the first two years. Last yr when i opened it, it did not hold chlorine when I first opened it. I had to triple shock it twice and everything was fine. I had the same problem this yr. and the pool still will not hold chlorine. I usually did whatever the pool store told me to do, but I have spent more money this yr. than the past three years combined. The last time I was there they told me I have nitrates, and that's why my pool is not holding chlorine. I found this website and it has really opened my eyes. I was looking around on the website and found some interesting information. I finally bought my own test kit, but am a little nervous using it. I am at my wits end trying to keep chlorine in this pool and am also tired of shelling out a ton of money and nothing is happening. My pool is a little cloudy right now, when I got the water tested here were the results:
FC-0
TA-80
PH-8.0
Hardness-300
Nitrates-15
This is the first time my Ph was high. I need help. I need a step by step process of what I need to do. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Welcome to TFP! Glad to have you here.

I'll give you two links...

One for the basics of chemistry that we follow here:

abc-of-pool-water-chemistry

And one for the process you need to follow now since your pool is cloudy and you have no FC.

SLAM - shock level and maintain

What we practice here is in conflict with Pool Store advice. Its about understanding what your pool needs and what chemical additions will do to your pool. You will need to follow our recommendations or those of the Pool Store, following both won't work. That also means not letting them test your water. Trust your results.

Please post your results in the following format for us to begin:

FC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

If you are all in with our methods, you will be chlorinating with plain old bleach going forward. Testing and dosing daily. And your pool will be Trouble Free.
 
With CYA at 40 your FC needs to be above 3 at all times, [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. When FC drops below 3 the pool is unsanitary, algae, bacteria, viruses and pathogens can grow and the there is increased risk of person to person disease transmission.

Often when there is difficulty maintaining chlorine it is because algae is growing in the pool. The easiest way to determine if there is algae growing in the pool is to do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. If it doesn't pass then kill the algae using this process, SLAM Process.
 
So I added the correct amount of chlorine to do the OCLT that should take me from 0 to 5 FC. I let it circulate into the pool and then tested for FC. It only showed up as 1.4. I definitely have the right pool measurements and depth. What am I doing wrong?
 

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Jluke120 said:
Just so I understand this. After putting in the initial dose of bleach, should I test and make sure I am at shock level? After that, how many times do you recommend I test throughout the day to make sure I stay at that level?
Click to expand...

As much as you can, ideally every hour until you hold chlorine longer. Leave the pump running 24/7, check your pressure and brush. Brushing is really important brush, brush, brush.
 
With your CYA of 40, you'll want to increase FC to 16 with regular bleach. Let it mix for about 10 minutes then check again to see if it's holding at 16. You may need to do it that way (if you can every 10-15 minutes) for the first 2-3 times just to make sure the FC is holding its own because when you first start a SLAM the FC might want to drop quickly. Eventually you'll be able to back-off of the testing so frequently. Once the FC begins to hold better, you might be able to just test mid-morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, then evening. You'll see a pattern that works for you based on FC drop. Good luck!
 
You want to test and dose back to shock level as often as is feasible for you. If you have to work, test/dose before work, when you get home and before bed. If you are able to go home at lunch and do it again, that's a bonus. The more often you can get the FC level back to shock, the faster the SLAM will go. But everyone has time constraints, it will still work testing/dosing less often. Good luck and keep us updated!
 

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