no chlorine in pool?

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newpool2016

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Jul 31, 2016
2
Manassas/VA
Water looks perfectly clear and has always looked this way since filter has been set up (a few weeks ago-- troubleshooter filter for about a week after pool was set up). pool is brand new this season. I have a SWG going full strength 24 hours per day. salt level has been tested and is appropriate (30,000 ppm, though after last night's rain may be less, but the SWG continues to say the level is correct).

Water looks perfect. My concern is that it is not since the test strips keep saying there is zero chlorine in the water. I decided not to add any CYA because I understand it decreases the sanitizing abilities of the chlorine so I'm thinking it would actually be counter productive at this point. Not sure if I even want to add it at all; just additional unhealthy chemicals in the water.

Has anyone had an experience like this? Who is to say it actually has to reflect chlorine being in the water? I know it is being produced as I can see something cloudy coming out of the SWG at all times.
 
You need to establish your chlorine level and balance the pool right away, clear water does not mean clean water. There are many nasty things that can grow and survive in zero chlorine water. Things much worse than algae. It can take days or weeks to recover from an algae bloom and require many dollars worth of chlorine.

The very first thing to do is order a reliable test kit, dip strips are wildly inaccurate and borderline worthless, probably the one thing worse than free pool store testing. Simple test kits will not do all the tests, only test for low levels of chlorine and can do little more than give you a ballpark result. Get a TF100 or K-2600 kit, these use fas-dpd chlorine drop test are capable of testing accurately and reliably throughout the chlorine range you will find in your pool and can give you the very important combined chlorine level. This is the spent chlorine that remains in the pool. If you have a combined chlorine building then you have problems brewing.

You should have gotten your chlorine up to the correct level using bleach or liquid pool shock before starting up the SWG. It likely does not have the capacity to start up the pool and get the level where it needs to be in a short time, most only have capacity enough to maintain the level. You definitely want to add CYA, that is what protects the chlorine from the sun and people from the chlorine. Without it the sun burns your chlorine off very quickly and the chlorine is much more harsh to people.

Pick up a simple two way test kit and check to see if it registers a FC level, these are inexpensive and will at least tell you if the level is low or high. If it is low, get some bleach, pool chlorinating liquid or liquid pool shock then use the poolmath link at the top of the page to calculate how much to add for your pool size and get your FC level up right away. Do the same with stabilizer to get some CYA in the water. Just because the water looks OK does not mean a thing, if chlorine is low it can turn in a heartbeat.

This is simple chemistry and works the same no matter where you live or how big your pool is, if you don't maintain enough chlorine level it WILL allow things to grow.
 
The lack of CYA is probably at least part of the reason you don't have any chlorine. Without CYA, the sun will rapidly break down your chlorine to the point the SWCG can't keep up.
 
Ok thanks all. I have a liquid drop test kit. I tried it and it also registers no fc or total chlorine at all. There is a small amount of chlorine (as per the test strips) immediately by the SWG. liquid test kit took 4 drops to reach 7.4 ph so apparently I need to add some muriatic acid as well.
 
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