Chlorine question

[okccsi]

Before I get started.... I understand that I really need to invest in the T100 test kit, but I can't do that for a couple of weeks. For now, I have the $20 6way test kit from walmart.

2days ago I added two pounds of shock and half a bottle of bleach so that I could kill the algae that was in it. That seemed to work, BUT my question is.... I tested my chlorine levels last night and my test kit registered no chlorine.... it may have showed a slight bit close to the .5 mark but even that was hard to see. With that much shock and bleach shouldn't I be registering chlorine? Is the test wrong or do I need to add a full bottle of bleach like Jason's calculator says to?

Please excuse how ignorant this post may sound, I am fairly new to all this pool talk.
Thanks in advance...
Christina

 

[johnfromphilly]

Before I get started.... I understand that I really need to invest in the T100 test kit, but I can't do that for a couple of weeks. For now, I have the $20 6way test kit from walmart.

2days ago I added two pounds of shock and half a bottle of bleach so that I could kill the algae that was in it. That seemed to work, BUT my question is.... I tested my chlorine levels last night and my test kit registered no chlorine.... it may have showed a slight bit close to the .5 mark but even that was hard to see. With that much shock and bleach shouldn't I be registering chlorine? Is the test wrong or do I need to add a full bottle of bleach like Jason's calculator says to?

Please excuse how ignorant this post may sound, I am fairly new to all this pool talk.
Thanks in advance...
Christina

Without a full set of test results it is hard to know what is going on but you could easily lose that amount of chlorine in 2 days depending on the situation. THings like lots of sun, low CYA levels and algea could eat up that chlorine quick. Click on the Pool School button on the top right of this page and you will learn a ton about all of this"pool talk". It seems overwhealming at first but it all makes sense in time.

Here is the link to how to kill algae- read the whole thing and follow the included links- all your answers to what to do to properly kill algae are in here:http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/defeating_algae

Basically you need to get a good set of test results before knowing what to do next. The calculator will be no good without knowing your CYA level. If you have to the local pool store will do the CYA test for you but I have found them to be off from my tests- at least it is a start.

 

[JohnT]

2days ago I added two pounds of shock and half a bottle of bleach so that I could kill the algae that was in it. That seemed to work, BUT my question is.... I tested my chlorine levels last night and my test kit registered no chlorine.... it may have showed a slight bit close to the .5 mark but even that was hard to see. With that much shock and bleach shouldn't I be registering chlorine? Is the test wrong or do I need to add a full bottle of bleach like Jason's calculator says to?

Christina, you need to understand that algae can consume chlorine very, very quickly. All you added may have been gone within of few hours of when you added it. Read the Pool School pool-school/ article on Defeating Algae to understand the process better. To get rid of algae, you may need to add chlorine every few hours for a day or so, then every 8 hours for another day or two. Maybe even every hour at the beginning.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

The 6-way kit has a CYA test. Have you done that yet? Once we know how high your CYA level is, we can tell you how much bleach to add.