Chlorine, in... and gone!

[wagonmeister]

Pool; ABG 15', 22000L
Ive been trying to get my water levels straight for couple of weeks since opening my pool ( maybe 3 weeks ago). Ive been bringing my water to get tested at my local pool shop and things dont seem to be getting better.
The water is clear and all levels appear to be fine. But chlorine is just getting eaten up within less than 24 hrs.
Im going to get it tested again tomorrow and can post the actual levels. But its been several cycles of Ta+, PH-, and decent amounts of chlorine. When I test 1hour after chlorine, everything seems great (even really high levels of chlorine). But within 18hrs, chlorine levels are down back to 0,1.
I've asked the pool shop about shocking but they have brushed it off, telling me to keep adding chlorine. Im often away for 15+hr periods, so I dont have time to add chlorine every x amount of hours.
Anyone have any advice? I will update pool test levels tomorrow.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

What's your CYA level? Stabilizer helps maintain FC against the normal ravages of the sun..... normal daily loss of FC is 2-4ppm, so how high is your FC before the sun hits it and burns it off?

We need a full set of test results (from a decent kit, not the pool store)
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Maddie

 

[wagonmeister]

Here are the previous two tests I did at pool store;

06-20-2017;
FC; 0.1
CC; --
pH; 8,0
TA; 86
CH; 225
CYA; 3

06-21-2017
after raising Ta and lowering PH, and adding a cup of chlorine (added the night before)
FC; 0,1
CC; --
pH; 8,1
TA; 142
CA; 235
CYA; 1

06-23-2017
been two days of putting 1 1/2 cup of chlorine at night. Yesterday late afternoon there was no more chlorine.
this morning (from what I have at home to test);
FC; 1.0
PH; above 8,1
TH; 500
TA; 120
BR; 1

I may go test it again as I have to pick up some pH- at the store. I will post results if I do.
but from what I can see It may be low CYA? What can I do to raise this?

 

[FattyLumpkin]

Hi wagonmeister -- you raise CYA by adding stabilizer (cyanuric acid). However, the very first step I would take is to get a good test kit ordered and on its way. One of the tenets of the TFP approach is proper testing done by the owner, not a pool store. Many use the TF-100 (link in my signature), but there are others as well.

Not sure on your water temp in Quebec, but I'd definitely get some additional chlorine in there ASAP to avoid letting algae take hold. A quart and 2 oz. (32 oz.) of 8.25% bleach will yield you about 4ppm FC. But if algae is already going, and you also have no CYA, that would explain the no FC... organics + the sun with no CYA can easily burn through 4ppm in a day. You could try adding even more bleach / chlorine than that, but until you have a good test kit to use, you're likely going to struggle to get the right balance. You could also assume you have no CYA and add ~15oz. of stabilizer to get you to roughly 20 until you get your test kit, which would help hold the FC (at least the portion being consumed by UV). I wouldn't add more as you don't want to overshoot -- better to add in increments than to be high where you have to drain and refill to lower it.

I'd also recommend you familiarize yourself with Pool School -- tons of really important information in there if you're going to maintain your pool yourself.

Good luck!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Fatty's right, Wagonmeister. You need to be doing your own testing. No one here trusts the pool store tests (they rush, they don't know what things mean, they contradict themselves each time you go in, etc) and their main focus is on making a sale. Why else would they do water tests for free, if it didn't make them money in the end?
The Taylor K-2006 (possibly C version, hope so!) is available in CA. The nicer kit-TF-100 can't ship there for some reason.

Get your own kit and start reading Pool School. Your pool is at high risk for an algae outbreak if it hasn't already. I'd put 1/2 gallon of liquid chlorine in daily until you can get the test kit.

Your CYA needs to go up.... didn't the pool store tell you that?? Or other wise you're just wasting money pouring chlorine in as a love offering to the sun gods.

Maddie

 

[wagonmeister]

Thanks for the replies. I went back to the pool shop yesterday for another test. They brought up the low CYA being the reason for chlorine getting eaten up so fast. They sold me some "pro balance UV" to get the levels right.
I understand the general consensus about pool shops, and have been avoiding the bigger stores. I've been dealing with a small family owned shop and, although they missed the low CYA the first times around, they have been helping quite abit.
I will definitely look into getting my own test kit, as Well as going through the pool school

yesterday's results 06-23-2017;
FC; 0,5
pH; 8.3
TA; 136
CA; 255
CYA; 3

if chlorine stays stable I will most likely not get tested at the shop again. I will look at what pool kit I can get in Canada.

thanks for the help!

 

[FattyLumpkin]

Great. The Pro Balance is stabilizer (CYA). Did they tell you to add the whole thing? Just concerned that your pool isn't very big, and CYA is a pain to lower if you overshoot.

 

[ping]

I believe you need to buy your kit, Taylor K-1766, from, http://www.piscines-apollo.com/cubecart/index.php/test-kits/k-2006/p_3.html. They are in Quebec.

 

[wagonmeister]

Ping, I will look into that kit.

FattyLumkin, I added 1 1/2 cup. Directions on the bottle label show that I should be adding 600g to raise by 30.