It's due to ammonia. It destroys chlorine very fast. There's no easy answer. You just have to keep adding until the ammonia is gone.
It's probably going to take a lot of chlorine, but it will eventually break.
Don't be surprised if the total amount of bleach exceeds 50 gallons.
50 gallons? that's like $150 of bleach!! that's also a lot of hauling back and forth of bleach. is there an alternative?
so what causes ammonia to exist in his pool and not mine? Is there a way to test for ammonia?
Lastly, are you positive this isn't a CYA (bad measuring) or pH level issue? my dad kept saying leslie's told him his CYA was 20, but reading forums here, I told him leslies is notorious always low on CYA.
- - - Updated - - -
Keep adding every 15-20 min until it starts to hold. Dont wait an hour to add chlorine, if you test and its low then add chlorine right away, and retest and add. If you keep adding chlorine fast, this will be over soon. The more you wait to add just adds to your confusion and desperation.
keep at it!
Felipe
the problem is, we didn't even have enough chlorine to do that!
also, why does my taylor k-2006 test indicate FC levels of 1.5-3 for my dad (and i know my test works b/c im slamming my own pool and get proper measurements of 22-25 FC), but Leslie's is telling him it is 10 / off the chart? How can that be??