Shocking Bromine Pool

[Belo]

Hello all. I inherited a bromine pool about 3 weeks ago. The water has been clear and as a former above ground chlorine owner I'm learning my way through this pool as the season winds down. The water is clear and I haven't had any issues really.

The previous owner uses a brominator and mentioned that he tests the water but other than balancing nothing extra. I only have his leftover expired test strips and very old taylor drops so I headed to the pool store with a sample to get it tested.

I received
bromine - 0
pH - 6.6
Alk - 18

So they sell me about $80 worth of pak100 and I slowly add it over the course of about 6 hours on Saturday. Sunday I add about 3lbs. of pH plus by HTH https://www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-pH-Plus/17043635 (yeah I know it's probably junk but I had it left over from old pool). Box said I needed quite a bit more than that. It turns my clear pool cloudy.

I also checked my brominator which I thought was still pretty full and it was really low on tabs. Cleaned out the unit which has some sand from a bad multiport, adjusted the screen and filled it back up.

My thought is bromine was out because of bad balance and also low on feeder, but I read I can and should? shock with chlorine shock to bring levels up. Thoughts and product recommendations to do so? I have some of this stuff left over from last years above ground. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Clorox-Pool-Spa-Clorox-Pool-spa-Shock-Xtra-Blue-8-For-6/123012519

water is almost back to clear today after keeping the filter on and adding some natural clarify, but not sparkling like before.

thanks in advance.

 

[Donldson]

Without more accurate test results (no strips, no pool store) I can't offer any specific information, but here are just some general observations:

1. Pak100 is just baking soda, you could have gotten the same amount for less than $20. pH Plus is fine, it is sodium carbonate and will raise your pH and TA. It can cause temporary cloudiness due to the quickly decreasing pH reacting with the calcium in the water, it clears up on its own.

2. You can use chlorine to raise bromine levels, it raises it at the rate of 1 ppm FC = 2.25 ppm Br.

3. Bromine is not used up by having acidic water, that is not the cause of your Br demand. Sunlight burning the bromine off is part of it, something unavoidable for outdoor bromine pools. There are also likely organics in the water that took root while the bromine level was zero.

4. The dichlor shock you have has copper in it, something we (and I especially) strongly recommend avoiding adding to pools due to its staining potential. I would toss it and stick to liquid chlorine for SLAMing.

 

[borjis]

All I can add is, be careful of how quickly you raise the ph.

The first house/pool I bought had ph at the same level yours is at, I added all it needed within a week
then had metal staining. (from copper algecides the previous owner had used)

I've read on this forum that if you do it more gradually then it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Belo]

thanks for the advice guys. I really wish I hadn't inherited the bromine pool, but seems my next opportunity to change is when I do a liner, and this one is only 2 years old. I have some leftover taylor kits from previous owner but don't know how old the reagents are. I did a very small dose of the ph plus and the older strips I have look like the pH is good, but the taylor drops are like bright red. I'm going to have the pool store test again. I think my alkalinity might be too high as well now according to the strips, not sure how bad that is?

I did end up using 1 lb of the shock last night (bottled recommends 2 lb), and this morning my bromine levels are a much, much brighter yellow. I'm not a fan of these strips and bottles as I feel the color ratings are subjective and I'm not really sure how high the level is. I wish there was a reliable digital meter. Anyhow I'm going to test the water again today before anyone swims in it.

I have read a lot on this site the last few days and am definitely switching to the bleach and baking soda methods going forward. Good to know about the copper too. thanks again.